Indian Incubators

Indian Agri-Business Development through network of Incubators

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Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, May 21, 2010 /India PRwire/ -- The world is ever changing and it needs constant innovations to keep up with change. Innovators and entrepreneurs have created the world's most prominent companies. The Indian economy depends largely on agriculture and there is need for innovative interventions and enhanced entrepreneurial initiatives. The Indian Council of Agriculture and Research (ICAR), the apex body of Govt. of India for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture has launched a new initiative called Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI). NIABI has been set-up through National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), World Bank aided project wherein ICAR act as a Catalyzing Agent for Management of Change in the Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS).

NIABI is operated out of ten Business Planning & Development (BPDs) units of the five ICAR research institutes and five State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) coordinated by the Agri-Business Incubator of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ABI-ICRISAT) located at Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh. The BPDs include Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT-Mumbai), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI-New Delhi), Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI-Izatnagar), National Institute Research Jute Allied Fiber Technology, (NIRJAFT-Kolkata), Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT-Cochin), Anand Agricultural University (AAU-Gujarat), Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV-Jabalpur), Tamilnadu Agricultural University (TNAU-Coimbatore), Birsa Agricultural University (BAU-Ranchi) and Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU-Hisar).

The mission of NIABI is "to enhance agri-business development and impacts on agriculture through co-business incubation". NIABI cover a wide spectrum in agriculture and allied sectors like veterinary, fisheries, dairy, commercial crops, food processing and many other sectors making it a one-of-a-kind network in agri-business in India. NIABI shall help innovators and entrepreneurs setup and operate successful agri business ventures thus serving as one stop solution for entrepreneurs across the country through co-business incubation platform. Innovators and entrepreneurs will be provided with ample support and services by the NIABI, right from access to scientists, state-of-the-art research facilities, a pool of commercializable technologies, to very basic needs like providing infrastructure facilities. NIABI also provides softlanding support for international firms that want to set-up base in India, and Indian companies that want to set up operations aboard.

Farmers need access to the most effective and appropriate technologies if they are to continue feeding a growing global population. For a country that depends so hugely on it's agriculture NIABI is a step in the right direction, an initiative that brings together two of the most powerful forces of the Indian economy, agriculture and entrepreneurship, both working towards one common goal, a brighter, greener future.