The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has launched a component called ‘Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development’ under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) in 2018-19 with the objective to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. The ministry has appointed five knowledge partners (KP) as centre-of-excellence and 20 four RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country for the implementation of this programme.
Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat is one of the R-ABIs under “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” to promote agriculture start-ups in Gujarat.
A number of start-ups were selected during the last two years in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and financial assistance provided to them under the “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” programme is given below.
| State/Year | Number of agri start-ups selected | Financial assistance given (in Rs. Lakh) | ||
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
| Uttar Pradesh | 13 | 19 | 69.00 | 85.80 |
| Rajasthan | 3 | 18 | 18.00 | 97.00 |
‘Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development’ programme is meant for the promotion of agri-start-ups. Various provisions regarding start-ups are governed by norms laid down by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Start-ups in agriculture and allied sectors in areas such as agricultural logistics, value and supply chain management, online/virtual platform, organic farming and services are supported under the programme.
As many as 646 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors have been selected under the programme for funding of a sum of Rs. 69.92 crore in installments and Rs. 33.94 crore has been released to respective KPs and RABIs for funding these start-ups.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday
