Prospects for Agri Business Management Course

Agri Business Management–Better prospects ahead
Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan

In the era of Globalization major structural reforms are taking place in the Agricultural sector. India is on the threshold of Green revolution. Commerciacialisation of Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries and allied sectors are taking place at a faster pace in the country. National Agriculture Policy, agricultural reforms like public private partnerships, market lead extension programmes and agricultural technology management programmes envisage market centered production programmes in agriculture and allied sectors to attain sustainability. As a seqele to GATT and ASEAN agreement, in order to exploit the potentials of market access like export, cutting edge technologies in the areas of value addition, food safety, packaging, quality control, HACCP, etc are needed. Moreover food security issues are emerging over the globe. For achieving the above envisaged objectives, technocrats endowed with relevant management skills and experience are essential. This paved the way for starting the programmes like Agri Business Management for Agricultural graduates. Critical management and entrepreneurial competencies enable them to own and manage Agri-business enterprises of global standards.


Agribusiness management is one of the courses having more career potential within the country and abroad. Commercialization of agriculture and allied activities pave way for experts in Agri Business Management to acquire better jobs in this sector. Supply chain management and logistics management are some of career oriented courses. National institute of Extension management, Hyderabad is one of premier institutes offering post graduate programme in Agribusiness management and supply chain management.
Recently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasized the need for greater attention to local needs by citing an important modern management principle of ‘think global and act local’. Logistics could play a key role in integrating rural and urban divide. A logistics model can provide cost effective access for rural produce to urban markets. Moreover public private partnerships will help to address some of the rural development issues. This further emphasizes the importance of Agri business, supply chain and logistics management.

Agri business management professionals will have very good employment potential in Agribusiness industries like food processing, banking and financial institutions, commodities exchange bureaus, dairy and animal husbandry sector, meat and meat products, agrochemical sectors, organic farms, sugar industry, agri informatics, cattle feed industry, export promotion councils, fruits and vegetable industries, poultry industry, sea food industry , biotech firms, plantation sector, forestry, ayurvedic industry, coir industry, horticulture, floriculture, teaching and research.

MBA in Agri Business Management from Kerala Agricultural University

MBA in Agri Business Management offered by College of Co-operation, Banking and Management of Kerala Agricultural University, Velanikkara, Thrissur is unique with respect to specialization, pedagogy, training, placement, etc with an affordable fee structure; Says Dr.A. Sukumaran, Director of the MBA programme, KAU.A full time placement cell has been constituted to ensure the placement of Agri business management professionals. Major employers in the previous years include Royal Bank of Scotland, Harrison’s Malayalam Limited, Dhanalaxmi Bank, HDFC bank, Reliance Retail Ltd, Sutherland, Pantaloon Retail and Aditya Birla group. All professional graduates of state agricultural universities with an OGPA of 7.5/10 can apply for the programme. Any Agriculture and allied science graduates like veterinary science, fisheries science, dairy science, and forestry can join for the post graduate agribusiness management courses. Selection process is through written test and interview. For more details on application forms and prospectus please logon to www. kaumba.com & www.kau.edu. Last date for receipt of application is 23rd June2010.


Other Agri Business Management institutions in the country
1. MANAGE- National institute of Extension Management, Rajendra nagar, Hyderabad
www.manage.gov.in
2. Institute of Agri Business management, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan
www.iabmbikaner.org
3. Indian institute of management, Ahmedabad
www.iimahd.ernet.in
4. Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat
5. www.xlri.edu
6. www.iimk.ac.in
7. College of Agribusiness management, GB Pant university of Agricultural Technology, Pantnagar
www.cabm.ac.in
8. www.xlri.edu

