Vice-President names two non-GMO popcorn hybrids, Krisna459 and Godari234, at Gourmet Popcornica in Musunuru.

The scheduled visit is over. The Vice-President has named the two hybrids.

On Monday, 24 August 2026, Gourmet Popcornica launched two high-expansion non-GMO popcorn maize hybrid seeds — Krisna459 and Godari234 — at its factory in Musunuru, Andhra Pradesh. Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan launched the two hybrids in the presence of Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Company managing director S.B.P. Pattabhi Rama Rao is named on the public card. Yesterday’s cutting was a scheduled-visit preview. This cutting is the Monday launch with the two names on the packet. The 21 August itinerary is not reprinted as if the visit had not occurred.

A company statement said the hybrids were bred and trial-tested across five growing seasons with India’s leading maize research institutions. The firm says they match kernel size and popping expansion of the leading imported benchmark while offering pest tolerance, short duration and the yield Indian farmers need. That is a company claim. It is not an independent laboratory result on this desk. This desk will not invent a trial-station list, a popping-volume number, or a research-institute name the statement does not lock.

The company said over 17,500 farmers across eight states, cultivating nearly 40,000 acres with Gourmet Popcornica, stand to benefit. It cited average yields of 4.5 tonnes of wet cob per acre and processor-grade popping quality, with assured off-take and contract pricing. Over 17,500 farmers, nearly 40,000 acres, eight states and 4.5 tonnes of wet cob per acre are company figures. Assured off-take and contract pricing are company terms. They are not a government procurement gazette.

India’s popcorn-maize market, the statement said, grew 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, saving an estimated ₹810 crore in foreign exchange in 2025-26. A 2030 end to popcorn imports is a company track claim. It is not a government gazette. Around 50,000 tonnes, roughly 1.3 lakh tonnes, close to 70 per cent and estimated ₹810 crore remain company-statement numbers.

The Vice-President, from the statement, said: “Today, we take a small but firm step toward Aatmanirbhar Bharat — not a slogan, but a seed.” The Chief Minister said the hybrid is the kind of agri-tech Swarnandhra 2047 calls for. Norm Krug of Preferred Popcorn, United States, is quoted on the company card. That guest line stays a company-guest quote. This desk will not convert a launch-stage compliment into an independent quality certificate.

What this card is not must be said. It is not yesterday’s preview. It is not a notified seed-release order of a State agriculture university. It is not a claim, by this newspaper, that imports will end in 2030.

Musunuru in Eluru district, Nuzvid constituency, holds the factory. Form B and any poll date are not notified.

Until an independent trial paper or a gazette writes a different line, the public ledger is a Monday launch of Krisna459 and Godari234 by Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan, with Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu present and S.B.P. Pattabhi Rama Rao named as managing director; a company claim of five-season trials and parity with an imported popping benchmark; over 17,500 farmers and nearly 40,000 acres across eight states; 4.5 tonnes of wet cob per acre as a company yield; a market line from around 50,000 tonnes in 2014-15 to roughly 1.3 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, close to 70 per cent domestic, and an estimated ₹810 crore foreign-exchange saving in 2025-26; a company track toward ending popcorn imports by 2030; and the Vice-President’s sentence that self-reliance is a seed, not a slogan. The names are on the packet. The numbers stay the company’s.