ICAR-NDRI Agribusiness Incubation Programme

Is this for you?

• You want to start or grow a dairy farm, a milk processing unit or a food processing business.
• You are a student, farmer or young job seeker who wants hands-on training before starting out.
• You need testing, feasibility reports or pilot processing equipment before you commit to your own plant.

How to get in

• Pick a training from the 2026-27 calendar and note its batch dates.
• The institute asks aspirants to contact the ABI office for details, so phone first on 0184-2259254 or 2259257.
• For incubation space or virtual incubation, ask the office what is open; no intake window or online form is published.

Plan for costs

• Trainings are paid, and you also pay travel, boarding and lodging. Institute accommodation is available on payment, subject to availability.

The Agribusiness Incubation Programme, known as ABI, is the agri-business incubation unit of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, Haryana. It helps farmers, entrepreneurs, unemployed youth and students start and run dairy and food processing businesses, with training, mentoring, testing and shared processing space.

What ABI does

The institute lists three aims. The first is to run capacity building programmes in scientific dairy farming and dairy and food processing. The second is to give services in quality evaluation, research and development and market research. The third is to link trainees and entrepreneurs with development agencies, NGOs, private organisations, dairy and food industries and funding agencies. Its main activities are Entrepreneurship Development Programmes, mentor support for developing a business idea, nurturing entrepreneurial aptitude among students, help with R and D, business incubation, linkages with other ABIs, NGOs, MSME and NABARD, and market assistance.

Business incubation

The incubation side is for small entrepreneurs setting up dairy farms or food and dairy processing units. The institute describes business incubation infrastructure with space for an office, a laboratory, a complete processing line and test marketing. It also helps with project feasibility reports, submissions to banks and funding agencies, regulatory licences, test marketing and the commercial launch of products. A virtual incubatee gets a core team to help with quality improvement, product diversification and linkages.

Entrepreneurship Development Programmes

ABI runs a yearly calendar of short, hands-on trainings of five or six days each. The 2026-27 calendar covers milk and milk products processing, commercial dairy farming, ice cream, cheese and fermented products, among others. Batches still ahead include 2 to 7 November 2026, 7 to 12 December 2026, 25 to 30 January 2027 and 8 to 13 March 2027. Trainings are paid, and participants cover their own travel, boarding and lodging, though institute accommodation is offered when available.

Services and facilities

Entrepreneurs can use contract testing of dairy and food samples for physical, chemical and microbiological parameters, feed and fodder analysis, and microbial cultures. The institute also offers consultancy on setting up dairy farms, milk processing units and food testing laboratories, auditing of processing units for HACCP and ISO certification, and custom hiring of processing equipment for pilot and industrial scale trials.

The processing lines include a modular milk processing and packaging line, a canning line, a bakery and snack unit, and pilot-scale spray, cabinet, fluidized bed and vacuum tray dryers. The institute also has a Livestock Farm (2000 animal), a Fodder Farm (1000 acres), an Experimental Dairy Plant and a Model Dairy Plant.

Who runs it

ABI sits inside ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132001, and is headed by a senior scientist who is in charge of the programme. The institute also hosts a Technology Business Incubator, listed on its site as a separate unit. Contact is by phone through the ABI office; the page points to the sister incubator website for more details.