GRE wil be in the revised format

GRE will be revised from August 2011 onwards
Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan
Graduate Record Examination- GRE, which is mandatory for getting admission to Graduate programmes in United States, UK and Canada, will witness exciting changes from August 2011 onwards. GRE are of two types i.e.; Generalized and Specialized tests. Generalized GRE will be in a new format from August2011 onwards. Specialized GRE is other wise called Subject GRE which is required for certain specific subjects like Biochemistry, Cell and molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, English literature, Mathematics, Physics and Psychology.
Generalized GRE comprises of three tests like Analytical Writing that measures critical thinking and analytical writing skills, specifically the test taker's ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively. Verbal reasoning measures reading comprehension skills, verbal and analogical reasoning skills, focusing on the test taker's ability to analyze and evaluate written material. Quantitative reasoning measures problem solving ability, focusing on basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis.
Revised test is student friendly design for the computer based GRE test that helps to edit or change answers, skip questions and more, all within a section giving freedom to use more of students own test-taking strategies. An on screen calculator is one of the new features. New types of questions in the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative reasoning sections, many featuring real-life scenarios that reflect the kind of thinking required for graduate and business school programs. GRE revised General Test features a new score scale that can make it easier for schools to compare scores with that of other candidates. If a student need scores before November 2011, he can take current GRE before August 2011.But if he need scores after November2011 he must take revised test.Inorder to promote the students to register for GRE generalized test, ETS- Educational Testing Services who conduct the examination announced an exclusive offer. If a student takes test between August 1 and September 30, 2011 he can save 50% on their test fee. He can register as soon as registration opens for the GRE revised General Test on March 15, 2011, since seats will fill up quickly during this special discount period and scores will be sent by mid-November 2011.
Recent decision taken by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to accept GRE scores for admission to Business schools will be beneficial to Indian students who opt for Management programme abroad. Previously if a student intends to do post graduation in their respective field say MS programme, he has to complete GRE with better scores. If he is interested to join for MBA programme abroad he has to complete GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test). Recently ETS has developed a comparative tool, which can predict GMAT scores from GRE general test scores. It has been developed in response to the requests received from students and educational institutions. Both GRE and GMAT will give equal importance to verbal and quantitative reasoning skills of the students. So the recent decision is really a boom for Asian students who are more interested to pursue MBA from abroad. Moreover they can save the money for writing GMAT. This paves the way for applying a student for either MS or MBA programme. More than 150 business schools in USA, UK and Canada are ready to accept GRE scores for the admission process. It is mandatory for the student to complete English proficiency examinations like IELTS/TOEFL for study abroad programme.
Fee for GRE generalized test will be 190 US dollars. For rescheduling and changing test centre 50 dollars each are required.
GRE Exam Registration
1. ETS ( Educational Testing Service) conducts GRE Exam
2. Use ETS GRE website as main source of information
3. Get complete understanding of what is required to register for the GRE Test.
4. Make sure you have all the required documents even before registering the GRE Exam.
5. While booking make sure you give the name as given in your passport.
6. Don’t register for GRE if you don’t have Surname (or last name) in the passport.
7. Add last name in your passport, then register for GRE Exam.
8. Find out payment options available and use the option (Credit/Debit Cards, Check, Money Order, Western Union,) that is convenient to you.
9. Plan well in advance, so you don’t make any mistakes.
10. You can talk to Regional Registration Center in your country for additional information on GRE Exam process.

Engineering, Healthcare,Infrastructure, Hospitality and Telecom Sectors-Better scope ahead

Emerging trends in Placement
Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan
Usually economic status of a country is rated based upon GDP, rate of inflation and other economic matrices. But country’s economic status and placement situation can also be judged by the placement scenes at the premier educational institutions. Recently held Placement in the premier B Schools of the country like IIMs were like IPL auction sales! Candidates were given placement offers with very attractive pay packages.

Placement situation in the country during 2010-11 is very bright. Even though during economic recession, there was a reduction in increment levels from 13.3% to 6.6 % during 2008, the current situation is entirely different. All private and PSUs are eagerly started recruiting skilled and talented professionals for augmenting production. During the pre- recession period, campus recruitment was around 65 percent in IT and ITeS sectors. But during recession it had come down to 25 percent and increment level reduced from 13.3% to 6.6 % during 2008. Now it started moving up and the campus recruitment is around 40 percent in the country. Average increment level expected during 2010-11 will be 10.6 %.

Some of the potential areas are Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Education, Training, Consultancy, Health care, Hospitality, Tourism, Travel, IT, ITeS, Real estate, Construction, Trade, Transport, Manufacturing, Energy, Automotives, FMCG, Engineering, Procurement, Retail industry and Agribusiness.

