The facility to produce high quality seeds of potatoes that could boost yield by 10-30 per cent is inaugurated in Mohali by Mahindra group's joint venture firm Mahindra HZPC.

Modern Aeroponics facility inaugurated by the 60:40 JV of Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd (MASL) and HZPC. In the presence of Ashok Sharma, MD & CEO, MASL and Gerard Backx, CEO, HZPC Holding BV, the plant was inaugurated by Alphonsus Stoelinga, the Ambassador of Netherlands.

The company informed, "The new facility will produce the best in class seed potato by using an innovative process and latest technology. This will translate into high quality seed potatoes for the Indian farmer and in turn for the consumer."

Aeroponics facility is set to give the best quality of potato seeds to the Indian farmer. Aeroponics is a plant cultivation technique. In this technique plant roots are suspended in the air while nutrient solutions are delivered to them in a fine mist.

The company said that the advanced greenhouse technology would help raise yield and protect plants against environmental diseases and it would reduce time to market for new potato varieties. For farmers, providing the much needed fillip to farmer income, this will translate into virus-free world class seeds which will increase productivity by 10-30 percent. "As pioneers of farming technology in India, Mahindra is committed towards building disruptive innovations that bring significant benefits for our farmer community as well as end consumers. By providing world class seeds to our farmers, Aeroponics will drastically change the landscape of agriculture which will lead to higher productivity and increased cultivation, in line with our vision of Delivering FarmTech Prosperity," said Sharma.

A capacity of Mahindra HZPC's Aeroponics facility is to generate 3 million minitubers. The first production batch is slated to be out in January, 2017. Mahindra HZPC plans to launch 6 new varieties of potato and half of which will cater to the end consumers and the remaining will be targeted at the processing sector.

Mahindra HZPC owns the two plants together are capable of generating 15 million minitubers within a couple of year’s facility in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh.

Mahindra Agri Business has helped Indian farmers increase their productivity over the years with its wide portfolio of inputs like seeds, crop care, micro-irrigation services backed by high quality advisory through Samriddhi outlets.