Status and Challenges of Agripreneurship: Relevance in COVID-19 Pandemic
Ayushi Pal *
Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.
Shivani Jha
Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Global pandemic COVID-19 severely impacted the agricultural economies of all countries, including India. The paper covers the current status of agribusiness in India and how it has emerged as a major indicator for growth and development during the pandemic. In India, MANAGE has trained 72,806 agri-graduates in agripreneurship, and as of December 2020, there were 30,583 (42%) active agriventures around the world. Majority of farmers have lost their markets as a result of lockdown, and due to travel limitations, lack of training and consulting services resulted in crop loss, high produce prices, and labour scarcity. Agri Bazaar, Harvesting Farmer Network, Agricx Lab, CropIn, Bigbasket, Agrostar, Sickle Innovations, Agrirain, Farmguide, and PayAgri are few Agri-startups that arose in India during the pandemic to address the issues that farmers faced. Reorienting current agriculture towards agribusiness within the existing opportunities has the potential to significantly alter the lives farmers and its stakeholders as agripreneurship has demonstrated the path to farmer growth and sustainability even during the pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19, agripreneurship, agri-startups, e-extension, e-commerce, entrepreneurship