Experts discuss the importance of agri-preneurship

Dharwad: Skill development in agriculture is the most essential aspect because it leads to development of entrepreneurship. Farm graduates should become job providers, and not job-seekers. Covid-19 has thrown several challenges even to the field of agriculture and farm graduates have to convert the challenge into opportunity and come with new ventures.
These were the opinions elicited from experts during a brainstorming webinar on ‘Agri-preneurship, skilling and start up’ organised at University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS, Dharwad) recently. The programme was held under the World Bank-assisted Institutional Development Plan being implemented at UAS-D.
The participants in the discussion included N R Rathod, vice-chancellor of MPUAT (Udaipur), N M Krishnakumar, former DDG, (horticulture), P G Chengappa former V-C, UAS (Bengaluru), Bangali Babu, former National Director (NATP), G K Vasant Kumar,former additional secretary, K V Ashalatha, B N Aravindkumar and P U Krishnaraj among others.
The experts pointed out that while India has achieved substantial progress over the years regarding food security, accessibility and affordability, the agriculture sector is still challenged by low productivity, low profitability, increase in input costs, wastage of crops due to lack of storage and supply chain management. “These challenges present a host of opportunities for agri-entrepreneurs. Agri-entrepreneurship employs entrepreneurial skills, models and innovative ideas to economically solve problems in the agriculture sector and increase profitability of the farming business. It can play a significant role in solving challenges pertaining to dissemination of information, farm management, capital availability, mechanization of farm and agriculture supply chain,” the experts asserted.
The main objective of institutional development plan is to promote entrepreneurship and startup among farm graduates. As part of the plan, UAS has organized series of training programmes and exposure visits on entrepreneurship, startup and market network. The experts said startup in agriculture has greater scope in providing quality inputs and services to farming community as agriculture is lacking both. In boosting agriculture production and enhancing export in agriculture and thereby doubling the farmers’ income, entrepreneurship and start up by agriculture graduates play a major role, they said.