Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan (second from right) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (left), inspecting the Gourmet Popcornica facility at Musunuru in Andhra Pradesh. At right, is the company’s managing director SBP Pattabhi Rama Rao
Gourmet Popcornica on Monday launched two high-expansion non-GMO popcorn maize hybrid seeds — ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ — in the country.CP Radhakrishnan, Vice President of India, launched ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ at Gourmet Popcornica’s factory in Musunuru in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Governor, S Abdul Nazeer, and Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.A Gourmet Popcornica statement said that the launch marks the next step in a longer journey with India’s farmers. Gourmet Popcornica first moved growers out of commodity maize and into value-added, contract-based popcorn corn farming, offering assured off-take and better prices for a specialised crop. With ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’, farmers now gain something more fundamental: ownership of the genetics itself, it said.Cutting import dependenceRather than depend on imported hybrid seed, they grow a hybrid bred, tested, and owned in India, built to deliver higher yields, processor-grade quality, and a far greater share of the value their crop creates.For years, India’s premium popcorn, the kind sold in cinemas and gourmet retail, depended heavily on seed and grain imported from the US, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, etc.The statement said that ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ are the home-grown answer to dependence on imports. Bred and trial-tested across five growing seasons in partnership with India’s leading maize research institutions, both hybrids match the kernel size and popping expansion of the leading imported benchmark, while offering the pest tolerance, short duration, and yield Indian farmers need.Over 17,500 farmers across eight states, cultivating nearly 40,000 acres with Gourmet Popcornica, stand to benefit directly. With average yields of 4.5 tonnes of wet cob per acre and popping quality that meets processor-grade specifications, farmers growing ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ gain access to assured off-take and contract pricing that were, until now, largely reserved for imported grain. This is expected to lead to a direct and lasting improvement in income for small and marginal farming families, reinforcing Gourmet Popcornica’s commitment to the growth and prosperity of farmers across India, it said.Growing marketIndia’s popcorn maize market has grown from around 50,000 tonnes in 2014-15 to roughly 1.3 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, with domestic production now meeting close to 70 per cent of national demand. This is a dramatic reversal from a market once dependent almost entirely on imports. The shift to local production has saved the country an estimated ₹810 crore in foreign exchange in 2025-26 alone. With hybrids like ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ entering wide cultivation, India remains on track to end popcorn imports altogether by 2030, keeping that value within Indian farms and villages rather than sending it abroad, the statement said.Quoting CP Radhakrishnan, the statement said: “Today, we take a small but firm step toward Aatmanirbhar Bharat - not a slogan, but a seed. Every acre cultivated with this indigenous hybrid is an acre that no longer needs an imported alternative, and every such acre is a saving redirected into the pockets of our own farmers, and the economic development of our great country.”Chandrababu Naidu said: “This hybrid is precisely the kind of agri-tech innovation our Swarnandhra 2047 vision calls for, technology that does not replace the farmer, but empowers him. When our farmers succeed, Andhra Pradesh succeeds, and when Andhra Pradesh succeeds, India moves closer to a Viksit Bharat.”SBP Pattabhi Rama Rao, Managing Director, Gourmet Popcornica, said: “This is not the story of a company – it is the story of over 17,500 farmers across eight states who chose to believe a better harvest was possible. ‘Krisna459’ and ‘Godari234’ are our answer to their faith in us, and our tribute to every farmer who partners with Gourmet Popcornica. We are witnessing a moment that Indian agriculture has waited for, the day India’s own soil, India’s own science, and India’s own farmers gave birth to our first non-GMO, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed. For me, and for everyone at Gourmet Popcornica, this is not a corporate milestone; it supports the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”Norm Krug, Founder and CEO of Preferred Popcorn, US, said: “I’ve spent my life growing popcorn in Nebraska, and I can tell you – what Gourmet Popcornica has built here matches anything we grow back home. India now has the genetics, the farmers, and the scale to become one of the great popcorn-growing nations of the world, and we’re proud to be part of that journey.”Published on August 24, 2026
