The association between VRD Best Foods Pvt. Ltd. and ACCESS Development Services connected to the IFAD-supported Investments in Agroecology Value Chains Project (IAVCP) and its support for sustainable, climate-resilient gherkin farming.
1. What is the role of ACCESS Development Services?
ACCESS Development Services is involved in implementing/ supporting development programmes focused on rural livelihoods, value chains, smallholder farmers and agroecological agriculture.
The IAVCP is an IFAD-funded programme designed to identify and support viable business opportunities in agroecological value chains. Its activities include technical assistance, value-chain development, risk management, technology adoption, processing, aggregation and marketing.
Importantly, VRD Best Foods Pvt. Ltd. is listed as a Challenge Fund awardee under the IAVCP, in the gherkin sector in Tamil Nadu.
2. Where does VRD Best Foods fit in?
VRD brings the commercial and farmer-level implementation capability.
VRD already has an established contract-farming model for gherkins, including farmer training, technical advice, irrigation support, crop advisory, seed support and buy-back arrangements.
This makes VRD an ideal value-chain enterprise for demonstrating how agroecological farming technologies can be converted into commercially viable production.
3. The DMF model
The key technology is:
D – Drip irrigation
→ Precise delivery of water to the root zone.
M – Mulching
→ Conserves moisture, suppresses weeds and reduces soil erosion.
F – Fertigation
→ Fertilizers/nutrients are delivered through the drip system in controlled quantities.
VRD has implemented this model particularly in challenging areas such as Karumanthurai/Jamunamarathur/Madurai, where terrain, water management and climate variability make conventional cultivation more difficult.
4. What the ACCESS/IFAD support is trying to achieve
The objective is much bigger than simply installing drip irrigation.
The model can be viewed as:
ACCESS / IAVCP / IFAD support
↓
Technology + technical assistance + investment support
↓
VRD Best Foods
↓
Training & implementation with farmers
↓
DMF adoption
↓
Higher productivity + lower water/fertilizer use
↓
Better-quality gherkins
↓
Reliable supply to VRD processing facility
↓
Export markets
An IFAD factsheet specifically reports that its supervision mission visited Madurai in November 2024 and met VRD Best Foods and its smallholder gherkin farmers. It says that, with support from the GAP Fund, farmers transitioned to drip, mulching and fertigation, with the objectives of improving resource efficiency and yields while reducing water and fertilizer use.
5. Why this is strategically important for VRD
This association gives VRD more than a farming technology project.
It positions VRD as a demonstration enterprise for climate-resilient gherkin value chains.
The potential benefits are:
- Farmers – Higher productivity and potentially better income
- Water – More efficient irrigation
- Fertilizer – Better nutrient-use efficiency
- Quality – More uniform export-grade gherkins
- Supply chain – More reliable raw-material supply
- Sustainability – Lower resource consumption
- Climate resilience – Better adaptation to drought/irregular rainfall
- ESG – Stronger environmental and farmer-development credentials
- Exports – Stronger sustainability story for European/US customers
- Replication – Model can be expanded to other farming clusters
VRD’s own published information also identifies farmer empowerment, sustainability, drip irrigation, fertigation and climate-resilient farming as important parts of its agricultural strategy.
6. The bigger opportunity for VRD
- IFAD / development finance – provides the development framework and funding mechanism
- ACCESS Development Services – provides programme/value-chain development and implementation support
- VRD Best Foods – provides the commercial platform, farmer network, technical know-how, processing facility and export market
In fact, VRD’s selection as an IAVCP Challenge Fund awardee provides independent evidence that the company has been recognized within an agroecology value-chain development programme.
For more information visit www.vrdbestfoods.in