Research studies done by different HR services research agencies like MAFOI, NASSCOM, ASSOCHAM, CRISIL, Deutsche bank and Hewitt revealed that Indian career market will exhibit quantum jump and by 2020 there will be spectacular changes in key sectors like energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, project engineering, telecom, IT, ITeS, Engineering services, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Agribusiness, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Trade, Tourism and transport.


Some of the salient features in different sectors are as follows.
Energy
(Oil, Gas, Coal & Power)
India has acquired the status of 5th largest power generation capacity in world. Oil and gas requirement will be expected to increase from 186.54 million tones during 2010-11to 253.58 million tones during 2011-12. Expected investment within the next 5 years will be around Rs7.5 lakh Crore rupees.
There is huge demand for skilled workers in the Oil and Gas industry. Since stiff competition is occurring between Private and PSU units, PSUs are aggressively started revising their HR policies.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is one of the sectors least affected during recession. 450$US Billion investment will be expected to reach the country by 2012.Ports, Highways, airports and other amenities are the basic drive behind this growth.

Project engineering
Global engineering services Outsourcing market will reach 150-215 US Billion $ by 2020. Of which India’s share will increase from 12% to 25%-30% by 2020. Engineering sector will become the biggest sector after IT and ITeS in the country.
Pharmaceuticals
By 2015 Indian Pharmaceutical industry will reach 20Billion US$ turnover. There is very good potential for generic drug market in the country. Indian Pharma industry employs quality manpower and excels from low cost of production, world class technology and research.
Retail industry
India ranks fifth largest retail industry in the world. By 2012-2013 turnover will reach 573 billion US$ from 405 billion US$(2010-11). Increase in standard of living creates spectrum of opportunities in the retail industry. FDI and subsequent development in the retail industry will seek more man power from Tier 1 and 2 cities.
Telecom
India is the third largest country in Telecom sector globally after China and USA. Country’s mobile subscribers will be around 5 % of the world market by 2013-14.Rural penetration coupled with 3G technology and competition will facilitate better career prospects in this sector.
Banking, Finance and Insurance
Public sector banks are trying to open overseas markets. Government of India started permitting private companies to start banks in the country. Some of the potential areas are Asset management, Broking, Investment and Insurance. All Public and private sector banks require skilled professionals in the areas of finance, banking, marketing and HRD managent.
Education, Training and Consultancy
As a sequele to globalization, global village concept is acquiring momentum in the country. Education, training and Consultancy are some of the key sectors which can drive more employment in the country. These sectors are expected to create 97000 jobs during 2010-2011.Educational consultancy services are acquiring more importance in the country. During the post recession period companies are more keen to recruit talented professionals in the financial sector. Moreover the bill to permit foreign educational institutions to start campuses in India is in the final phase.
Hospitality and Travel
This is one of the fastest growing segments in the world. Four percent reduction in turnover was recorded in Hospitality and travel during 2009 in the country. But during 2005-10 this sector had exhibited 13% growth. Five star hotels and real estate business further augment growth in these sectors.

Expected Salary hike for different sectors during the year 2010-11 are as follows.
Manufacturing-12.8%, Services-12.1%, Telecom-12.2% and Hospitality-12.7%.
India has higher rate of career prospects of +39%; whereas countries like Barazil+38%, Australia +22% and Singapore+20%
Twelve fastest growing jobs projected up to 2018 by US Bureau for labor statistics are Biomedical engineers, Network systems and data communication analysts, financial examiners, medical scientists except epidemiologists, Physician assistants, Biochemists and biophysicists, Veterinarians, Athletic trainers, Computer software engineers, applications, system software, food technologists and Environmental engineers

US Bureau for labor statistics has published projected employment in engineering jobs in USA. They are Engineers-11%, Aerospace engineers-10%, Agricultural engineers-12%, Biomedical engineers-72%, Chemical engineers— -2%, Civil engineers-24%, Environmental engineers-31%, Industrial engineers-health & safety-14%, Marine engineers-14%, Mining and geological engineers-15%, Nuclear engineers-11%, Petroleum engineers-18% and for other engineers-7%.