Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

What Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals does

ISAP India Foundation (formerly Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals) is a New Delhi-headquartered, non-profit development organization founded in 2001 that operates one of India's largest networks of agriculture and rural development professionals. It implements CSR projects for corporates such as HDFC Bank and PepsiCo, government schemes through NABARD, SFAC, NAFED, and State Horticulture Departments, as well as programs funded by multilateral and bilateral agencies including USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ford Foundation. Its service portfolio spans six verticals: sustainable agriculture-based livelihood, skill development, water and climate change, rural healthcare and wellness, women empowerment, and FPO promotion, delivered through 231 field offices across 23 states with 1,800+ staff. ISAP has cumulatively covered 1.2 million farmers, promoted 350+ FPOs engaging 30,000+ farmers, supported 1,031,423 immunization doses, and trained 750,000+ farmers on agribusiness skills.

ISAP's core operating technology is ICT-integrated field program management, layered with proprietary implementation frameworks including the Enterprise for Impact (E4I) model, Agribusiness Village Resource Centre (AVRC), Integrated Farming System (IFS), and the WAF-BIC women agri-food incubation center. Its ag-tech arm, Indigram Labs Foundation (established 2015 with NSTEDB/DST support), incubates external startups addressing agricultural challenges. Custom Hiring Service Centres (46 units serving 50,000 farmers) provide shared mechanization. A pilot vBay mobile application supports digital market access for rural agri-entrepreneurs.

ISAP generates revenue almost entirely from grants rather than commercial pricing. Streams include CSR project implementation grants from corporate partners, central and state government project grants (including convergence schemes where subsidies cover FPO infrastructure), and multilateral/bilateral grants from development funders. FPOs promoted by ISAP generate secondary transactional revenue through input trading, produce marketing, and custom hiring service fees. Cumulative grants since 2008 total approximately Rs 70 crore (~$8.4M). The organization is governed by a board chaired by Manish Paithankar and serves primary beneficiaries of smallholder farmers, rural women and adolescent girls, rural youth, and vulnerable healthcare populations, with corporate CSR partners and government departments as institutional customers.

Name

Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

Legal name

ISAP India Foundation

Website

https://isapindia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

ISAP India Foundation is a non-profit NGO that promotes FPOs, delivers CSR and government rural development programs, and implements agribusiness, healthcare, and women empowerment initiatives across 23 Indian states through 231 field offices and 1,800+ staff, serving smallholder farmers, rural women, and youth.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural & Rural Development Services

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116), Support Activities for Crop Production (11511)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Agriculture & Food Security Development (BPAGABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment (BPAGABAA), Agriculture, Food Security & Nutrition Technical Assistance (BPADAEAG), Farm Technology Enablement & Data Integration Advisory (FMIS/ERP, IoT, Decision Support) (AFACAJAG)

Keywords

• Rural development services
• Farmer producer organizations
• Agricultural extension programs
• CSR implementation partner
• Skill development training

Headquarters

HQ city

New Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices15 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. CSR Project Implementation Grants: ISAP receives funding from corporate partners to implement CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects in rural development, agriculture, skill development, healthcare, and livelihood programs. These are project-based grants with defined scopes, timelines, and deliverables.
2. Government Project Grants: Funding from government departments and schemes (central and state) for agriculture, rural development, skill development, healthcare, and related programs. Includes convergence schemes where government subsidies support FPO infrastructure.
3. Multilateral and Bilateral Funder Grants: Funding support from multilateral and bilateral development funders and international organizations for development programs.
4. FPO Membership and Business Income: FPOs promoted by ISAP generate revenue through trading of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), produce marketing, processing, and value-added product sales. FPOs also charge membership fees and earn from custom hiring service centres.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ISAP India Foundation is a non-profit NGO that delivers rural development programs across six verticals: Sustainable Agriculture Based Livelihood (including Farmer Producer Organization promotion, Agribusiness Village Resource Centres, Integrated Farming Systems, and Custom Hiring Service Centres), Skill Development, Rural Healthcare and Wellness, Women Empowerment (including WAF-BIC incubation), Water and Climate Change, and CSR Partnership services. It supports these programs through a 1,800+ strong field network spanning 231 offices across 23 states and operates the Indigram Labs Foundation ag-tech incubator to source and scale agricultural technology innovations.

