By IANS,
Ludhiana : A joint venture between telecom major Bharti and Del Monte India Monday said it had emerged as the largest fresh baby corn exporter in the country.
To mark the occasion, a consignment of fresh baby corns was flagged off at Ladhowal village near here Monday by Punjab’s Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh and Bharti Enterprises vice chairman and managing director Rakesh Bharti Mittal.
“Bharti-Del Monte India is proud to be the largest exporter of fresh baby corn in the country. This achievement is a tribute to the entire farming community of Punjab, whose dedicated efforts have made us achieve this tremendous feat,” Mittal said at the Bharti farm here.
“This financial year, we have exported 200 tonnes of baby corns. We have already invested Rs.50 crore (Rs.500 million) in Punjab and we will be processing 200 tonnes of food products here,” Mittal said.
He said that the company’s products were being sought by leading international retailers such as Sainsbury, ASDA, Morrison and Sommerfield. The company has a cold storage capacity of 500 tonnes at the farm.
Bharti-Del Monte is engaged in collaborative farming with Punjab farmers in over 1,000 acres of land. Its own farm, FieldFresh ACE, spread over 300 acres, is an integrated research and development facility, focusing on crop and variety trials, progressive farming techniques and identification and adoption of appropriate technologies for better crop production.
Chief Secretary Singh said the company should engage further with Punjab farmers so that everyone could benefit from the venture.