First Global Conference on Agribusiness Incubation at ICRISAT

Online, February 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), for the first time ever, will host a three-day Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubation Conference (NIABI 2011), from 08 to 10 March 2011 at its headquarters in Patancheru near Hyderabad, India.

The mission of the NIABI is to enhance agribusiness development and impacts on agriculture through business incubation
Co-sponsored by the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and ICRISAT, the NIABI 2011 aims to create global awareness and build competencies on agribusiness incubation among entrepreneurs and establish global partnerships. Likewise, it will promote start-up agribusiness ventures for the benefit of farmers by establishing agribusiness incubators. In addition, it also aims to enhance the capacity of at least 60 incubator managers and enlighten policy makers and funding agencies on the roadmap for funding and support for the NIABI network. An exhibition featuring startup ventures will also be held throughout the conference.
The NIABI 2011 will be participated in by agricultural entrepreneurs, agribusiness incubators, agricultural research institutions, funding agencies, venture capitalists, entrepreneurship development organizations and government organizations from various countries.

The conference will highlight panel discussions by eminent speakers, experts, agricultural entrepreneurs and investors including networking opportunities with global leaders in agribusiness incubation and funding agencies.
"Indian agriculture is full of challenges and opportunities. We have a wide gap among research, extension and farmers. Hence, there are immense requisites to share agricultural innovations with farmers. In this context, we have a major offer at ICAR in the form of the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI)," said Dr. S. Ayyappan, Director General, ICAR and Vice-Chair of ICRISAT's Governing Board.

Emphasizing the importance of conference, ICRISAT Director General William Dar said, "The conference will serve as a platform in outlining the process and sharing experiences in incubating agribusiness ventures for agricultural development. It will also help promote agricultural entrepreneurs and their innovations through partnerships, technology exchange, business development and funding. We expect important outcomes from the conference like capacity building for agricultural entrepreneurs."
The conference will also mark the launching of the Global Agribusiness Incubation Network (GABI) which will be spearheaded by ICRISAT and ICAR.
To register and get more details, please visit www.niabi.in.

About ICRISAT
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics has over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agriculture.
ICRISAT is headquartered in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, with two regional hubs and four country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. It belongs to the Consortium of Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). For more details about ICRISAT, please visit www.icrisat.org.

About NIABI
The Indian Council of Agriculture and Research (ICAR), the apex body of Govt. of India for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture had initiated the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI). NIABI has been set-up through National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), World Bank aided project wherein ICAR has been acting as a catalyzing agent for management of change in the Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS).

NIABI is operated out of 10 Business Planning & Development (BPDs) units of the five ICAR research institutes and five State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) coordinated by the Agri-Business Incubator of ICRISAT's Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (ABI-AIP). The mission of NIABI is "to enhance agri-business development and impacts on agriculture through co-business incubation". NIABI covers a wide spectrum in agriculture and allied sectors like veterinary, fisheries, dairy, commercial crops, food processing and many other sectors making it a one-of-a-kind network in agri-business in India.

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