Pusa Krishi, ICAR-IARI

ARISE takes early-stage ideas and prototypes in agriculture and allied sectors and tries to turn them into businesses. It runs an online mentoring phase first, then a year of incubation at Pusa Krishi for the teams that clear the jury pitch. Registration was closed when this was written; the 2026 cycle ran from 17 April to 17 May, with results on 10 June and the cohort starting between 15 June and 15 July.

What you get

• Mentoring and coaching from technical experts and business leaders
• Technical validation, business assessment and IP checks on your prototype
• A pitch to a panel of experts, and for those selected, a year of incubation with grant support released against milestones
• Field trials and pilot opportunities
• Access to Pusa Krishi's network of startups and founders

Who can apply

• Indian citizens with an idea, innovation or early-stage startup in agriculture or an allied sector
• No incorporated company is required
• You may apply having raised funding, but not if you have already received government grant support above the stated threshold for the same product or service
• One innovation per applicant
• Applicants must not be blacklisted by a government body and must have no pending litigation

How selection works: A panel scores applications on need, novelty, technical feasibility, business viability, scalability, social impact, market size, team capabilities and projected financial growth. Shortlisted applicants attend a selection committee interview, then join the online mentoring cohort. At the end of it, startups pitch to a jury, and the shortlisted ones enter the year of incubation with grant support.

How to apply: Through the open call on the Pusa Krishi site when the next cycle opens. An application can be saved and finished later, but cannot be edited after submission. Applying is free.

UPJA is the track for startups that have got past the prototype and have something working. It offers technology validation, mentoring, pilot opportunities, go-to-market support and industry linkage, and follows the same two-phase route as ARISE into a year of incubation at Pusa Krishi. Registration was closed when this was written; the 2026 cycle ran 17 April to 17 May, results on 10 June, cohort start 15 June to 15 July.

What you get

• Technology validation and technical, business and IP assessment
• Mentoring and coaching from technical experts and business leaders
• Pilot opportunities, field trials and industry linkage
• Go-to-market support
• For teams selected at the jury pitch, a year of incubation with grant support released in tranches

Who can apply

• Startups with an innovative solution in agriculture or an allied sector at minimum viable product stage
• Indian citizens
• Applicants who have previously received grant funding under any state or central government scheme are not eligible
• No incorporation requirement is stated on the programme page

How selection works: The same route as ARISE — panel scoring against the stated parameters, a selection committee interview, the online mentoring cohort, then a jury pitch that decides who enters the year of incubation with grant support.

How to apply: Through the open call on the Pusa Krishi site. Applications can be saved and completed later but not edited once submitted. Applying is free.

SHITIJ gives early-stage agri startups capacity building, infrastructure and a year of incubation. It starts with a fifteen-day intensive training and mentoring block with experts across domains, designed to build technical and business understanding and get the cohort collaborating, and then moves into the incubation year at Pusa Krishi with continuous assessment. The incubation period can be extended for teams that perform well. No intake was open when this was written and no dates are published. Pusa Krishi's own history dates the programme to 2021-22.

What you get

• Fifteen days of intensive training and mentoring with experts across domains
• A year of incubation at Pusa Krishi with continuous assessment and support, extendable on strong performance
• Infrastructure and resources at the Pusa campus
• Collaboration with the other startups in the cohort

Who can apply

• Indian citizens with an idea, innovation or early-stage startup in agriculture or an allied sector
• You may apply if you have already raised funding — SHITIJ states no restriction
• One innovation per applicant

How selection works: Applications are evaluated on need, novelty, technical feasibility, business viability, scalability, social impact, market size, team capabilities and projected financial growth, and shortlisted applicants attend a selection committee interview.

How to apply: Watch the SHITIJ page for the next call. An application can be saved and finished later but cannot be edited once submitted.

ICAR SHITIJ 2.0 is run under the National Agriculture Innovation Fund through the ICAR Agribusiness Incubation Centre network, connecting fifty ICAR centres on a hub-and-spoke model. Those fifty centres are the ICAR network, not Pusa Krishi's own sites. Applications are submitted through the designated hub and spoke centres rather than only to Pusa Krishi. The 2026 edition opened on 3 July and closed on 31 July, with the selection committee meeting 10-12 August, results on 17 August and the online programme running 20 August to 19 October.

What you get

• A structured two-month online incubation programme
• Expert, business and technical mentoring
• Industry connect and access to infrastructure and facilities
• Pilot opportunities and market linkages, and connects for funding
• Selected ventures can go on to physical incubation, one-to-one mentoring and technology validation at a spoke centre

Who can apply

• Indian citizens with an innovation, idea, product or solution relevant to agriculture
• No stage, incorporation or geography gate is published

How selection works: Applications go through the designated hub and spoke centres, supported by outreach, boot camps and awareness programmes, and then through a two-stage evaluation conducted jointly by the hub and spoke centres. Selected startups get official confirmation and are enrolled.

