The first edition of “Krishi Manthan” , the food, agribusiness and rural development summit, was organised by the food and agribusiness committee at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
The summit witnessed over 1,500 attendees. Students from 50 colleges attended the workshops and professionals from companies such as Amnex, Wipro were also present.
Speakers such as Padma Shri Prof Anil Gupta (founder of Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, NIF, GIAN), Prof Chetan Soman (Professor, Production and Quantitative Methods, IIM-A), Rajashekhar Reddy Seelam (Founder, 24Mantra Organic), and Vikram Puri (ex-EVP of Mahindra Agri Solutions, ex-CEO of Mahindra Shubhlabh Services Ltd.) interacted with the audience.
Workshops on social entrepreneurship, sustainable growth opportunities, data analytics and supply chain management integrated into the field of agribusiness, provided useful insights to the attendees. Students participated in several business competitions over the span of two days.
There was a round table discussion on “Catalysing private partnerships in strengthening producer companies” in association with the National Association for Farmer Producer Organisations (NAFPO). The discussions were spearheaded by prominent leaders such as Nilanjan Dey (Senior Manager, FWWB), Yogesh Diwedi (CEO, Madhya Pradesh consortium of FPOs), and Kuldeep Solanki (CEO, GUJPRO).
Participants’ message
“It was a rigorous thought-building session.” — Meghana Bhardwaj, R&D Assistant Manager, IRM Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
“It was a really great experience at IIM-A, attending all the workshops from immensely experienced spokespersons. Being a student of food science and technology, it is great to know about the opportunities and skills needed towards setting up and growing a business.” — Harit Garg, MSc food science and technology, Choudhary Devi Lal University.
“It was a great experience; the workshops were very informative and insightful. I trust it will be helpful to us.” — Shivangi Bharatbhai Patel, College of Fisheries Science, Navsari Agricultural University.