(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Aatma Nirbharta through Agripreneurship

[October-2022]

Aatma Nirbharta through Agripreneurship

Introduction

The announcement of the “Udyami Bharat” on 30 June 2022 by the Prime Minister of India highlights the importance of entrepreneurship and its underlying potential.
According to economic theory, the reward for entrepreneurship, which is one of the four factors of production, is profit.
An entrepreneur would take the risk of organising the other three factors of production namely land, labour and capital to maximise the objectives such as sales, revenue, profit, etc.
Agriculture is one of the key sectors of the Indian economy, accounting for around 18 to 20% share of the GDP and about 70% of the rural population relies on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood.
However, in recent years there has been an increase in rural-urban migration as the poor infrastructural facility has acted as one of the key push factors and better job opportunities in urban areas has acted as one of the important pull factors.
Against this backdrop, Agripreneurship is seen as an important option to mitigate the burden on agriculture and arrest the rate of rural-urban migration.

Agripreneurship

Agripreneurship is nothing but entrepreneurship in agriculture and its allied sectors.
The adoption of innovative methods, processes and techniques in agriculture and its allied sectors ensures better output and profits, and has become a catalyst of progressive change in the rural economy.
The demand for an entrepreneur in the agriculture and allied set-up has grown in the recent past, due to the rapid integration of global supply chains and the associated compliances required in maintaining ecological balance.
Agripreneurship spans various sub-sectors such as food processing, fisheries, seed processing, smart agri-tech provisioning, soil testing, vermicompost, etc.
Agripreneurship also includes rice mills, pulses mills, sugar factories, bakeries, fertiliser production units, food processing units, agro-service centres, etc.

Significance of Agripreneurship

The agripreneur is said to be the one who utilises information at the right time, relies on innovative solutions, and uses state-of-the-art technology in cultivation.
An agripreneur bears the risks arising out of the vagaries of nature, market and consumer preferences.
Further, by promoting agripreneurship, it can be ensured that losses involving perishable commodities are minimised, consumer benefits are enhanced and price discovery is attained effectively.
As Agripreneurs are also involved in post-production operations such as processing and marketing which require specialised handling, higher investments can be attracted.
Agripreneurship also promotes and provides a boost to the cooperatives, e.g. dairy cooperatives.
Agripreneurship can also act as a tool for women’s empowerment.
Agripreneurship can also be a solution for the increasing rate of the disguised and unemployed workforce and provide them with a remunerative alternative.
Furthermore, agripreneurship makes use of local resources which thereby decreases the possibility of post-harvest losses and reduces the push factor for rural-urban migration.

Government policies and programmes

Various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India have formulated policies and schemes to promote agripreneurship and provide an enabling environment

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches For Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY- RAFTAAR) – This scheme aims at making farming a remunerative economic activity.
PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) – This scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries provides financial, technical and business support for the upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund – This programme was launched under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Package in 2020.
Udyam registration portal – Launched on 01 July 2020 as a part of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat package specifically designed to help MSMEs emerge out of the ill effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gramodyog Vikas Yojana – It is a scheme of the Ministry of MSME, which is an artisan-centric programme implemented with the aim of the revival of traditional and inherent skills of rural artisans in village industries, has a special focus on Processing Industry such as Oil Industry, Aromatic Oil, Honey and Bee-Keeping.
Collateral Guarantee Scheme – It is also a scheme of the Ministry of MSME which involves the provision of collateral-free loans for MSMEs.
Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) – This scheme of the Ministry of MSME promotes the setting up of new enterprises by aspiring entrepreneurs of the SC/ST communities.

Way ahead

Entrepreneurship has been adopted as a subject in the curricula of many teaching institutes in urban areas so that young entrepreneurs are aware of entrepreneurship being one of the career options and also for honing the skills of young entrepreneurs.
But there is an urgent need for promoting entrepreneurial culture among people in rural areas.
In this context, the Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) which has been incorporated into undergraduate education in agriculture and its allied sub-sectors can be successful in generating awareness and interest among the youth.
The country’s diversity is reflected in the variation across its geographies, land profiles, and consequently the agricultural produce and hence the agripreneurship policies need to incorporate the region-specific potential and demands.
Further, the potential of agripreneurship can be tapped fully only if there is effective management of soil, seed, water, etc.
Therefore a converging approach is required amongst the initiatives being taken by the various Ministries/Departments of the Central Government, along with those of the state governments. This will help in making agripreneurs self-reliant.