The Hindu Business Line : Farming out new job market — Agri-biz courses arrive in a big way

Two years ago, Mr Anand Rajan quit his job at a biotech company in Mumbai and took up a post-graduate programme in agri-business management at IIM-Ahmedabad. And today, he has been offered a $65,000-a-year job by the Singapore-based supply chain firm Olam International - the biggest offer the institute's agri-business department has received till date, signifying that this field of study has come of age.

Offers have been pouring heavy this year for the agri-business department at IIM-A. Thirteen top-notch agriculture and commodity trading firms, including NCDEX, Godrej, Dow Agro and Reliance Retail, queued up on February 19 and 20 at the premier institute to grab the best of the country's talent.

The pay packages too increased this year. The 23 final year students of the post-graduate programme in agri-business management have been given 38 job offers, from last year's 30. The top domestic offer of the year - Rs 8.25 lakh per annum - is from Godrej Agrovet. Last year, the highest international offer was from Alghanim ($55,000), while within the country it was from ITC Ltd (Rs 8.03 lakh).

Lateral entry

The placement co-ordinator for the agri-business department, Mr Sreejith Mohan, says: "Those with relevant work experience were offered `lateral' jobs rather than entry level jobs as trainees. Lateral candidates will be directly absorbed into the managerial level. This year, there have been seven lateral offers with an average pay package of Rs 7.95 lakh. Freshers with no work experience have been given an average pay package of Rs 7.4 lakh. The overall average is Rs 7.4 lakh per annum." Agri-business as a course and as a career choice is gaining in popularity. Says Mr Mohan: "Till last year, the course took in students only with an agriculture background. From this year, students from other backgrounds are being taken."

Course focus

The IIM-A course focuses on areas such as market research in agri-business, management in micro-finance, strategic food and agro marketing and management of agri products.

Mr Rajan, who did his undergraduate degree in food technology, says that since the "trend these days is towards specialisation," specialists with relevant experience and education are "in demand." Says Mr Mohan: "Globally too, agri-business has been gaining recognition. Job offers this year have been high from corporates in sunrise sectors such as logistics, retail and agri-finance and there is diversity in the job profile of students - ranging from product development, procurement, to managing urban and rural retail chains."

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