Critical Success Factors (CSF) for Agri-clinics and Agri-business Centers (AC & ABC) Scheme in India

Abstract

The Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) is an innovative scheme implemented in India which tries to transform unemployed agricultural graduates as agripreneurs through entrepreneurship development tra ining and appropriate financial support in order to extend broad-based extension services to the peasant commu nity. Though, over 15000 agricultural graduates are trained in this scheme, the success rate of establishment of a gribusiness ventures by the trained graduates is only 35%. This fact necessitates identifying critical success f actors (CSF) of successfully established agribusiness ventures and inculcating such CSF in the mindset of interested graduates through appropriate training. Keeping this in view, a study conducted by National Academy of Agricul tural Research Management (NAARM), delineated 14 CSF through a pilot study in the first step and standardized and p rioritized through a questionnaire survey among successful agripreneurs (87) by rank-based quotient (RBQ) analy sis. The results of this study not only provide pointers for nodal training institutes (NTIs) to redesign the training programmes but also ideas for promoting entrepreneurship in agriculture. This paper also presents the details a bout the success stories of three agripreneurs that were documented during the pilot survey, which would serve as str ong business lessons for the agricultural graduates who dream to become successful agripreneurs.