Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, India

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India, is the apex central government body responsible for policy formulation and scheme implementation across agriculture, horticulture, and allied sectors. Headquartered at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

Startup & Agritech Ecosystem Programs

The Ministry's flagship startup initiative is the RKVY-RAFTAAR (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation) Agripreneurship Programme, implemented via agristartup.gov.in. This scheme strengthens agritech infrastructure and nurtures the incubation ecosystem across India.

How it works: RKVY-RAFTAAR operates through a national network of Knowledge Partners (KPs) and RKVY Agri-Business Incubators (R-ABIs) hosted at premier institutions including IITs, NITs, ICAR institutes, and agricultural universities.

Funding support:

• Pre-seed stage: up to ₹5 lakh per startup
• Seed stage: up to ₹25 lakh per startup (85% borne by the scheme, 15% by the incubatee)
• Funding released in three milestone-driven installments

As of 2024, the program has supported over 1,700 agri-startups across India through 5 Knowledge Partners and 24 R-ABIs, with cumulative disbursements of approximately ₹122.5 crore.

Eligibility

Startups must be incubated at an RKVY-RAFTAAR R-ABI and resident for a minimum of 2 months. Startups already receiving grants from other government sources are not eligible. Ventures must operate in agriculture or allied sectors.

Who Should Apply

Early-stage agritech, food tech, and farm-linked startups seeking non-dilutive government grant funding with structured incubation. The scheme is particularly suited to pre-seed or seed stage founders who want direct access to government-backed incubation infrastructure and expert mentorship without giving up equity.