Budding managers given the mantra: Grow more with less

IIM-L AGRIBUSINESS CONCLAVE Call for making most of the opportunities in less time

‘Grow more with less’, was the theme of IIM Lucknow’s Interest Group in Food and Agribusiness that called for making the most of the opportunities in agribusiness within less time. The two-day national agribusiness conclave concluded on Sunday.

Lakshya, a case study competition, was the highlight of the concluding day programme. The event brought out the much sought after shortlist of 8 teams out of many enthusiastic teams competing from 6 management schools all over India. Conducted in association with Agribusiness Systems International (ASI), Lakshya featured two case studies, on supply chain management of Apple and on water concerns in the supply chain.

Out of the top 8 teams selected, the finalists will be declared next week and will be given `30,000 cash prizes. The conclave concluded with C-Trader, a simulation game that was conducted in the latter half of the day. It is a trading event involving carbon credits and stresses on importance of business sustainability amidst all the fun involved. The event drew enthusiastic participation from students.

Sankalp 2015 gave a wonderful insight into current opportunities for entrepreneurs and managers in Indian agribusiness, generated innovative ideas and created a learning experience.

The conclave on Saturday took off with the most celebrated event ‘Vimarsh’ - a panel discussion among industry experts and government officials. The panelists included Dr Vinod Karnik, business consultant to food processing industry with 35 years of experience and SK Chauhan, director, Regional Food Research and Analysis Centre, Lucknow, UP.

The discussion revolved around the ‘public private partnership opportunities in the agribusiness domain’, predominantly in the area of food parks.

The panelists shared their views on the existing situations in food parks from private and public sector point of view. Karnik said that with the upcoming mega food parks, Make in India campaign and many other governance practices, the sector was only going to get bigger and better.

He also shared with the students his experiences in the sector and also the obstacles involved in partnership with government agencies.

Chauhan highlighted the opportunities from the government side and initiatives from the government in making the process smooth and easy. He also spoke about the many subsidies being given to ventures such as polyhouse in Barabanki and Unnao.

He pointed out the various challenges faced as public entity in the public private partnerships, such as lack of incentives to take the venture in mega foodpark to the long run from private side, due to which problems cropped up.

Karnik also highlighted the plethora of opportunities available for budding managers in mega food parks and how they could be used as career opportunities.

Faculty members of Centre for Food and Agribusiness Management (CFAM) and close to 100 enthusiastic students and aspiring entrepreneurs participated in the event as audience. Prof Sushil Kumar, dean, academic affairs, IIM Lucknow, moderated the event.