AGRI-PRENEURSHIP APPROACH IN INDIA ? AN OVERVIEW

India’s Economy is principally dominated by Agricultural with more than 60% population dependent on agriculture. It accounts for about 20% of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the country. Since time immemorial, value additive activities are associated with agriculture, be it husking, milling, par-boiling and the like. India being predominantly agricultural, agri-preneurs play very vital and important role in the agricultural value chain. They contribute significantly to increase the agricultural GDP by the process of their value addition. As such, business in agriculture field is not new. However, farming all over the world, is experiencing a period of transformation. In this evolving situation, agriculture is taking a new shape and growing its degree past the points of confinement of unimportant yield development and animal husbandry for employment of rustic populace. Sustainable value addition is happening through the activities like diversification, value addition, precision farming, high ?tech agriculture, global marketing, organic farming etc. These value additive activities have added new dimensions to Agriculture by adding value in each stage of the value chain more popularly referred to as “Farm to Fork”. In terms of the real value added, as per a recent study, the Indian agriculture sector ranks third, after China and the United States. The share of agriculture in the total value added to the economy, at over 20 per cent, is still quite high. This implies that agriculture is likely to remain a priority, both for policy makers as well as business. Thus, Agri-entrepreneurs are turning local farming into global business.