It provides better access to high-quality agri-inputs and agronomic advisory to make apple farming disease and climate-resilient.
In order to facilitate the modernisation of India’s apple value chain, Bayer CropScience Limited is partnering with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH for a three-year collaborative project. Bayer and GIZ have already worked together from 2015 to 2018 in the AVID project (Apple Value Chain Interventions for Development) that was undertaken in key districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Bayer and GIZ reaffirmed the cooperation for another three years, from 2021 to 2023.
The new project will support over 5,500 apple smallholders in Himachal Pradesh with better access to high-quality agri-inputs and agronomic advisory to make apple farming disease and climate-resilient. This Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Bayer and GIZ will work on creating efficient supply chains, establishing market linkages, and bringing in value chain interventions to improve the incomes and livelihoods of apple smallholders.
The new project is part of the ‘One World No Hunger’ initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). An important element in GIZ’s approach is connecting the private sector, research institutions and local stakeholders to introduce value chain developments.
The project also seeks to collaborate with key institutions such as the Dr YS Parmar University for Horticulture and Forestry in Solan, Himachal Pradesh; the State Department of Agriculture; Government of Himachal Pradesh and HPMC (Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing And Processing Corporation Ltd.) to leverage synergies, promote knowledge sharing and technical exchange, and jointly undertake capacity-building measures.
