Now Reading: Kerala Agri University to support agri-enterprises in value addition
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Kerala Agri University to support agri-enterprises in value addition
The Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) will continue to support enterprises that transform agricultural produce into value-added products, creating greater income and employment opportunities. Vice-Chancellor T. Sajitha Rani said the Agri Business Incubator (ABI) has been playing a model role by providing farmers, entrepreneurs and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with training, technical support, entrepreneurial guidance, incubation and mentoring.
ABI facilitates opportunities for their products in domestic and international markets and strengthens market linkages. Rani was speaking at the Merit Day organised by ABI to honour students who demonstrated academic excellence in the agriculture and food sector, state-level award-winning entrepreneurs and FPOs. K. P. Sudheer, Professor and Head of ABI, highlighted Juz Crush, a fruit and vegetable processing enterprise that utilised support through RKVY-RAFTAAR and the PMFME Common Incubation Facility to strengthen processing and marketing and export to several countries.
Indian Opinion Analysis
KAU's ABI operates under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, both central government programmes aimed at boosting farm incomes. The export success of Juz Crush shows that small processing units can reach international markets if backed by institutional hand-holding. With Kerala's high share of small and marginal farmers, scaling such incubators could shift the state's agriculture from raw commodity sales to branded processed goods. The next milestone to watch is how many of the 12,000-plus FPOs registered in Kerala eventually commercialise through such support.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
