Agricultural Entrepreneurship- Complete Guide About Agripreneur

Agricultural Entrepreneurship- Complete Guide About Agripreneur: A major change has been observed over the past thirty years in the agricultural markets and the trade of agricultural products across the globe. The world is growing and shifted from the national market to the international system of trading, which indicates that, the farmers with a plot of land competing with the huge industrial farmers of other nations in a single marketplace.

In some under-developing nations, there is a pressure on the local farmers for the commercialization of the operations. Here are some factors that have driven all these changes:

• Decline in the size of the land: It refers to the needs of the farmers that they want a more innovative system for production and supports the basic amenities of the family. 
• The second factor is the growth of Urban Areas and a rapid increase in the population.
• General Modernization: There is a need to generate more incomes to support the necessities of farming families and their expectations to get the medical facilities, education, better transport, interaction and also covers the additional cost related to the traditional as well as cultural functions.

Agricultural Entrepreneurship- Complete Guide About Agripreneur

To support the agripreneur needs of the farmers, the authorities need to formulate some new skills and this is beneficial in the process of commercialization also. The farmers need to grow the farm plans with the help of other individual farmers and also, working with the distinctive levels of farmer organizations from groups to the corporations. This will help analyze the areas of market, sales and financing and building various farming business opportunities with the clients.

So, the concept of Agricultural Entrepreneurship is introduced to support the farmers, group of farmers as well as agricultural industries by improving the methods of production and increase the market engagements. An agripreneur is a person who supports and manages a business venture by focusing on the agricultural sector only. 

What do you understand by Agripreneurship? 

Entrepreneurship refers to the ability to take high risks, prosper, manage and organize a new business enterprise to earn the profit. Agricultural Entrepreneurship, also known as Agripreneurship, means the term which is associated with the marketing as well as manufacturing of different agricultural products and inputs too. 

Small farmers produce food for their family but at the same token, they sell a small portion of their products into several markets and it increases the level of market sales. So, the working of the small farmers indicates that they are an agricultural entrepreneur. In this way, the Entrepreneurs can work solely and keep the profit from the manufacture or they can be a part of Farmer’s group and sell the crop collectively and get the profit accordingly. Moreover, the farmers enter into the business relationships with other value chain partners such as agents, and also, this forms an approach of contractual marketing which may lead to large business industries at the end if they get success. 

Also See: Ecopreneurship Features, Companies: Who is an Ecopreneur?

The role of extensionist in the development of Agripreneurship

To become an Agricultural Entrepreneur, the farmers, particularly the smallholder farmers, as well as a group of farmers need to develop their understanding related to the opportunities of market and economy. At the same token, they ought to be able to get success in the farms, groups and corporations as profitable businesses. Although the farmers can adopt the innovation and maybe an entrepreneur, they lack the knowledge related to the markets regularly and for the same, they need to get advice and support from the extension services to move their sales to a regular, stable and profitable sales.

The significance of Agriprneurial development 

A research study was conducted by the World Bank in the year 2015 and it was observed that: 

• The accessibility to vital extension services was about 10 to 12 per cent of the small farmers as the large industries in the field of agriculture were crowding the essential benefits of smaller farmers.
• First of all, the farmers focused on the basic amenities of their family and not considered their farmers as enterprises.
• All types of extension support that the small farmers got, was roaming around improving the productivity and not on increasing the profitability of the enterprise to make it sure that the lives are sustainable.

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Based on the information, it was finalized that a new point of view to the extension services and policies needed to be introduced that insures the following changes: 

• Agriculture should be considered as an enterprise and the farmer should be an entrepreneur.
• The opinion of the extension services is to move from the reduction in the profit to the creation of the wealth. 
• The main motive of the extension services is to put the focus on the profitability along with the enhancement in the production. 

The expansion of remote areas is connected to the entrepreneurship rapidly and is regarded as the development that promotes as well as speed up the process of rural development. Furthermore, individuals and groups agree that there is an extensive need for the promotion of rural industries. Instead of offering employment opportunities to the people of remote areas, agricultural entrepreneurship is considered as one of the ways to improve the quality of life for families and individuals. Moreover, the focus idea is to promote the farmers as Entrepreneurs and then, to learn and perform as an Entrepreneur. 

Difference between Agripreneruship and traditional extension methods

Traditionally, most of the extension agents were supported by the government and Non-Governmental Organizations to help the farmers. They help the farmers in group working and to grow more produce to develop the option of agri-enterprise with the help of a cooperative approach. 

