A student-led startup, M/s FaimFarms P Ltd, mentored by SKUAST K Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship Centre (SKIIE) at Shalimar Srinagar, has been awarded a Rs 5 lakh grant in aid by ICAR Pusa, New Delhi, for its innovative work in agriculture.

The funding is intended to translate research into practical applications that benefit farmers and regional stakeholders, with SKIIE continuing to provide mentorship on technical validation, regulatory pathways, and enterprise development.

One of the startup’s founders says the grant is a major boost that will accelerate product development, field testing, and progression toward a scalable solution with support from SKIIE and ICAR Pusa.

SKUAST K’s leadership, including SKIIE Centre Director and Vice Chancellor Prof Nazir A Ganai, underscored the value of seed funding for early-stage ventures and congratulated the startup founders, the Director and team, and mentors for advancing the university’s mission.

The grant, under ICAR’s youth-led agricultural innovations program, will fund prototype refinement, field validation, and early-stage commercialization of a Ready to Eat/Serve product developed at SKUAST K’s Innovation Centre in collaboration with the Division of Food Sciences & Technology.