Product overview

ISAP India Foundation (formerly Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals) is a non-profit NGO that offers a portfolio of rural development services organized across six program verticals: Sustainable Agriculture Based Livelihood, Skill Development, Rural Healthcare and Wellness, Women Empowerment (including WAF-BIC), Water & Climate Change, and FPO Promotion. The organization supports these verticals through complementary service models including the Agribusiness Village Resource Centre (AVRC), Integrated Farming System (IFS), and Custom Hiring Service Centres (CHSCs). ISAP also provides CSR partnership services for corporate implementation and operates Indigram Labs Foundation as its technology business incubation arm. The organization has directly impacted over 1.2 million farmers cumulatively, promoted 350+ FPOs, and operates across 23 states with 2,400+ staff.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FPO (Farmer Producer Organization) Promotion & Support
• Sustainable Agriculture Based Livelihood Program Core program vertical covering land preparation guidance, post-harvest management, farmer awareness, and support to farming communities through Farmer Interest Groups and Self Help Groups; designed to enhance farmer income and sustainable agricultural practices.
• Skill Development Programs Vocational and professional training programs for rural youth and farmers covering employability, agribusiness skills, digital and financial literacy, and enterprise development. Includes placement and MSME creation support.
• Rural Healthcare and Wellness Program Healthcare outreach programs covering immunization (e.g., 1,031,423 doses under M-RITE), non-communicable disease awareness, health system strengthening, and pandemic response in partnership with organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID/John Snow India.
• Women Empowerment Initiatives Programs focused on financial inclusion, capacity-building, SHG formation, and skill development for rural women. Includes Tejaswini in Jharkhand, Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat Yojana (5 lakh women), and life skills training for 160,000+ adolescent girls.
• WAF-BIC (Women Agri-food Focused Business Incubation Center) Incubation program that supports women-led startups and businesses in aspirational districts with better access to markets, finance, technology, and networks across the agri, food, and livestock processing sectors.
• Water & Climate Change Interventions Watershed development, climate adaptation, and renewable energy projects delivered to rural communities. Includes hybrid micro-grid pilots combining solar and wind power and climate-resilient agricultural practices.
• Agribusiness Village Resource Centre (AVRC) One-stop agribusiness service model for FPO members comprising an Input Store, Processing Units, Warehouse/Aggregation platform, Custom Hiring Service Centre (CHSC), and Skill Centre, enabling comprehensive farm-to-market support.
• Integrated Farming System (IFS) Resource-based convergence model in which outputs from cropping, horticulture, animal husbandry, and aquaculture serve as inputs for each other in a cyclic manner, designed to maximize smallholder farm productivity.
• Custom Hiring Service Centres (CHSCs) Equipment rental service through which farmers can hire farm machinery on a pay-for-use basis, addressing the affordability barrier to mechanization for smallholders.
• CSR Partnership Services Corporate Social Responsibility implementation services under which ISAP acts as an NGO implementing partner for corporate CSR programs in agriculture, rural development, skill development, healthcare, and livelihoods across India.
• Indigram Labs Foundation (Ag-Tech Incubator) Dedicated ag-tech business incubator that sources, mentors, and scales technology solutions to address challenges across the agricultural sector, supporting ag-tech innovators and aligning with ISAP's mission of making technical innovations accessible to marginalized farmers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.2 million farmers covered cumulatively, with 20,000 farmers impacted through conservation agriculture in 2024 alone
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SFAC (Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISAP forms Farmer Producer Organizations under the aegis of SFAC, which promotes agri-business initiatives and FPO development among small and marginal farmers. ISAP has created multiple FPOs under SFAC's framework, including KVFPCL in Kaithal, Haryana.
• NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISAP works under the aegis of NABARD for FPO formation and rural development. Multiple FPOs (South Indian Natural Farmer Producer Company, Sujanpur Vegetable and Fruit Cooperative Society, Bidar Horticulture FPCL) were promoted under NABARD's support, which also provides working capital and grants.
• NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISAP forms FPOs under NAFED's framework, including Athvas Horti FED Producer Company (Kupwara), Kandi Area Fed FPCL, Brindavana Organic Horticulture FPCL, and Tharmani Organic FPCL. NAFED provides support for horticulture and agricultural marketing.
• Better Life Farming AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBetter Life Farming is an alliance of private, public, and government entities working together to unlock farming potential of smallholders. The alliance includes Axis Bank (credit), Bayer Crop Sciences (crop protection), Netafim (drip irrigation), and Orchardly (crop advisory). ISAP facilitates this alliance at the field level for Shopian apple farmers.
• Indigram Labs FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigram Labs Foundation (ILF) is ISAP's dedicated technology business incubator, established in 2015 and supported by NSTEDB, DST, Government of India. ILF sources, mentors, and scales technological solutions to address challenges across the agricultural sector, aligning with ISAP's mission to make technical innovations accessible to marginalized farmers.
• AgriwatchcoreOthersAgriwatch is a sister organization of ISAP and is a leader in agri-commodities insights and consulting services in India, providing commodity information around supply, prices, and market trends for agricultural input and output markets. Agriwatch is also a co-promoter of Kandi Area Fed Fruits and Vegetables Producer Company Limited.
• W ShaktiminorOthersW Shakti is a sister organization of ISAP with the vision to build, promote, develop and manage healthcare facilities and resources to achieve equitable and quality healthcare. Priority areas include elderly care support services, skill development, consultancy, and preventative public health.
• NASSCOMminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNASSCOM collaborates with ISAP for the Rural Call Centre initiative, impacting 100,000 women entrepreneurs across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, and Rajasthan, providing digital, financial, and entrepreneurship skills through a cascaded training and mentoring approach.
• IOCL, BPCL, HPCL (Oil Marketing Companies)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerISAP executes the Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat Yojana with support from Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, impacting 17,408 villages across Assam, MP, West Bengal, and Rajasthan, training over 5 lakh women on safe LPG usage.
• PepsiCo IndiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHatsingimari Farmer Producer Company Limited (HFPCL) in Assam entered into a contractual potato farming deal with PepsiCo for the FC 11 variety of potatoes, providing assured market access and price realization for 1,500 farmer members.
• State Horticulture Departments (various states)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISAP forms FPOs under the aegis of various State Horticulture Departments, including Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, and others. State departments provide working capital, grants, and project support for horticulture cluster development programs (CCDP) and related initiatives.

