Need for Agribusiness Management Education in the Current Global Business Era

Rapid advancement in agriculture has resulted in increased demand for qualified managers to manage this sector. Indian agriculture faces numerous challenges with a rapidly changing business environment, pace of technological change, globalisation, competitive environment and changing role of government. These challenges will place unparalleled demands on the capabilities of tomorrow's managers. Agribusiness Management has enormous potential to address key national and global challenges of inclusive growth, and food and nutritional security. With increasing incomes, the demand for value added agricultural products will also increase, driving the demand for Agribusiness Managers. Increasing integration of World food markets and the expansion of organized retail also imply that the scope of agribusiness is becoming increasingly global. The Agribusiness Management Education System in India is uniquely placed to meet the demand for professional agribusiness managers across the globe. The common constraints that shackle this sector and prevent the realisation of its full potential are a chasm between positive and constructing interlinking of input, output, marketing and their management. The postgraduate programmes represent an effort to bridge this gap. It was found that the inadequacies of the fresh agricultural graduates in facing the professional challenges as managers in agri-business firms, which emerged as their most important employers, can be compensated by the administration of properly designed special management programmes. The work of competent agri-business managers will contribute substantially to the development of diverse activities in this sector. The demand for traditional agricultural economics is diminishing; there is a growing need for the economics and management of the food sector and the environment so the departments of agricultural economics have shown great flexibility in including agribusiness in their Bachelor�s and Master�s teaching programs. There is no doubt that the agri-business activities are on the increase. The liberalisation policies of the Government and the establishment of WTO have created more opportunities for globalising our agriculture. This paper encapsulates the status of Agribusiness in India and platform provided by Indian Management education institutions for improving Indian agribusiness sector and sector contribution towards global market.