14th November 2024, Hyderabad
The two-day (12th-13th November 2024) national conference on building sustainable agricultural start-ups in India, organized by ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Management in collaboration with the Association for Innovation Development of Agriculture in India (a-IDEA), concluded today.
The Chief Guest for the valedictory session, Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), emphasized the importance of startups creating region-specific solutions to meet the diverse needs of end stakeholders. He also underscored the necessity for a clear roadmap to effectively address these requirements.
The Guest of Honor, Dr Seema Jaggi, Assistant Director General (HRD) ICAR, highlighted the importance, relevance, and timeliness of the conference theme and stressed the need to focus on skill enhancement, capacity building, value-added courses, and competency-based training to achieve sustainability.
Dr Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Director, ICAR-NAARM and President, a-IDEA, highlighted the importance of creating tailored solutions to achieve sustainable food security. He urged the need to establish an agri-start-up platform, build a robust network of farmer producer organizations (FPOs), and initiate a strong digital platform through a-IDEA by setting an example for other technology business incubators.
Dr S. Senthil Vinayagam, CEO, a-IDEA & Organizing Secretary of the conference, briefed about the conference and its objectives.
The Chief Guest for the inaugural session, Dr M. Prabhakar Rao, Chairman, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, Hyderabad, highlighted that “Start-ups should prioritize affordable, innovative, and need-based solutions.” Meanwhile, during the Chief Guest of the valedictory session, Shri S. Sivakumar, Group Head, Agri & IT Business at ITC Limited, Hyderabad, emphasized the crucial role of innovative digital solutions in addressing fundamental challenges in agriculture and related sciences.
The event featured five-panel discussions with eminent experts on key topics within the agricultural start-up ecosystem. In parallel, a networking session was organized, allowing participating start-ups to pitch their products, technologies, and services to FPOs. Additionally, over seventy-three start-ups showcased their innovations at dedicated stalls for visitors.
A policy paper on “Agriculture Sector Contributions in Achieving Net Zero Emission by 2070” and a-IDEA Newsletter were also released by the dignitaries during the conference.
Dr S. B. Barbuddhe, Director, ICAR-ICAR National Meat Research Institute, Hyderabad; Dr R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Director, ICAR-ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research; Dr Tara Sathyavathi, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research; Dr Sheshu Madhav, Director, National Intercollegiate Running Club Association; Dr V. Padmaraju, Former Vice-Chancellor, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University; Dr G.Venkateshwarlu, Former Joint Director; Dr V. Rama Subramaniam, Actg. Joint Director, ICAR-NAARM; Dr Praveen Mallik, CEO, AgrInnovate; Dr Satish, ED, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd.; Shri Asha Kiran, Progressive Farmer & RAC Member; officials of APEDA were also present during the two days conference.
A total of 1000 participants attended the programme.
(Source: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad)
Read more: https://www.icar.org.in/national-conference-building-sustainable-agricultural-startups-concluded
