Dr.N.Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of TNAU released the first installment of grants from Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Monday (17.8.2020) to the selected agripreneurs (agriculture entrepreneurs) whose innovative concepts were pitched before National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad recently.
These agripreneurs got trained/mentored at Regional Agribusiness Incubators Program at TNAU. Two programs were offered under it- Agripreneurship Orientation Program (AOP) and Startup Agribusiness Incubation Program (SAIP)
About 19 AOP trainees were trained from 26th June 2019 to 27th August 2019. After screening by the R-ABI Incubation Committee, 12 AOP trainees had pitched their innovative ideas for the final screening held at Manage, Hyderabad on 14th March 2020. Based on the final pitching, the Ministry has sanctioned a total grant of Rs. 21.50 lakhs for six startups under pre-seed stage funding (AOP).
The AOP grantee’s ventures included food processing and value addition, farm mechanization & innovations and wellness.
The SAIP in 2019 – 20 was conducted from 15th November 2019 to 23rd January 2020 and 25 startups were mentored. After screening by the R-ABI Incubation Committee (RIC), 16 SAIP trainees had pitched their business plan for the final screening held at Manage, Hyderabad on 13th March 2020. Based on the final pitching, the Ministry has sanctioned a total grant of Rs.110 lakhs for eight startups under seed stage funding (SAIP).
The SAIP grantee’s ventures included agricultural inputs, food processing and value addition, information technology, organic farming & products, farm mechanization & innovations and waste to wealth. The Vice Chancellor congratulated them and handed the first installment to the chosen grantees.