<div>The ACABC (Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centres) scheme is being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers&rsquo; Welfare, Government of India, with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) (&ldquo;NABARD-National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development&rdquo; n.d.) acting as subsidy channelizing agency and National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) will be responsible for providing training to eligible candidates, through Nodal Training Institutes (NTIs) and motivating them for setting up of Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres. Whereas the Nodal Training Institute (NTI) is desirous of undertaking to implement the training and handholding component of the said Scheme with MANAGE (&ldquo;MoU-ACABC&rdquo; n.d.). JNKVV, Jabalpur is a Nodal Training Institute (NTI) of MANAGE, Hyderabad for providing training on Agripreneurship under the Agri-Clinic and Agri. Business Centre scheme 2010 (www.agriclinics.net) of Govt. of India, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. (&ldquo;Revised Guideline ACABC-2010&rdquo; 2011). The present study was conducted in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state during 2014 to 2020 and based on the primary data collected through field survey by personal interaction, telephonic interaction, pre-tested questionnaires from 60 sample agri-graduates of NTI. Used statistical methods such as frequency, score and percentage to find this out the problems of agripreneurs in establishing and operating agriventures after successful completion of training programme. In the results, it was found that lack of own fund to start venture, status of confusion between job or entrepreneurship, lack of proper handholding support from NTIs, lack of family support, lack of business and field experience (Managerial and technical), high rate of interest on loan and a difficulty bank documentation process in getting bank loans were the major problems in establishing agriventure, while heavy competition from existing market players, marketing and infrastructural problems, perishability and seasonability of products, fluctuation in demand and prices of products, illiteracy and lack of knowledge of the farmers and insufficient working capital to run the business were the major problems faced by agripreneurs in operating agriventure (Lal <em>et al.</em> 2015). Thus, the present study mainly focused on the major problems faced by agripreneurs in starting and operation of agriventures under the agriclinic and agribusiness centre (ACABCs) scheme.</div>


<p>Barriers Faced by Agripreneurs in Starting and Operating Agriventures under ACABC Scheme: An Analysis</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres (AC and ABCs) is a scheme implemented by the Government of India in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide assistance for the development of entrepreneurship in agriculture, creating employment opportunities for the unemployed agricultural graduates and also providing extension services to the farmers in rural areas. The present study is a modest attempt to evaluate the progress and performance of the Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres scheme in India from its inception to the present day by looking at state-by-state, training institute-by-training institute and project-by-project results.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The study is based on the contemporary analysis of secondary data gathered from books, magazines, newspapers, reports, Publications, Research Articles and official websites from 1<sup>st </sup>April 2002 to 31<sup>st</sup> December 2021. Furthermore, the researcher acquired knowledge from both published and unpublished thesis in order to make the study interesting and beneficial.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> It is found from the analysis that Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are the leading states in implementing the scheme successfully as compared to the Hilly States. A little attention is focused on hilly states in terms of training and establishing agriventures. Hence, the government should pay special attention to the hilly states and take suitable policy measures to meet the requirements of the farmers residing in Hilly areas and also on fulfilling the goals of the scheme.</div>


Barriers Faced by Agripreneurs in Starting and Operating Agriventures under ACABC Scheme: An Analysis

Progress and Performance of Agri-clinics and Agri-business Centres Scheme in India