The backbone of Indian Economy – Agriculture and Agribusiness provides 54% employment to Indian Population. Despite this fact, its contribution to India’s GDP has gone down to 16% in recent years. As such, many top management institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow have launched MBA Agri Business as one of the separate management programmes on lines of their flagship MBA program. Now the MBA Agri Business Management is as important as the other MBA courses.
Many other top MBA colleges have included MBA Agri Business subject as one of the important MBA specializations. A lot is available and needed further to improve and explore the potential of agri business market with proper management strategy to make it a high growth sector with high return.
The recent spurt in full time MBA in Agri Business Management programmes offered by number of universities and Agriculture business Management colleges including top MBA colleges has added more importance to the MBA Agribusiness management courses.
MBA in Agri Business Management: Programme Highlights
- MBA Agribusiness subjects are designed to develop agri business leaders, entrepreneurs with vision, competencies, and right attitude to promote & grow the agro based enterprises
- MBA in Agri Business Management is 2 Years Full Time management program at par with flagship MBA
- MBA Agri Business Fee is almost same as that of regular MBA Programme
- MBA Agri Business Eligibility criteria slightly differ from General MBA eligibility
- MBA Agri Business Admission Process is like other MBA programmes
- MBA Agriculture Business Management Syllabus and electives aredifferent in the second year of the course, while in first year the MBA Agri Business subjects are same as for other MBA programmes
- IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, IIFM Bhopal, MANAGE Hyderabad among others are top MBA Colleges offering MBA in Agri Business Management
- 100% Placement is achieved in the top colleges offering MBA Agribusiness course
- Consistent rise in salary during past 5 years of MBA Agri Business Placements is observed
MBA in Agri Business Management Syllabus
The Agriculture Business Management Syllabus is divided into two years and six semesters. The key topics for the MBA in Agriculture Business Management Syllabus are:
- Agricultural & Food Policy
- Agricultural Finance
- Marketing of Agricultural Inputs
- Strategic Food Marketing
- Management for Agribusiness Projects
- Market Research and Information Systems
- International Agri-Food Trade
- Value Chain Management – Applications in Agribusiness
- CINE: Understanding Creativity, Innovation, Knowledge, Networks And Entrepreneurship
- Food and Agri-business International Strategies and Organizations
- Micro Finance Management
- Food Supply Chain Management
- Analyzing and Building Competencies
- Carbon Finance
- Public Policy
- Social Entrepreneurship: Innovating Social Change
- Sales and Distribution Management For Agriculture
- Agribusiness Entrepreneurship
- Agribusiness Leadership
- Agricultural Futures and Option Markets
- Agricultural Markets and Pricing
- Economics of Food Quality
- Applied Agricultural Trade and Policy Analysis
- Managing Sustainability
- Managing Energy Businesses
Agri Business Management: Top Recruiters
Top Recruiters for MBAs in Agri Business Management include Godrej Agrovet, PI Industries, Pioneering Ventures, Ninjacart, Waycool, EY, INI Farms, Reliance, KPMG, HUL, Amazon, Olam.
Apart from them, seed and agrichemical producers like Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta; AB Agri (part of Associated British Foods) animal feeds, biofuels, and micro-ingredients, ADM, grain transport and processing; John Deere, farm machinery producer; Ocean Spray, farmer’s cooperative among others are also the top recruiters for the students of MBA in Agribusiness.
Agriculture Business Management? Key Characteristics
MBA in Agriculture Business Management is a full time management programme. It focuses on Agriculture and allied activities. However, the MBA in Agribusiness management has a different set of rules in regard to Agri Marketing, Agri Financing, Agri Production than the other regular MBA programmes. The key characteristics governing the Agriculture Management Programme are:
- Long investment cycles, long production cycles, production volatility, food safety issues, the food security and environmental implications
- Agribusiness consists of agricultural production and allied sectors and/or businesses which consist of agrichemicals, breeding, crop production, distribution, farm machinery, processing, seed supply, marketing, sales, export-import, finance management, supply chain management, taxation and trading. In each situation there is different set of rules for Agri Business Management.
- There can be lags of several years between Agriculture planning and outcomes. It takes several years to develop an agriculture area for business and during this period, market conditions can change dramatically.
- Another example of Agribusiness management is Forestry, which is a very long term investment, with a lag of 30 years or more.
- The Long production cycles in agriculture business management affect even annual crops. The agri-management decisions relating to the different crops that were made last year, may not yield the result even after a year or so.
- On the other hand, the management decisions on short term crops to increase production may cause a short term increase/decrease in marketable produce that may hamper future investment.
Scope of MBA in Agribusiness Management Courses
A consistent rising demand for graduates with Agri-Business Management courses has given rise to introduce Agriculture management courses in top universities, autonomous institutes and other MBA in Agri Business Management Colleges.
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow among others are the best MBA in Agri Business Management Colleges. MBA Agri Business Management course offers high career prospects as reflected in higher salaries offered by the companies in the placement seasons over past few years.
