Saturday, September 30, 2006

Pepsico to cultivate seaweed in coastal Gujarat, India



Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd, makers of the Pepsi-range of soft-drinks and snacks products, would soon start cultivating seaweed along the coastal areas of Gujarat and set up a plant next year to extract its by-products like jelly and some organic growth nutrients to increase the growth of crops in rain-fed farms in India.

This is going to be the second such plant in India, the first one being at Mandapam in Tamil Nadu.

As in Tamil Nadu, the Gujarat project would also be a woman-dominated activity. They would get jobs in their local habitat with flexible working hours and may earn Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 a month.

Seaweeds are used in many maritime countries for industrial applications and as a fertiliser. The major utilisation of these plants as food is in Asia, where seaweed cultivation has become a major industry.

Seaweeds are found throughout the world's oceans and seas and none is known to be poisonous.

This is a case of Pepsico making money while discharging a social responsibility to the community in which it operates.

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