In the 1990s, a marketing component has developed by the extension agencies to establish a link between the farmers and markets. However, the marketing approach has importantly focused on achieving the economies of scale under which they sell the products through a different group of marketers. The farmer group support model is not regarded as outdated due to its advantage to the millions of farmers in a wide range of products and different markets. Moreover, there is another approach known as Individualistic which is considered as catalytic and the aim is to develop business opportunities. 

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The Value of extension in Agripreneurship

It is observed that agriculture is not enough to meet the basic needs of farmers and their families. So, they are moving from remote areas to urban areas to support their business ambitions. Developing the agripreneurs is a means to come across the latest trend of the extension agents. The value of extension agents in the field of agripreneurship is to assist agripreneurs to:

• Grow some more agricultural businesses. 
• Form the opportunities for wealth, work and job.
• Assist agripreneurs to innovate the farming of local communities.
• Give more opportunities for the farmers to support them better lives by giving the necessities.

The role of Extension agents in agripreneur development

To achieve the greater commercialization, all the farmers whether small or big need better advice and support from the extension agents. Extension agents work with the individual farmer entrepreneurs as well as groups of farmers, corporations, associations. Extensionists support them in: 

• Analyzing market. 
• Working with partners in a value chain.
• Developing plans for the farm.
• Building large opportunities for business.
• Developing skills and knowledge required for a successful entrepreneur. 

Business Development Services in Agripreneurship 

Umpteen number of financial and non-financial factors faced by the farmers and agripreneurs that have a detrimental impact on the growth of the business. The factors include the low level of education, inadequate skills on a technical basis, lack of information and poor access to the market. So, the business development services help these farmers to increase their productivity as well as profitability by availing all these services. It also becomes competitive in the market.

With the number of extension agencies in the market, farmers have great access to the services lead to the development of the business via the distinctive kinds of agencies. The new extension agencies and the more diversified industries help to meet the requirements of the business for the farmers and their organizations and also, allow efficiently competing within the market. In addition to this, they can also build the ability among farmers to gain business skills in some of the areas such as: 

• Analyzing the demand and opportunities in the market;
• Mapping the chain of the market;
• Making the decisions that are related to the demand and production of the product selection;
• Recording the cost of production;
• Undertaking the analysis of the profitability margin;
• Maintaining the records relating to the finance of the business;
• Evaluating the services related to the expansion of the business and improves the competition in the market;
• Growing a common vision for investment in the business;
• Preparing the business plan and investing in the same. 

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The business skills of farmers and their enterprises get more refined, the group needs to learn some more about them: 

• Meeting the specifications of the product at a profit;
• Negotiation between the business models and value chain partners;
• Evaluating the sales, profitability and growth based on seasons;
• The profitability of the whole farm;
• Generating plans that work for the long term.                 

The characteristics of a successful entrepreneur

Several common features that flourishing agricultural entrepreneurs have:

• Initiative and capability to identify and take the proper benefits of the opportunities;
• Ought to be single-minded and willingness to adopt innovative as well as traditional opinions;
• Should be an inventive leader and ready the disturb the quo of the status;
• Always looking for some creative ideas to make improvements and expand their organization;
• Operate a business in a different zone that takes more ideas that are less popular in other’s perspective and opinion;
• Combat in a good way with the threat as well as insecurity;
• Ought to be visionary and evaluate the risks to calculate it before;
• Organizing people in a good way and build up strategies as well as technologies to suits with the changing environment;
• Should be a creative problem solver and understand the whole process of decision-making.  

Why Entrepreneurial Orientation for Agriculture?

The entrepreneurship is a process under which the individual gets conscious of business ownership as an option or an alternative and develop new ideas for business. Moreover, they try to learn the whole procedure of becoming an entrepreneur and the initiative has been undertaken for the development of the business. It indicates the practical application of all qualities, such as innovation, creativity as well as risk-taking into the environment of work. The development of rural agriculture requires innovation in farm entrepreneurship. It is a long term and a tough business to stabilize innovation and increase productivity.

Also See: Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship: Economic, Social & Cultural

The livelihood activity across the globe is Agriculture. The low rate of productivity and the existence of disguised unemployment are two inherent ills in Indian Agriculture. However, the term “Agripreneur” is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds. The term “Entrepreneur” is quite new in the field of agriculture. But the Agricultural Entrepreneur is a person who manages and develops agricultural products. It is a strategic development in the agriculture sector and also helpful in the development of remote areas. By 2050, more than sixty-six per cent of the world’s population shifted to urban areas.