Barriers faced by agripreneurs in starting and operating agriventures under ACABC scheme: An analysis Pal Deepak1,*, Sharma Laveena1 1Nodal Training Institute-BPD Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur-482 004, Madhya Pradesh, India *Corresponding Author: Deepak Pal, Nodal Training Institute-BPD Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur-482 004, Madhya Pradesh, India, Email: deepakpal2010@gmail.com
Online published on 27 October, 2023. Abstract The ACABC (Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centres) scheme is being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) (“NABARD-National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development” n.d.) acting as subsidy channelizing agency and National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) will be responsible for providing training to eligible candidates, through Nodal Training Institutes (NTIs) and motivating them for setting up of Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres. Whereas the Nodal Training Institute (NTI) is desirous of undertaking to implement the training and handholding component of the said Scheme with MANAGE (“MoU-ACABC” n.d.). JNKVV, Jabalpur is a Nodal Training Institute (NTI) of MANAGE, Hyderabad for providing training on Agripreneurship under the Agri-Clinic and Agri. Business Centre scheme 2010 (www.agriclinics.net) of Govt. of India, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. (“Revised Guideline ACABC-2010” 2011). The present study was conducted in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state during 2014 to 2020 and based on the primary data collected through field survey by personal interaction, telephonic interaction, pre-tested questionnaires from 60 sample agri-graduates of NTI. Used statistical methods such as frequency, score and percentage to find this out the problems of agripreneurs in establishing and operating agriventures after successful completion of training programme. In the results, it was found that lack of own fund to start venture, status of confusion between job or entrepreneurship, lack of proper handholding support from NTIs, lack of family support, lack of business and field experience (Managerial and technical), high rate of interest on loan and a difficulty bank documentation process in getting bank loans were the major problems in establishing agriventure, while heavy competition from existing market players, marketing and infrastructural problems, perishability and seasonability of products, fluctuation in demand and prices of products, illiteracy and lack of knowledge of the farmers and insufficient working capital to run the business were the major problems faced by agripreneurs in operating agriventure (Lal et al. 2015). Thus, the present study mainly focused on the major problems faced by agripreneurs in starting and operation of agriventures under the agriclinic and agribusiness centre (ACABCs) scheme. Top Keywords ACABC, Agribusiness, Nodal Training Institute, Scheme. Top |