How to apply: Through the designated hub and spoke ICAR agribusiness incubation centres when the next edition opens.

BEEJ is a two-week online bootcamp built to take a raw concept to something you could take to an incubator. Pusa Krishi is clear that completing it does not get you automatic entry into incubation, but it is meant to make you ready to apply. Registration was closed and the next edition was listed as launching soon when this was written. Pusa Krishi's own history dates the programme to 2021.

What you get

• Daily expert-led masterclasses on innovation and leadership, finance, marketing, logistics and supply chain, and intellectual property
• Lean canvas development, mapping your business model
• Structured validation to pressure-test problem-solution fit
• Real-time feedback from industry veterans and peer learning with the cohort
• A validated business roadmap and a sharpened pitch, plus the documents formal incubation asks for
• A certificate of completion

Who can apply

• Students, first-time entrepreneurs and early-stage founders interested in agriculture and agri-tech
• You can join with a raw concept — no company, prototype or prior traction is required

How to apply: Watch the BEEJ page for the next edition. Sessions are delivered online, so you do not need to travel.

Her Harvest is Pusa Krishi's masterclass series built around women in business, art, design, social media, finance and technology, run as interactive workshops, discussions and debates. Pusa Krishi says it has no direct connection to the incubation programmes, though the skills are meant to help you prepare an incubation application. Registration was closed and the next edition listed as launching soon when this was written.

What you get

• Five expert sessions
• Access to knowledge resources
• Network and community building with the cohort
• An e-certificate on completion

Who can apply

• Presented as a series for women entrepreneurs, though the programme's own eligibility answer says all entrepreneurs are welcome
• You can attend with your co-founder and team members

How to apply: Through the call on the Her Harvest page when the next edition opens. There is a one-time participation fee.

MAITRI is not an open intake. It is Pusa Krishi's route for building cross-border partnerships in agriculture — knowledge exchange between partner countries, and market access across borders. The India-Brazil strand was launched in 2019 with the Embassy of Brazil in New Delhi and ICAR-IIMR Hyderabad, with support from the Department of Science and Technology, and ran at Pusa Krishi from 9 to 15 December 2019. A ten-day virtual edition followed on 7 December 2021. MAITRI 2.0 launched on 22 September 2025 as a ten-day programme focused on agri-incubators, with six days at ICAR-IARI in New Delhi and four at ICAR-NIVEDI in Bengaluru, including expert sessions, panel discussions and field visits.

What you get

• Market linkages in the partner countries
• Focused visits to partner institutions abroad
• Incubation and commercialization support in partner countries
• Collaboration with international startups
• Training and workshops with global experts
• Access to infrastructure at IARI

How to apply: No open call is published. Watch the MAITRI page and the Latest News page for the next edition.

SAMARTH is aimed at other incubators, not at founders. It builds the capacity of incubation managers and their centres across the network of knowledge partners and R-ABIs set up under the RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme, sharing practices for managing startups, running incubation programmes and developing entrepreneurship. Pusa Krishi's own page gives the network as 31 centres in its text and 29 or more on its counters. It reports ten workshops hosted and more than 400 participants benefited. No intake was open when this was written.

What participating incubators get

• Expert mentorship and hand-holding in running incubation programmes
• Access to Pusa Krishi's network of mentors, institutions and investors
• Support for operational and documentation work
• Funding opportunities for incubators and their startups
• Collaboration with other incubators

Who can take part: Agri-incubators in the RKVY-RAFTAAR knowledge partner and R-ABI network. Founders should look at ARISE, UPJA or SHITIJ instead.

Pusa Krishi runs multi-day in-person skill courses at ICAR-IARI, Pusa, jointly with the institute's subject divisions. Recent editions have covered next-generation food processing, mushroom cultivation, bioinformatics for agri-tech, millet-based snacks, biofertilizers and microbial solutions, protected horticulture and microgreens. The next listed edition is Next-Generation Food Processing: Opportunities for Agripreneurs, from 5 to 10 October 2026, covering emerging food processing technologies, hands-on technical skills, value-added products, FSSAI quality and standards, and licensing and certification guidance.

What you get

• Hands-on technical training at the Pusa campus with ICAR-IARI scientists and divisions
• Subject-specific skills you can take back into a product

Who can apply

• Startups, students, farmers and other stakeholders — no stage or incorporation gate

How to apply: Register through the Trainings page. These courses carry a participation fee, unlike the incubation programmes.