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow are two of top management institutes offering Agri Business Management programmes. The main objective of the MBA in Food & Agribusiness Management programme as offered by IIM Ahmedabad is to transform the participants into competent professional managers for the agriculture, food, agri-business, rural and allied sectors. The PGP-FABM programme caters to the needs of enterprises serving these sectors, both domestic and international. The programme builds sensitivity to domestic and international market needs and span the entire agricultural value chain.
The Agri Business management courses at IIM Lucknow are designed to equip the participants with the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes for managerial decision making and implementation in the unique context of agribusiness which is different from regular business environment. It encourages entrepreneurial capabilities in participants to make them effective change agents in agri-business and develops capabilities to become leaders in agri business market.
Top 10 Agri Business Management Colleges in India
The search for top agriculture business management colleges offering MBA in Agribusiness management courses has gone up sharply in recent past. There are more than 100 MBA in Agri Business Management colleges in India. We share below the top 10 Agri Business Management colleges offering MBA in Agri-Business courses with their programme name and Fee structure:
| MBA in Agri Business Management College | Title of 2 Years full time Agri Business Management Programme | Fee (Rs. in Lakhs) |
| IIM Ahmedabad | Post Graduate Programme in Food & Agri-Business Management (PGP-FABM) | 22.51 |
| IIM Lucknow | Post Graduate Programme in Agribusiness Management (PGP-ABM) | 14.16 |
| KIIT School of Rural Management Bhubaneswar | MBA-Agri Business Management | 7.49 |
| MANAGE Hyderabad | Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Agri Business Management) PGDM-ABM | 8.00 |
| IIFM Bhopal | Post Graduate Diploma in Forestry Management (PGDFM) | 6.39 |
| IRMA Anand | Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) | 12.10 |
| XUB-Xavier School of Rural Management (XSRM) Bhubaneswar | MBA Rural Management (MBA-RM) | 12.20 |
| Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi | Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDM-RM) | 8.0 |
| Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) – School of Rural Development, Tuljapur campus | 1. Master of Arts / Master of Science (Development Policy, Planning and Practice) 2. Master of Arts / Master of Science (Sustainable Livelihoods and Natural Resources Governance) | 1 to 1.5 |
| Indian Institute of Plantation Management Bengaluru (IIPMB) | Post Graduate Diploma in Agri-Plantation Business (PGD-ABPM) | 3.50 |
MBA Agri Business Management: Career Opportunity
A steady rise in placement packages has been observed as the need for Agri Business managers is rising year after year. The demand for managerial skills continues to be on the rise in Agriculture sector. As a result more and more students are taking up MBA agri-business management courses as preferred career option. A consistent increase in salaries in Placement offers from reputed recruiters to graduates with MBA in Agri Business adds to this charm.
National and Multi Nationals are realizing the importance of Agribusiness market. While AMUL is one of the top examples of cooperative brands offering high placements to graduates in Agribusiness management, number of top recruiters like Adani, Reliance, Tata, Godrej, EY, KPMG, Tolaram, Ninjacart, Cloudtail among others have been participating in campus placements and making high salary offers in the management institutes offering MBA in Agri Business Management programmes.
There are several Agri start-ups which are exploring huge opportunities for agri-business graduates. With the increasing level of farmers’ awareness and professionalism in farming, the Agri and rural sector has compelled agri-input companies providing seed, fertiliser, pesticides, credit as well as insurance firms, to engage trained professionals to serve the market creatively and remain competitive.
30+ Types of Industries & More than 100 Recruiters
More than 30 types of industry governed by hundreds of top corporate houses offer career opportunities and placement to the Agri Business Managers. Major industries in which career opportunities exist for the MBA graduates in Agri Business Management are Agri Input Industry; Seeds; Fertiliser; Agrochemicals; Farm Machinery and Equipments; Cattle Feed; Poultry Feed; Aqua Feed; Food Processing Industry; Dairy Processing; Fruit and Vegetable processing; Chicken & Meat Processing; Retail Industry; Financial Services; Private Sector Banks; Public Sector Banks; Small Finance Banks; NBFCs working in Agri and Rural Sector; Micro Finance; Agri Commodity Trading Sector; Agri Warehousing Sector; Development Sector; Cooperatives and FPOs; Agri Export Houses; E Commerce; Teaching & Research
Besides, there are immense opportunities in banks, logistics and consultancy firms for agri-business professionals. The food processing sector also requires trained professionals.
