Hyderabad, 3 October After establishing a successful agri-business incubator (ABI) at its global headquarters here, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has initiated a similar move in Mozambique.

ICRISAT Director General William Dar and his counterpart at the Institute of Agricultural Research of Mozambique (IIAM) Calisto Bias signed the letter of intent to establish the farm business incubator in the African country, an release issued by the institute said here today.

The collaboration would explore possibilities of IIAM and ICRISAT to develop farm business incubator together, share best practices, transfer technology, support the development of services or products in both regions and interact with the market possibilities in both countries.

“Through this initiative, we can carry forward to this great African nation successful lessons learnt in India in linking poor dryland farmers to the market through agri- enterprise,” Dar said.

ICRISAT and IIAM conducted a feasibility study in Mozambique and developed a business model for the farm business incubator at IIAM.

A core management team from IIAM had come to India recently and studied the functioning of the agri-business incubator at ICRISAT.

ICRISAT, an international research body, has been collaborating with agencies of other countries on projects to improve farm productivity. PTI SR RSY SSA