New Delhi, Oct 19 (KNN) Taking major policy initiatives for Agriculture Startups, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday announced Rs 500 crore accelerator programme for taking forward and popularizing the successful initiatives of Agri Startups.

While addressing the Agri Startup Conference organized on the second day of PM Kisan Samman Sammelan in Delhi, Tomar informed that a high-level steering committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Agriculture Minister for overall guidance of the Agriculture Startup ecosystem.

As per reports, the executive committee will comprise of concerned agencies like DARE, DPIIT, agricultural incubators and knowledge partners, agricultural universities, research institutes, top investors and other stakeholders.

A cell will also be created to work as a single window agency for Agri Startups to facilitate all linkages required with certification agencies, financial institutions, agricultural universities etc.

During his address, Tomar said that marketing linkage would be created with organizations like e-NAM and NAFED to meet the market needs of the products developed by the Agri Startups. A portal will also be developed to create a database for all Agriculture Startups and monitor their development.

“Eight years ago there were only 80-100 Agricultural Startups, whereas due to the relentless efforts of PM Modi, today their number is more than 2,000, out of which hundreds of them have been provided training and financial assistance under the scheme of Ministry of Agriculture. The target of the Central Government is to take this number to 10,000,” he said.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary and Sushri Shobha Karandlaje were amongst those present on the occasion. Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Director General of ICAR Himanshu Pathak also addressed the conclave. (KNN Bureau)