Progress and Performance of Agri-clinics and Agri-business Centres Scheme in India

Background: Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres (AC and ABCs) is a scheme implemented by the Government of India in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide assistance for the development of entrepreneurship in agriculture, creating employment opportunities for the unemployed agricultural graduates and also providing extension services to the farmers in rural areas. The present study is a modest attempt to evaluate the progress and performance of the Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres scheme in India from its inception to the present day by looking at state-by-state, training institute-by-training institute and project-by-project results. Methods: The study is based on the contemporary analysis of secondary data gathered from books, magazines, newspapers, reports, Publications, Research Articles and official websites from 1st April 2002 to 31st December 2021. Furthermore, the researcher acquired knowledge from both published and unpublished thesis in order to make the study interesting and beneficial. Result: It is found from the analysis that Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are the leading states in implementing the scheme successfully as compared to the Hilly States. A little attention is focused on hilly states in terms of training and establishing agriventures. Hence, the government should pay special attention to the hilly states and take suitable policy measures to meet the requirements of the farmers residing in Hilly areas and also on fulfilling the goals of the scheme.