How Agri Universities & Research Institutes Are Helping In Farm Cultivation?

A first year M.Sc student, in the school of agriculture at Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, Shanky Sungroya is running an enterprise with a monthly sales of Rs 80,000.  

His venture is Green Grocer which sells agriculture products made on campus that was incubated by the university. Sungroya, came up with this idea in the second year of his bachelor’s degree. He thought of sourcing and selling fruit and vegetables harvested from the campus farms.  

According to Pratham Mittal, Head of New Initiatives at the college, LPU’s agriculture division farms on 1,000 acres. The 28,000 employees and college students living on campus became potential customers for the venture. 

Interesting part is when Sungroya came up with this idea; LPU accredited by ICAR, mentored him and did not charge him for the produce. It also allowed him to use an on-campus shop.  

Manish Saini, Deputy Director, LPU Startup School said, “LPU has sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for Green Grocer. Sungroya said, “After first year, my business plan evolved into a B2B model, supplying to the 230 commercial vendors on our campus. I’m now also sourcing from Jalandhar with a daily sales turnover of Rs 70,000-80,000.”  

Green Grocer, which will launch operations in Jalandhar and Phagwara in six months, is looking at an annual turnover of Rs 2.5 crore. Sungroya, plans to add grocery products like atta and wants to start sourcing directly from local farms.  

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Green Grocer has set up an example of how universities and research institutes are helping entrepreneurs germinate, incubate and scale up agriculture focussed businesses that combine science and technology with management and marketing skills. 

ICAR is supporting such universities encourage students to dream big about agriculture. The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad, also plays a major role by acting as a business incubator. 

Other major institutes across the country that have ICAR supported incubators for farm sector startups include Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore; Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur; Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore; Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai; Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi.  

Some Other Agribusiness Incubators at ICAR-Approved Institutes: 

1. Delmos  

   Founded By: Babbar Singh & Manoj Kumar Maurya, BTech graduates from National Dairy Research Institute-Karnal, in 2017  

2. Ind Millet Foods  

   Founded By: Dibyajyoti B and Madhavi Pomar in 2015  

3. Thanos Technologies  

   Founded By: Pradeep Palelli & Prathyush Akepati in 2015  

4. Suga Foods 

   Founded By: Rajeshwari Ravikumar in 2014 at Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu  

5. Bharatrohan Airborne Innovations  

   Founded By: Amandeep Panwar & Rishabh Choudhary, both aeronautical engineers, in 2015  

Source: economic times