Agri varsity’s incubation centre to give wings to 66 startup projects

The Agri Business Incubation Centre (ABIC) of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here has received 217 startup applications, out of which 66 young agri-entrepreneurs have been selected for projects in food processing, value addition, waste-to-wealth, precision farming, organic farming, agri-machinery manufacturing, input innovation, among others.

Applicants were selected after a month-long incubation programme to empower entrepreneurs with technical, financial, and business skills.

An interaction programme was recently organised with the 66 innovative startups selected under the Cohort-7 initiative of the ABIC.

Addressing the session, Vice-Chancellor BR Kamboj said agriculture was no longer limited to farming as it had entered a new era of innovation, value addition, and entrepreneurship. He added that if students continued to move forward on the path of innovation, the day was not far when they would become job creators instead of job seekers.

Kamboj said the university had already supported 73 startups with grant assistance under the previous six cohorts, and many of them were now operating successfully as self-sustaining enterprises. He urged the young entrepreneurs to seek guidance from university scientists and mentors to turn their ideas into solutions that benefitted farmers and society.

Kamboj said such training programmes played an important role in promoting rural youth employment, innovation, and self-reliant agriculture, which in turn strengthened the indigenous market.

Research Director and ABIC Nodal Officer Rajbir Garg said the university was now also contributing to the nation’s economic growth by nurturing young entrepreneurs.

ABIC Director Rajesh Gera said the centre operated under the RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, with an aim to commercialise agricultural innovations and provide scientific and technical support to agri-startups.