Sangareddy :
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on Sunday kick started Krishi Parivartan Yatra, hosting the first of five agro-tech and business opportunities expos scheduled to take place in five cities in India.
Krishi Parivartan Yatra or a journey of agricultural transformation takes 50 farmers and entrepreneurs, who are beneficiaries of the World Bank-funded National Agriculture Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), on a five-city tour to share new technologies and agri-ventures with fellow farmers.
The activity is being organized by NAIP to promote cross learning and sharing of success stories among farmers across the country, so as to strengthen agribusiness and boost the transformation of Indian agriculture. It will conclude and culminate into the Agri-Innovation Conclave in New Delhi on May 18.
The first expo held at ICRISAT showcased the best of enterprises developed through NAIP initiatives. The activity included parallel sessions and discussions where the NAIP farmer beneficiaries shared their success stories with about 200 farmers and entrepreneurs and promoted the tremendous potential in agribusiness. The train journey was then flagged from ICRISAT’s global headquarters in Hyderabad for the five-city tour after the day-long activity.
“Innovation in agriculture is widely considered as the key to achieve food security. To actualize this vast untapped potential of Indian agriculture, this Krishi Parivartan Yatra is being organized to bring to the fore, the unlimited opportunities that agriculture and agribusiness offer,” said Dr D Rama Rao, national director, NAIP at the inaugural session of the Yatra.
“Our mission is to make smallholder farmers in the drylands prosperous, not just self-sufficient. And that is why we are engaged in promoting an inclusive and technology-based entrepreneurship and agribusiness program,” said Joanna Kane-Potaka, strategic communication and marketing director, representing ICRISAT director-general Dr William Dar.
“ICRISAT’s Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) Program has supported more than 200 agribusiness ventures and benefited over 500,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states. We have identified and supported some very good innovative products and technologies and taken them to the market. The Krishi Parivartan Yatra supports our goal to bring together the best of agri-ventures and enterprises to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers,” said SM Karuppanchetty, chief operating officer, ICRISAT-ABI.
The Yatra journey, along with the just concluded Agri-Biz Idol Camps held in various cities between May 5 and 9 to reach out to the youth and start-up entrepreneurs, will both culminate in the Agri-Innovation Conclave from May 18 to 19 in New Delhi. The conclave aims to bring together agribusiness experts, professionals, and other stakeholders from across the country, on a common platform to share NAIP’s success and conceive path breaking ideas for strengthening the future of agribusiness in India.
NAIP-ICAR has embarked on this unique initiative to promote awareness on the potential opportunities in agri-business, nurture agri-innovators for future generations, and also to promote the various business incubation services offered by NAIP’s Business Planning and Development (BPD) units. The BPDs which primarily act as an agriculture incubation centers help start-ups or entrepreneurs foraying into agribusiness to flourish by providing comprehensive business solutions.
Over the last five years, 22 agribusiness incubators (BPDs) have been set up throughout India in agricultural universities and research institutes by NAIP-ICAR with support and mentoring by ICRISAT-ABI. The success has led to ICRISAT and ICAR sharing their expertise across the continents to Africa, to coordinate the setting up of food business incubators and food technology laboratories in 10 African countries.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Syed Akbar, TNN / May 11th, 2014