UPL’s Pronutiva Programme benefitted over 1 lakh groundnut farmers

UPL Ltd. with the aim to double farmer’s income and increase the yield and oil content of groundnut crop, introduced UPL Pronutiva, a farmer focussed program in Gujarat. The programme spread over sixteen districts and 1722 villages delivered exceptional results with an increase in yield by 38% in villages near Bhavnagar and 62% in Kalavad Taluka. The project touched the hearts and minds of 1,20,000 ground farmers with their yield increasing by 27-32%.

UPL, during the kharif season of 2021, embarked on an ambitious plan of reaching out to more than 100,000 farmers of Gujarat and bring 100,000 Acre under UPL Pronutiva. UPL with its farmer first approach, equipped the farmers with seed treatment machines and trained them to use the tools under Pronutiva programme. Using progressive innovation and reimagining sustainability, UPL also provided the farmers with Zeba and Copio, the two sustainable technologies of UPL.

India is world’s second largest producer of groundnut with average yield of 20 quintals/Acres after China. Groundnut is sown in about 3.8Mn Hectares across India. Five states including Gujarat (38%), Andhra Pradesh (17%), Rajasthan (14%), Karnataka (10%) and Maharashtra (5%) account for 84% of the total groundnut acreage.

The edible oil consumption in India is about 21 mn metric ton per annum. With the domestic production of Oil at 9 mn mt, the rest of 13 mn mt edible oil is imported every year to bridge the deficit. Malayasian Palm Oil, US Soya oil and Sunflower Oil accounts for a major part of the annual imports, valued at about $17 Bn.

This large gap, creates a golden opportunity for Indian groundnut farmers to leverage and increase yield and oil content of groundnut, making the cultivation more remunerative. And, thus the partnership with Pronutiva helped create a silver lining for the groundnut farmers of Gujarat.

Mr. Ashish Dobhal, Regional Director, UPL commented, “UPL India has consistently heard the farmers, understood and evaluated their problems, while creating the Pronutiva solutions. UPL Pronutiva is a sustainable program and holds a silver lining on the horizon for groundnut farmers across India. The average yield increase of 30% would deliver a value of about INR 65,000/- per Ha to farmers, computed on a base of 20 Qnt yield per acre and an average price realization of 44/- per Kg. One-million-hectare groundnut, treated with UPL Pronutiva would deliver additional value of INR.6500 Cr to Indian farmers, propelling thousands of them towards the shared dream of doubling their income. “

Pronutiva programme brings a golden opportunity for groundnut farmers of India to become Aatmanirbhar and increase the domestic production of groundnut and edible oil. The program takes into consideration two aspects, providing protection to the crop at the most critical stages and a seamless supply of nutrition to the fruits for attaining higher weight and oil content. At the critical stages like flowering, pegging and pod formation, UPL Pronutiva packages helped farmers keep the plants in a continuous growth stage till harvest. With all the necessary tools inside the Pronutiva Kits, the farmers did not require to run around for solutions at eleventh hour of crisis, be it pest management or keeping the plants protected from abiotic stress.