NIRDPR Launches Agri-Entrepreneur Programme for Farmers
NIRDPR's Agri Entrepreneur programme will guide the farmers in rural India and will provide them with crop advisory. It is a 45-day full-time residential programme.
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj - NIRDPR and Syngenta Foundation India - SFI have taken several initiatives to fight unemployment among rural youths and to improve the conditions of farmers in rural India with the help of an Agri- Entrepreneurship (AE) model.
Agri-Entrepreneurship (AE) model brings together services of credit and market linkage along with access to high-quality inputs and crop advisory for a group of rural farmers. AE is providing services in seven states and to 75,000 farmers.
The main aim of the model is to streamline all processes. From day to day business activities to interaction with farmers, AE platform will add transparency and lead to faster scaling.
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Dr. W.R.Reddy IAS, Director General NIRDPR talked about the Agri Entrepreneurs and said that farmers in India need commodity-centric experts who can guide them about crop science and input services.
The principles of the model are based on micro-learning, and the content for the advisory is available in five local languages for farmers. The technology partner for the same is Kuza technologies which will provide an integrated technology solution.
Chairman Syngenta Foundation India, Mr. Prakash Apte also shared his views about the project. According to him one of the biggest challenges with Indian agriculture is that farmers do not get the right technologies at the right time that too at a price that they can afford. The AE model is one such platform where farmers will have access to knowledge, technologies and markets at one place.
The AE programme is running in 2 districts in Andhra Pradesh, 5 districts in Bihar and 13 districts in Maharashtra.
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It is a 45-day full residential programme where farmers will gain functional knowledge about local crops, soft skills and insights about Agri-Business Management. Once the programme concludes they will be provided with a digital kit.