Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute

Choosing the right programme

• Agri and food startups should start with EDII-TABIF, the incubator on campus.
• Students and farmers with an agri or food idea can also contact the incubator, which lists them as an audience.
• Food businesses that want processing skills rather than incubation can look at the food processing training centre.

How applications work

• Submit a detailed business proposal through the incubator's online application portal.
• Use the contact form and choose Incubation Application if the portal is unclear.
• Coworking space is listed separately and can be requested through the same contact form.

How selection works

• Shortlisted applicants are invited to a pitching session.

What reviewers look for

• A clear agri or food product or service, and a detailed business proposal.

Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute is a constituent college of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, on the Navalurkottapattu campus in Tiruchirappalli. The campus also hosts EDII-TABIF, an agri-business incubator, and a food processing incubation and training centre.

How programmes work

The college teaches agriculture. It offers a B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture course and postgraduate programmes in Agronomy, Soil Science, Genetics and Plant Breeding, and Entomology. Its stated mission also covers agripreneurship, so entrepreneurship work runs alongside teaching and research.

The main startup route is EDII-TABIF, known in full as the Trichy Agribusiness Incubation Forum. The college's website describes it as a Section 8 company, funded by the Tamil Nadu entrepreneurship institute EDII and supported by the university. The incubator's own site describes workspace, mentorship, resources and business support for startups working in agriculture and allied sectors.

The food processing centre, FPITC, has been functioning for several years under the college's Department of Horticulture. It transfers food processing technology to women, entrepreneurs, self help groups and small industries. It runs training courses in fruit and vegetable processing, cereal and millet processing, bakery products and convenience foods. Its training courses are fee-based.

Who can apply

EDII-TABIF lists its audience as startups, farmers, students, innovators and entrepreneurs working in agri and food sectors. Startups apply through an online portal with a detailed business proposal. Shortlisted candidates are invited to a pitching session.

Facilities

The incubator's site lists a startup co-working space, a food processing centre, laboratories, machinery and equipment, and support facilities. Its food processing centre covers dairy processing equipment, bakery and confectionery work, packing, and cold storage and logistics.

Scale

The incubator's pages give different counts of the startups it has supported, so this page does not give a single figure. The same pages report mentors, jobs created and funding support as self-reported figures.

Who runs it

The college is led by its Dean. EDII-TABIF lists a nodal officer, incubation coordinators and an operations team on its about page.

Research and extension

The campus also houses a Centre of Excellence on Soil Health and a Farm Women Knowledge Centre. The knowledge centre runs under state government funding. The programmes covered integrated farming systems, backyard poultry, nursery technology, dry flower value addition, microgreens, and digital access to agricultural knowledge.

Student entrepreneurship

Students take part in pitching competitions and skill programmes linked to the incubator.

Partners

The incubator's site names Tamil Nadu Agricultural University as its host institute, and the Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute of Tamil Nadu as its funding agency. It describes itself as working with industry partners and CSR support, and lists the Tiruchirappalli campus as its base. Its pages do not give a single set of office hours: one lists six working days, another lists Monday to Friday, so visitors should confirm before calling in.

Locations

The college campus is at Navalurkottapattu, Tiruchirappalli, 620027, Tamil Nadu. The college says it is spread over 30 hectares, and its stated objectives include running an agricultural instructional farm for students.