Agripreneurs explore collective bargaining, business opportunities

A group of enthusiastic rural youths and agripreneurs visited the agribusiness lab at the School of Business Studies (SBS), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), with a vision to register as a Farmer-Producers’ Organisation (FPO). They learnt about the registration process and operational aspects of collective bargaining.

A team of NIDHI Technology Business Incubator (NIDHI-TBI) enlightened them about the benefits of collective bargaining, good agricultural practices, and agribusiness practices. The team also encouraged them to engage in food processing and marketing related to cereals, vegetables, fruits, turmeric, and pulses under the NIDHI-TBI, Government of India domain.

The group’s representatives were also introduced to the concept of value addition, including processing, packaging, labelling, and branding of their own produce. They were shown samples of PAU-trained agripreneurs.

Dr Ramandeep Singh, PI, NIDHI-TBI, and Director, SBS, PAU, extended his support by providing relevant information about agribusiness practices and motivated the group to opt for virtual classroom learning and practical training as per the mandate of the project. He further suggested they work on a common/collective sales point model for creating a homogeneous processed food market in rural areas.

After a satisfactory interaction, the farmers promised to give wings to their vision and transform fragmented agricultural practices into collective agribusiness models under the expert guidance of the PAU and Team NIDHI-TBI.