Who we are
Capabilities
Field branches for
raw material sourcing
IVPL has strategically setup branches to collect and move fresh vegetables from farmers within a one-hundred-and-fifty-kilometre radius of its two factories.
The close vicinity of IVPL’s branches to the growers’ fields ensures quick movement of the purchased vegetables to the factories enabling retention of the freshness of the vegetables when they reach IVPL’s factories.
Davangere Branches
The Davangere factory has five branches at Ranebennur, Harapanahalli, Guttala, Choornoor and Hosdurga, where it sources gherkins and other vegetables.
Bandarlahalli Branches
Bandarlahalli branches: The Bandarlahalli factory has two branches at Amarapura and
Arasikere, which source raw materials from contract farms.
Sourcing through
Contract Farming
IVPL opts for contract gherkin farming since it is very people-intensive and captive farming is not feasible for the company.
Field Selection
IVPL adopts a unique field selection process by identifying suitable farmers and their fields after an initial survey to assess soil type, water availability, and people.
Backward Integration Of Gherkin Raw Material Supply
IVPL’s main objective in contract farming is the backward integration of its raw material sources. IVPL has a strong agricultural extension team of agriculture graduates and experienced field employees.
Restricted use of chemical pesticides
IVPL stringently controls the type and quantity of chemical pesticides its contract farmers use. It ensures use only of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and the European Union (EU) Agriculture and Rural Development European Commission Department approved products.
Farmer Selection
IVPL prefers small and marginal farmers with land holding between one to two acres whose family members are available for the gherkin crop cultivation.
Farmer Training And Crop Input Supply
IVPL’s agricultural extension team regularly visits farmers to train them in gherkin cultivation steps, from field preparation to harvest. IVPL supplies, on credit, seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to the farmers and supervises the application of those inputs.
Compliance With Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
IVPL ensures its product complies with importing countries’ specifications on chemical pesticide residue through such measures. International agencies periodically visit IVPL contract farmers’ fields to assess GAP compliance, including verifying the restrictions on chemical pesticides.
Role of IVPL branches in sourcing fresh
High-quality gherkins
IVPL’s sustainability programme encompasses raw material sourcing to processing and shipment.
IVPL sets up its branch amidst a village cluster from where it plans to source vegetables. The branch manager is its head, who manages it with the support of a field extension team, store and record keepers, and a purchaser.
Each branch’s three-to-four-member field extension team is proportional to the number of crop acres they oversee. During a crop season, each field extension employee (FEE) manages about twenty acres and doubles that quantity in two crop cycles in a year.
The FEE identifies potential contract farmers and convinces them to enlist with IVPL as growers. Then, FEEs register all potential farmers in their territory, complete the signing of an agreement by the farmer, and issue seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to produce the crop.
IVPL sets up its branch amidst a village cluster from where it plans to source vegetables. The branch manager is its head, who manages it with the support of a field extension team, store and record keepers, and a purchaser.
Each branch’s three-to-four-member field extension team is proportional to the number of crop acres they oversee. During a crop season, each field extension employee (FEE) manages about twenty acres and doubles that quantity in two crop cycles in a year.
The FEE identifies potential contract farmers and convinces them to enlist with IVPL as growers. Then, FEEs register all potential farmers in their territory, complete the signing of an agreement by the farmer, and issue seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to produce the crop.
Indus Vegpro for
Gherkin Cultivation & Processing
IVPL has extensive gherkin cultivation experience through the combined experience of its top management and field employees. IVPL has developed gherkin contract farming and factory processing systems using its expertise. The product quality control from “seed to export bulk pack” ensures that IVPL customers receive the highest quality Indian gherkins in their shipments.
How do our contract farmers grow gherkins?
Land preparation
In this step, farmers plough and harrow their fields to level and bring them to a fine tilth to make them suitable for gherkin seed planting. IVPL gherkin growers’ manual ensures that the field preparation, plant nutrition and other cultural practices like growing a trap crop help to minimise pests and diseases.
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After opening furrows every four feet in their ploughed field, farmers add farm-compost, deoiled neem cake, diammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of potash (MOP), magnesium sulphate and micronutrients into the furrows and cover it with soil.
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Farmers also plant four rows of fodder maize to prevent pests and diseases and as a windbreak. Crop protection starts right from seed sowing and focuses on integrated pest management which minimises pests and diseases through cultural practices like having a border crop.
Vegetable processing in
Two Factories
IVPL’s two factories process vegetables that it contracts farmers to grow for it. Both factories are near fields growing vegetables for IVPL and thus receive and process vegetables in less than one day from harvest.
Unit I Davangere
IVPL started the first of its two factories at Davangere in 2013. The Davangere factory is in an industrial estate spread over ninety thousand square feet with a built-up area of 10,000 square feet for production and 20,000 square feet for warehousing.
The Davangere factory also has shade net-covered storage of 20,000 square feet across three warehouses.
The factory has three media preparation tanks for vinegar and acetic acid media.
It also has a vegetable washer, slicing, dicing, cutting and pouch sealing machines to cater to different markets.
The factory’s highlight includes a brine fermentation yard of sixty 5,000 litre tanks to ferment different-sized gherkins.
A two-ton forklift facilitates container loading.
The factory has an effluent treatment plant with a one-kilo-litre daily wastewater treatment capacity.
Unit II Bandarlalhalli
In 2018, IVPL set up a new gherkin export processing unit at Bandarlahalli, north of Bangalore, over a three-acre industrial plot off the Bangalore-Hyderabad national highway.
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The Bandarlahalli factory has a 15,000 square foot processing area for acidified gherkins and other vegetables, a 3,000 square foot area for packing fermented gherkins, forty-eight fermentation tanks of 5,000 litres capacity each and a 12,000 square foot shade net for storing processed vegetables.
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IVPL strategically located its Bandarlahalli factory at the centre of a vast gherkin-growing agricultural area from where it sources raw materials.
In addition, the Bandarlahalli factory supplements its raw material requirements from the first IVPL factory at Davangere.
The Bandarlahalli factory produces semi-processed gherkins and jalapenos. Plans include processing other fruits and vegetables to enhance the product variety.
The factory has easy access to its raw materials, gherkins, jalapenos, water, vinegar, salt, acetic acid, and other consumables throughout the year.
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The factory can process 4,000 MT of semi-processed gherkins annually and 250 MT of other semi-processed vegetables.
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The processing capacity is 4,000 tonnes per annum and includes food safety compliant equipment and facilities. The factory also has a state-of-the-art laboratory for raw materials and finished product testing.
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​The factory has backup electrical power through an on-site power generator, an in-house water supply through an underground tube well source and an effluent-treatment plant.