Scale indicators24 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action): One of India's largest grassroots rural-development NGOs working with women SHGs and smallholder farmers across multiple states. Directly comparable to ISAP in mission (livelihood promotion, FPOs, women's empowerment), funding model (donor grants), and field-implementation approach.
• BAIF Development Research Foundation: Pioneer Indian nonprofit focused on livestock development, watershed management, and tribal livelihoods with a pan-India rural field network. Comparable to ISAP's multi-state rural outreach and agriculture-adjacent program verticals.
• Heifer International: Global nonprofit working on smallholder livestock, women's empowerment, and rural livelihoods. Overlaps with ISAP's dairy enterprise training (30,509 farmers), women SHG programs, and grant-based rural implementation.
• TechnoServe: International nonprofit operating across India, Africa, and Latin America with programs in agriculture, FPO strengthening, and entrepreneurship. Highly comparable in donor mix (USAID, Gates), FPO focus, and field implementation scale.
• Trickle Up: International nonprofit focused on ultra-poor graduation programs with women SHGs in India. Closely comparable to ISAP's Tejaswini (Jharkhand SHGs) and rural women's livelihood programming.

Emerging players

• DeHaat: Ag-tech platform offering inputs, advisory, and market linkages to smallholders and FPOs across India. Targets the same farmer base ISAP supports through FPOs but with a technology-led, capital-efficient model.
• Samunnati: India's largest agri-finance and FPO-focused platform providing credit, market access, and advisory to farmer collectives. Comparable to ISAP's FPO support model but delivered through a fintech/commercial structure rather than grants.
• Digital Green: Global nonprofit using video-based extension to reach smallholder farmers in India and Africa. Competes with ISAP's community-led extension and farmer-training programs via a more digital-native, lower-cost delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• ITC e-Choupal: Large-scale farmer-market linkage platform operated by ITC, providing agri-inputs, advisory, and procurement across rural India. Overlaps with ISAP's market-access function and FPO produce-marketing outcomes (e.g., ITC contractual chilli purchase with Hungunda FPCL).

Others

• CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International): International not-for-profit providing agricultural extension content, plant clinic advisories, and capacity building in India. Comparable to ISAP's ICT-enabled agricultural extension and farmer-advisory work as an ecosystem enabler rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/agribiz4u

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals