Government of India Promoting Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship

The "Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development" program is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare as part of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) program. The program's objective is to encourage innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by offering financial and technical assistance to startups. A total of 24 RKVY Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) and five Knowledge Partners (KPs) have been appointed to provide training and incubation for entrepreneurs and the implementation of this initiative.

As part of the program, entrepreneurs and startups in the agriculture and allied sectors can receive financial assistance of up to INR 5 lakh during the idea/pre-seed stage and up to INR 25 lakh during the seed stage. This assistance is intended to facilitate the launch of their products, services, business platforms, and other similar items into the market and to assist them in scaling up their operations.

Under the initiative, five key personnel (KPs) and twenty-four research and business incubators (R-ABIs) are responsible for providing training and incubation to startups. To create a platform for the development of agri-startups by linking them with various stakeholders, the Government of India organizes a variety of programs at the national level. These programs include agri-startup conclaves, agri-fairs and exhibitions, webinars, and workshops.

Per the "Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development" program, a total of 1708 agricultural startups have received financial assistance for INR 122.50 crore, which has been distributed in installments through a variety of KPs and R-ABIs between the years 2019-20 and 2023-24.

Industry Reaction

The Government of India has made significant strides in advancing women’s participation in agri-entrepreneurship. However, there remains an opportunity to further enhance these efforts by improving access to technology, market opportunities, and targeted mentorship.

Sharing his views on the subject, Amit Shrivastava, CTO, nurture.farm opined, "In this context, companies like nurture.farm play a crucial role in reinforcing these initiatives. Nurture.farm’s solutions, such as Mausam Kavach (weather insurance), advanced farm mechanization, and sustainable crop programmes, address key challenges and lay the groundwork for sustainable agriculture. These offerings contribute to building a more resilient agricultural ecosystem, which indirectly benefits women entrepreneurs by fostering a more robust and dependable agricultural infrastructure. Additionally, nurture.retail makes a significant contribution by offering tailored rural credit solutions, high-quality products, and competitive pricing. This support enables agri-retailers to manage their finances effectively and streamline their operations, thereby creating a more supportive environment for women in agriculture."

"By aligning with government initiatives and leveraging private sector innovations, we collectively advance towards a more inclusive agricultural sector, paving the way for sustainable growth and enhanced opportunities for women entrepreneurs," he added further.

Listed below are the specifics of the financial assistance that was given to new businesses on an annual basis:

What is Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana?

A major initiative of the Indian government's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (MoA&FW), the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) seeks to improve agricultural and related infrastructure. With 10% of yearly expenditure (including 2% administrative cost), a new component under the redesigned plan RKVY-RAFTAAR was launched in 2018–19 to encourage agripreneurship and agribusiness through financial support and the development of an incubation environment.

By pooling resources, RKVY-RAFTAAR encourages the development of new agricultural ventures through agribusiness incubation. As part of this process, participating academic, technical, managerial, and R&D institutions around the nation will make use of their incubation facilities and skills to their advantage, either individually or in combination. The current institutional agribusiness incubators would get need-based funding to bolster their operations.

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