COIMBATORE, India, April 28, 2025: — In a country where over 100 million families depend on farming, yet only 6,000 agri-startup’s have emerged, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday delivered a critical message: India must urgently scale its agricultural innovation ecosystem to ensure the prosperity of its farmers and secure its future as a developed nation.
Addressing students, scientists, and entrepreneurs at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) during a national seminar on ‘Fostering Agri-Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Viksit Bharat’, the Vice President underscored a vital disconnect — despite fertile ground for innovation, India’s agri-startup sector remains alarmingly underdeveloped.
“For a nation of 1.4 billion people and 100 million farming families, 6,000 agri-startups is not just insufficient — it’s a call for action,” Dhankhar said with a sense of urgency.
At the heart of his speech was a push for entrepreneurship-driven agricultural transformation. The Vice President highlighted that the government has already laid down a robust financial foundation with allocations like the ₹1 lakh crore Agri-Infrastructure Fund, especially for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) — yet, uptake remains low, mainly due to a lack of awareness.
“The government has done its part. Now, the ecosystem — universities, innovators, entrepreneurs — must rise and inform, educate, and enable our farmers to benefit from it,” he added.
Agri-Startup’s, Beyond Subsistence: From Food Security to Farmer Prosperity
Dhankhar articulated a shift in agricultural policy thinking — from mere food security to farmer prosperity. He emphasized that farmers must break away from the traditional cycle of cultivation and low-margin sales, and instead take control of value chains, marketing, and processing.
“Farmers should not just be producers. They must participate in the value realization of their produce,” he said, calling for a transformation in how agricultural economics is approached.
In one of the most analytically potent points of the speech, Dhankhar urged institutions to dissolve the divide between scientific research and field implementation. With over 730 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and more than 150 research bodies under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), he called for these nodes to become the backbone of grassroots agricultural innovation.
“KVKs must become vibrant centers of direct farmer engagement. The lab and the land should not be connected — they must be united,” VP of India asserted.
A New Call to India’s Agri-Startup Innovators
The Vice President’s remarks are a clarion call to India’s startup ecosystem, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities, where agri-entrepreneurship holds vast untapped potential. His speech also signals an evolving policy priority — one where innovation, education, and empowerment converge to create a new future for Indian agriculture.
