Taking a cue from the telecom and IT ‘start- up villages’ being set up in the state, the Thrissur Urban Development Authority (TUDA) and Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) will jointly set up the state’s first ever agri-based start-up village in the sprawling 20,000 hectares of kole fields in Thrissur.
The agri start-up village will focus primarily on student start-ups from professional college campuses, which would be modelled on ‘agriculture and livestock incubators’ in order to make them fit to undertake agriculture or animal husbandry as mainstream vocation rather than a side business or time-pass.
It also aims to set up as many as 30 production incubators for livestock farmers in the wet-land eco-system of central Kerala.
According to KVASU officials, it will provide a vibrant ecosystem for start-ups to take up the technology-driven modern farming in a hi-tech way, thereby ensuring the food safety of a particular area.
This would be made possible in association with various departments and farming communities. For this purpose, small farmers’ groups would soon be formed enabling them to take it up as a mainstream profession by making use of the traditional knowledge and technology-driven platforms, the officials said.
Besides, the conversion of kole lands into livestock production centres will also integrate the system with the conventional farming practices, while ensuring the availability of area and fodder.
As part of this, the agri-entrepreneurs will be provided a two-week long capacity-building training on animal rearing and poultry production, they said. The meat to be produced as part of the project will be efficiently stored and sold through the women self-help groups, who will also be given a special training on the modern marketing strategies. KVASU has also started the process of identifying the entrepreneurs and will soon launch a survey to identify the suitable locations for establishing the incubators.