Budget 2023 | Accelerator fund to be set up to support agricultural startups

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an accelerator fund to support agricultural startups, during her speech at the Union Budget session 2023-24 in the Parliament on Wednesday.

She said, "The fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers. It will also bring in modern technologies to transform agricultural practices, increase productivity and profitability."

She also added that Digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard and inter operable public good. This will enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.

Responding to the announcement, Karthik Jayaraman, Co-Founder and MD of food and Agri-tech platform WayCool Foods said, "The agriculture sector despite being the major contributor to the GDP is still faced with a plethora of challenges, and the launch of the Agriculture Accelerator fund will provide ample relief to the industry, in terms of encouraging young entrepreneurs towards the sector while also bringing in innovative and affordable solutions to address the challenges faced by the farmers, especially in terms of enhancing profitability and equipping modern technology."

ICRA also agreed that the Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture will aid farm productivity and that the accelerator fund would help improve the usage of technology in the agricultural sector.