Boosting Horti-preneurship in India through ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture

The ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow has conducted a panel discussion on “Challenges and Approaches for Boosting Horti-preneurship in India” on 12 January 2021.

The objective of the event was to impart the knowledge of hortipreneurship development and capacity building to the potential enthusiastic youth for boosting the startups in horticulture.  In panel discussion the experts, Dr. S. Rajan, Director, ICAR-CISH, Lucknow; Dr. Maneesh Mishra, Principal Scientist-ICAR-CISH; Dr. T. Damodaran, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CSSRI, Lucknow; Dr. Jyoti Dewan from Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Lucknow; Mr. Ravi Pandey, IIT Kanpur and Mr. Hari Shankar, Founder & Managing Director, Agnys Waste Management Pvt. Ltd., Kanpur discussed about the horti-startup challenges, adoptive measures, winning factors, feasibility analysis, do’s and don’ts’ and necessary important components for horti-startups.

The programme was conducted in association with Society for Development of Subtropical Horticulture (SDSH). Total 102 participants attended the programme. The one-on-one interaction session with experts was found to be very useful. Participants showed keen interest in the programme and discussed problems coming across during the establishment of startups to the speakers.

In the event, various incubators, founders, innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, startups, scientists, academicians, stakeholders, enterprises and students participated in the programme from all over the country. Dr. S. Rajan informed that the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture is highly motivated to support and empower the entrepreneurs in horticulture. We are putting high efforts in this direction through the Agri-Business Incubation Centre.

Potential entrepreneurs, youth and women entrepreneurs with innovative ideas may apply. He stated that horticulture sector is going through many challenges in boosting the horti-preneurship in India and we need to address these issues.

Author: Dr. Sharad Verma from ICAR-CISH (Ph.d., IIT Delhi)