The current multi-pronged challenges of Indian agriculture demand for searching the viable alternative for restoring farmers’ and rural youths’ confidence in the agricultural vocation. Agri-enterprises offer such opportunities to help the agrarian communities to enhance their farm productivity and enhance income from the per unit of land and time.

The present book on “Agro-enterprises for Rural Development and Livelihoods Security” is an excellent synthesis of scholarly concepts, cases and methodologies pertaining to enterprise promotion in agriculture and the related dimensions. For the benefit of the readers, the book has been divided into three segments. The first part deals with need for micro-enterprise promotion in agriculture, resource appraisal for micro-enterprise development, developing the self, characteristics of potential entrepreneurs and related aspects.

The major aim of this section is to explore, unfreeze and broaden the cognitive and affective domain of the readers so that a desirable mindset among them may be created at the initial stage so that an effective learning may take place in the subsequent chapteIn the second dimension of the book, readers may find the description of varieties of technological options. These include the appropriate technologies and enterprises related to vegetable cultivation, protected cultivation, seed production, food processing, poultry farming, bee-keeping, dairy production and processing, fishery based enterprise, livestock and piggery based technological options having entrepreneurial potential.

The successful experiences of the agri entrepreneurs are also shared in this section. The third and most important part of the book emphasizes on support system required to initiate and sustain the agri-enterprise. These include necessary management related interventions, trade, export, quality standards and other inter-related issues which would definitely enable readers to comprehend how to be successful agri-preneur. Besides, the role of civil society organizations for economic independence in rural India has also been narrated. On-line trading, project monitoring and evaluation and related issue for agricultural commodities are deliberated by the renowned authorities of the above fields.

Section-I: Stimulatory Stage 1. Entrepreneurship Development in Agriculture by J.P. Sharma & Nishi Sharma 2. Micro-enterprise Development: An Overview by Dipika Hajong & R.N. Padaria 3. Resource Appraisal for Micro-enterprise Development in Agriculture by Rashmi Singh & S.K. Dubey

Section-II: Technological Options: 4. Product identification and SWOT Analysis by J.P. Sharma & Rashmi Singh 5. Protected Cultivation of Horticultural Crops by Balraj Singh 6. High Value Vegetable Cultivation: Entrepreneurial Avenues by A.D. Munshi 7. Seed Production: An Entrepreneurial Venture by B.S. Tomer & K. Vinod Kumar 8. Food Production: An Emerging Option for Micro-enterprises Promotion in Agriculture by R.R. Sharma 9. Poultry Farming: Profitable Venture for Entrepreneurs by R.K. Sharma 10. Beekeeping – An Employment and Income Generating Vocation for Rural Youth by R.N. Sharma 11. Dairy Production and Processing as an Enterprises: Retrospect and Prospects by Dalip K. Gosain 12. Fisheries and Aquaculture in India: Perspective and Prospective Views by S.D. Singh 13. Ration Formulation for Profitable Dairy by Kusumakar Sharma, VB Chaturvedi & Rupasi Tiwari 14. Post Harvest Handling of Horticultural Crops by R.K. Lal 15. Value Addition and Processing Opportunities in Food Processing by Devinger Dhingra 16. Commercial Avenues in Floriculture for Entrepreneurship by T. Janakiram & K.V. Prasad 17. Plants Nursery as a Micro-enterprises by Manish Srivastav & R.R. Sharma 18. Vermicomposting – Enterprise Development in Rural Areas by R.K. Sharma, K. Sharma, G.T. Gujar & J.K.S. Bhandari 19. Entrepreneurship Generation and Livelihood Security through Livestock Sector by M.C. Sharma & Rupasi Tiwari 20. Breeds of Livestock and their Genetics Improvement by M.C. Sharma & Rupasi Tiwari 21. Entrepreneurship through Pig Farming in India by M.C. Sharma & Rupasi Tiwari 22. Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L) Seed Production as a Potential Micro-enterprise For Income Augmentation: Experiences of Action Research by Shantanu Kumar Dubey, S.K.Singh & Uma Sah Section-III: Enterprise Management: 23. Understanding Self Help Group Dynamics by Premlata Singh & Nishi Sharma 24. Concept of Cooperatives and its Scope in Farmers’ Capacity Building by J.P.S. Dabas 25. Impact Evaluation of Small Scale Agri-enterprise: A Case Study of Mushroom and Beekeeping Enterprises by Rajinder Peshin 26. Distance Education: A Support for Micro-enterprise Promotion in Agriculture by B.S. Hansra 27. Marketing Strategies for Micro-enterprise Promotion by Ajit Kewalramani 28. Good Agricultural Practices in Relation to Micro-enterprise Promotion by Arvind Pratap Singh 29. NABARD Supported Promotional and Developmental Programmes – Farm and Non Farm Sector by G.V. Sunil Kumar 30. Commodity Future Trading at NCDEX by A.Lakshmikantha Reddy 31. Approach to Rural Development: Economy Decentralization by Anil. P. Joshi 32. Financial Management of Agricultural Projects by Pramod Kumar 33. Micro-credit: Basic Issues and Strategies by R. Roy Burman & Shantanu Kumar Dubey 34. Role of Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises by H.S. Bisht