The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has enhanced its startup incubation initiative with SHITIJ 2.0, offering targeted mentoring and support to early-stage agri-businesses focused on plant health and precision agriculture, aiming to bridge the gap between prototypes and commercialisation.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has expanded its startup push with SHITIJ 2.0, an incubation and mentoring programme aimed at agri-businesses working on plant health and precision agriculture. The initiative sits under the National Agricultural Innovation Fund and is being delivered through ICAR’s agribusiness incubation network, with ICAR-IARI acting as the hub for plant health and precision agriculture and seven other institutes supporting the model as spokes.
According to details released by ICAR-linked sources, the programme is designed to help early-stage ventures move beyond prototypes and into commercial use. Startups chosen for SHITIJ 2.0 will receive online incubation, one-to-one mentoring from scientists and specialists, support on business models and market strategy, technical validation, masterclasses, field trials and pilot testing, along with links to government schemes and funding routes.
The focus areas cover plant protection, crop diseases, insect pests, biological inputs, plant nutrition, integrated pest management and crop diagnostics, as well as other tools intended to improve crop health and productivity. Applications will be judged on innovation, feasibility, scalability, market relevance and likely impact, with shortlisted candidates reviewed by a selection committee drawn from industry and academia.
The programme has already been rolled out in parts of ICAR’s wider network. The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute in Kasaragod said it inaugurated SHITIJ 2.0 on 20 July 2026, while ICAR-IIMR’s Nutrihub ABI unit in Hyderabad described a separate two-month virtual edition for agri-food entrepreneurs. Agrijob reported that this version was free and had opened to early-stage start-ups, student innovators, MSMEs, farmer producer organisations and farmer producer companies, underscoring how ICAR is using the same platform to reach different corners of the farm innovation ecosystem.
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