The Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has won the Asian Association of Business Incubation (AABI ) Award for the year 2008.
AABI promotes business incubation activities by facilitating information exchanges among incubators, incubator clients and related organisations in Asia Pacific. It is composed of organisations operating incubation programmes in the Asia-Pacific region. There are more than 1,000 incubators in this region.
“This is a recognition of our initiatives in public-private partnership and highlight Icrisat’s unique model of incubation in agri-business. ABI-Icrisat is an innovative institutional mechanism to facilitate technology commercialisation and reach out to farmers through agri-business ventures,” Icrisat director general, William Dar, stated in a press release.
“Through ABI-Icrisat, we could make a difference to the livelihood of nearly 30,000 farmers through various products and services to over 60 incubated ventures. Currently, we are replicating similar agri-business incubator initiatives in partnership with domestic and international agricultural research institutes,” Dar added.
ABI-Icrisat was established with support from the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of Science and Technology and Government of India, in 2003. It promotes technology commercialisation through public-private partnership under the Agri-Science Park at Icrisat. It also provides a range of services that include agricultural technologies, business consultancy, facilitation of funding and provision of infrastructure and facilities. Entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to tap the expertise of Icrisat’s scientists.
