Mars Incorporated & Tata Trusts Join Hands To Advance Agricultural Development In India

In a recent collaboration Tata Trusts and Mars, Incorporated announced their joint venture into a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to enhance agriculture development, tackle malnutrition, and improve food safety in India.

The Leading Parties

Tata Trusts have undertaken the task to improve the quality of life of the communities it caters to in India. The Trusts comprise the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust.

On the other hand, Mars Incorporated, as one of the biggest international food manufacturers, plans to work with the Tata Trusts to device methods and tools to pump up crop productivity, farm income, and sustainability of certain agriculture commodities. They also look to collaborate on the availability of safe, affordable, and sustainable raw materials from India.

Areas of Concentration

The parties will be focusing on commodities like mint, peanuts, rice, and legumes. Mars Food, a segment of Mars, Incorporated, will also be handling joint research with the Tata Trusts on nutritional standards that can help curb anemia and other forms of malnourishment.

“Given Mars’ global leadership in nutritive foods and sustainable agriculture, the Tata Trusts believes this collaboration would have lasting, meaningful benefits for Indian communities,” said Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts.

“We are particularly inspired by Mars Food’s commitment to addressing malnutrition in India – a challenge of growing concern in this country, particularly among children”, quotes The Economic Times.

Battling Aflatoxin

The two enterprises also plan to make a combined effort in decreasing Aflatoxin contamination in India’s supply chain. Mars has matchless proficiency in addressing Aflatoxin contamination and can draw on its Global Food Safety Center in China to conduct future research in this area.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring, poisonous chemical produced by certain molds and is a grave threat to food safety in India.

“Today’s Memorandum of Understanding with Tata Trusts is an important step in Mars’ journey to improve nutrition, food safety, and sustainability in India,” said Fiona Dawson, president of Mars Food.

“Tata Trusts’ strong commitment to improving the quality of life in India, and the depth and breadth of their expertise, makes them a natural partner for Mars.”

This move by the two business giants can be a milestone in Indian agricultural development and food safety. Whether effective or not is something only time will tell but the effort is laudable.

Source: The Economic Times