6,000 Not Enough!: VP Dhankhar Calls for Agri-Startup Boom to Power Farmer Prosperity

 

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has urged India to greatly scale up its agri-startup ecosystem, adding that 6,000 agri-startups are not enough for a nation of 1.4 billion and 100 million farming families. Speaking at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Dhankhar urged entrepreneurs to avail themselves of government incentives and drive innovation, research, and entrepreneurship in agriculture. He emphasized a shift from "food security" to "farmer prosperity," summoning farmers to be businesspeople and traders, not just producers.

Dhankhar referred to the robust government support, including a ₹1 lakh crore budget for Farmer Producer Organisations, and asked for seamless connectivity between research labs and fields through active Krishi Vigyan Kendras. He also asked for more corporate engagement and direct benefit transfers to farmers with the vision of attaining an agri-sector quantum leap in GDP contribution.

 

Source: The Hans India