University emerges as national leader in innovation-led agricultural research and startups
Srinagar: In a landmark achievement, the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) has secured its 100th patent, marking a century of innovation and positioning the university among India’s top institutions driving research-based entrepreneurship and technological advancement.
The milestone reflects the university’s rapid transformation over the past four years under its innovation-led growth strategy, launched in 2020 through the World Bank-funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP). SKUAST-K became the first State Agricultural University (SAU) in India to adopt a Startup and Innovation Policy (SISP) and establish a dedicated Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (SKIIE) to promote an entrepreneurial ecosystem among faculty and students.
From just five patents in its first four decades, SKUAST-K has recorded 95 new patents since 2020, with 43 filed in the first ten months of 2025 alone. The university now supports over 89 startups, many of them emerging from student and faculty initiatives.
Speaking on the achievement, Vice Chancellor Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai said the milestone marks a paradigm shift in the university’s vision.
“SKUAST-K has moved from Education for Innovation to Innovation for Education — transforming our research from publication-oriented to problem-solving and product-driven outcomes that serve society,” he said.
Prof. Ganai highlighted that the university’s innovation ecosystem has expanded through several national-level partnerships, including the DST-funded i-TBI Centre, NABARD-supported Rural Business Incubation Centre, BIRAC E-Yuva Centre, JKCIP Startup Component, and a MEITY-supported Startup and Commercialization Project. These initiatives, he said, have created a robust and inclusive innovation platform that integrates science, entrepreneurship, and social impact.
Under its motto “Patents to Products,” SKUAST-K has successfully commercialized several technologies, linking academic research directly to industry and community needs. Many of its faculty-led and student-driven startups — popularly known as “SKUAST-K BabyCorns” — have emerged as models for bioeconomic innovation in agriculture, health, environment, and climate resilience.
“Our startups symbolize the birth of a new innovation culture at SKUAST-K. This century of patents is not the culmination but the beginning of a new era — where every research idea has the potential to become a product, policy, or startup,” Prof. Ganai said.