A Complete Guide on How to Start an Agriculture Business
Even when the agricultural sector’s share in the Indian economy has declined, India remains an agricultural powerhouse of the world. In fact, the agricultural sector grew during the pandemic when the entire economy stalled, and every other sector witnessed negative growth.
Today, with the growth of the agricultural value chain and the rise of online platforms, agribusiness has become a viable option. These platforms are streamlining farming processes, including:
Input supply
Production
Processing
Packaging
Marketing
Retailing
As the agricultural sector continues to grow, it is the right time to enter into the farm business. However, you need to have a roadmap or your agriculture business plan before you make your business operational.
So, read on to find out what you must know before creating a business plan for agriculture.
If you lack the funds when planning for your agribusiness financially, you can avail a business loan offered by Banks and NBFCs. Here are the interest rates at which various lending institutions offer business loans:
Bank/NBFCs |
Interest Rate |
Starting from 1% per month onwards |
|
16% p.a. onwards |
|
1% - 2% per month |
Disclaimer: The rates mentioned are subject to change as per the lender’s policies.
Thanks to recent innovations, agribusinesses and start-up enterprises have been growing rapidly. For instance, the pharmaceutical industry is focussing on producing plants like Aloe Vera and Neem at a massive scale.
Although these plants require a high capital inflow at the beginning, they guarantee sustainable revenue and growth in the later stage. The plantation can be established in your backyard or open space, such as a terrace and large balconies.
Once you decide on the variety of produce and location for the plantation, you can now take help from a financial expert. The expert would devise a financial strategy for your agriculture business plan.
If you are planning to start an agribusiness and drafting a farm business plan, you need to keep in mind the following:
Agribusiness in India involves huge risks due to seasonal variations. The crops can fail in case of excess rainfall or no rainfall at all. Pets and insects also pose a threat to crops.
Before entering into agribusiness, you must assess all the risks and take the necessary steps to protect your business from any potential threat.
Recent innovations in IT, like digitisation, have changed the landscape of agribusiness in India. It has led to the growth of the e-commerce sector in the agricultural space.
To ensure sustainable revenue generation and growth, you must invest in recent technology, like drone pesticide sprayers, online selling platforms, etc.
You can use the agriculture business for the following purposes:
To purchase land for farming activities
To buy cattle and livestock
To buy farm and irrigation equipment
To meet storage, warehousing, transportation or marketing expenses
To meet expenses of day-to-day activities
You can avail an agriculture business loan either from the public sector or private sector banks or Non-banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs).
To avail of the agriculture loan, you must fulfil these eligibility criteria:
You must be between 18 to 70 years of age
You must use the loan amount for cultivation purposes
To complete the loan process, the bank or NBFC would require you to submit the following documents:
ID proof such as an Aadhaar card, PAN card, Voter ID, etc.
Address proof like Aadhar card, ration card, passport, etc.
Land ownership proof
You can apply for the business loan at Bajaj Markets to boost your agriculture business plan. Just follow these simple steps:
Go to the Business Loan application page
Now, click on the ‘Apply Now’ option
Fill out the application form
Select the preferred lender from the list of loan offers
Choose the loan amount and repayment tenure
Submit your application to complete the loan process
Reference of all T&C necessarily refers to the terms of the Partners as regards to pre-approved offers and loan processing time amongst other conditions.
Common agribusinesses that require large capital inflow and hence, a business loan are poultry, horticulture, fertiliser distribution, bee keeping, etc.
Any farmer who is in possession of less than 2.5 acres of irrigated land or 5 acres of non-irrigated land is categorised as a small and marginal farmer. These farmers are entering into numerous start-ups like fodder farming, dairy farming, tea planting, medicinal crop plantation, etc.
As per the rules notified by the Government of India, you do not need any collateral to avail a loan of up to ₹1 Lakh. However, the requirement for collateral for a loan of more than ₹1 Lakh varies from lender to lender.
Yes. In fact, Central and State governments encourage women to take loans to boost the agricultural productivity of their land.