Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a new step to promote entrepreneurship in the field of agriculture. A new component called “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” is launched by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DACFW) to encourage and promote Agripreneurship. This component has been launched under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY-Raftaar).
Five Knowledge Partners (KPs) and twenty-four Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) have also been appointed by DACFW in this connection, to get the advice and information for the smooth execution and functioning of this programme in different states.
This programme is divided in two types of assistance for start-ups-
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Under this, for idea or pre-seed stage, a selected start-up will be eligible for a maximum financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakhs.
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For seed stage, a selected start-up will be eligible for a maximum financial assistance of Rs. 25 lakhs.
This information is provided by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha in a written reply according to a government release.
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFAAR)
It was launched in 2018-19 for providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. Its aim is to encourage start-ups in agriculture and also to contribute directly or indirectly to enhance the income of farmers by providing them some new opportunities and also providing employment to youth.
Under the RKVY-RATAAR initiative, total 346 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors are selected for funding for the sum of Rs. 36.72 Crore in instalments. First instalment of Rs. 16.01 Crore has already been released by the department. Training of these start-ups have alredy been done for two months at various agribusiness incubation centres spread across the country.
And among the RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators, Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Hisar, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh and IIT BHU at Varanasi are included.
Knowledge Partners
The five KPs are National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management Hyderabad, National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) Jaipur, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) New Delhi, University of Agriculture Science Dharwad, and Assam Agriculture University at Jorhat.
Source- ZeeBusiness