MBA Agri Business Management: Placement Highlights
IIM Ahmedabad MBA FABM witnessed 30 companies making offers to the MBA FABM 2017-19 students in placement 2019. Similarly, IIM Lucknow MBA in Agri Business; XSRM MBA in Rural Management; IIFM Bhopal; MANAGE Hyderabad; XISS Ranchi among others have also recorded high placements for the graduates in Agri Business Management.
| Colleges offering MBA Agri Business/MBA Rural Management | Average Salary in Placement 2019 | Top Recruiters 2019 |
| IIM Ahmedabad | 15.20 (2018, Data for 2019 after IPRS Audit) | Godrej Agrovet, PI Industries, Pioneering Ventures, Ninjacart, Waycool, EY, RBL Bank, Reliance Foundation, RaboBank, INI Farms, Cloudtail, Reckitt Benckiser, ADM, KPMG |
| IIM Lucknow | Salary Data Not shared | RIL, IBM, ICICI, TATA, Nokia, ITC, Microsoft, JSW, RPG, HUL, Amazon, Olam |
| Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand | 12.84 | GCMMF, Tolaram, Kewalram (Afriventures), ITC Agribusiness Division, ADM Agro, Godrej Agrovet, National Bulk Handling Corporation, Seedworks, Adani Wilmar, Pidilite, Future Group, Grofers, Big Basket, Metro Cash & Carry, Ninjacart, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank |
| MANAGE, Hyderabad | Not Shared | ITC, Cadbury, KRIBHCO, Dhaanya Seeds, Netafim, Magma, Sahaj, Triton, Afri Venture, BASF, JK Agri, Monsanto, Genetics, PHI Seeds, HDFC, ICICI, Britannia, Dabur, Tata Chemicals, Bharti Walmart, Aditya Birla, IOC, MCX, NCDEX |
| IIFM Bhopal | 7.5 | ICICI, IDFC, Kotak Mahindra, Capital Trust, Dr Reddy’s, EY, Axis Bank, Vyakta, Fincare |
| XUB-XSRM Bhubaneswar | 8.0 | Bharti AXA, FinCare, ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, Muthoot Fincorp, TATA AIG, Ujjivan, Deloitte, NuSocia, Adani Capital, AMUL, Crompton Greaves, Decathlon |
| XISS Ranchi | 5.87 | ACC, ACT, Adani, Aditya Birla, APCO, Asian Paints, Bajaj Allianz, BASF, BPCL, CARE, CISCO, GE, Future Generali, Future Supply Chain |
MBA Agri Business Management Courses
Agriculture Business Management course is divided into six semesters during two years. One of the key parts of MBA in Agriculture Business Management course is the rural immersion/summer internship programme after first and second year course completion.
Agri Business Management Subjects taught in these top agriculture business management colleges is more or less same. However, it is the pedagogy with real case studies that make a key difference in enabling the learning and getting leadership expertise on these agri business management subjects.
Top MBA colleges offering MBA in Agri Business Management have well designed course curriculum to groom the students as industry ready with leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Glimpses of curriculum design of some of the top institutes are shared below:
IIM Ahmedabad: PGP-Food & Agri Business Management (FABM)
PGP-FABM programme of IIM Ahmedabad has been consistently ranked Number 1 in the World in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management programs by Eduniversal, Paris, France for the last eight years. The two year Post Graduate Program in Food and Agri-business Management (PGP-FABM) aims to transform dynamic and determined men and women into tomorrow’s leaders and decision makers in the food, rural, developmental, and allied sectors.
First Year Agri Business Management Courses
The first year of the Agri Business Management programme focuses on building fundamentals in the core concepts of management and providing the students basic conceptual and analytical skills required in different disciplines and functional areas for managerial effectiveness. The first year curriculum builds the synergies between PGP – General and PGP-FABM programmes to provide the students an exposure to the complexity of managerial decision making. The PGP FABM curriculum and the Agri Business Management Subjects for the first year of the programme runs common with PGP while the Agri Business Management Subjects with specializations are quite different in second year.
First Year Compulsory Courses, Common with PGP-FABM
Term 1
- Financial Markets
- Financial Reporting and Analysis
- Human Resource Management I
- Individual Dynamics
- Legal Aspects of Business
- Managerial Computing
- Marketing I
- Microeconomics
- Operations Management-I
- Quantitative Methods 1A
- Quantitative Methods 1B
- Written Analysis and Communication
Term 2
- Costing and Control Systems
- Quantitative Methods 2
- Financial Markets
- Human Resource Management II
- Transforming Business through Information Technology
- Interpersonal Group Processes
- Macroeconomics and Policy
- Marketing II
- Operations Management II
- Personal and Corporate Ethics
- Workshop on Interviews and Presentations
Term 3
- Business, Environment and Society
- Business Research Methods
- Corporate Finance
- Government Systems and Policy Process
- Internet – Enabled Businesses
- Marketing III
- Organizational Dynamics
- Rural, Social and Institutional Environment##
- Strategic Management
- Managerial Analysis and Communication
- Flexicore Courses (FC)
- Operations Management (FC)
- HRM (FC)
Rural Immersion Phase-1: Summer Internship After First Year
To initiate students into building a perspective towards agriculture and rural sector, after first year PGP-FABM students undergo the first phase of Rural Immersion Module (RIM) in the summer vacation, which is followed by summer internship. Students undergo Rural Immersion in two phases for a total period of about four weeks and summer internship for a period of eight weeks with the institute’s corporate partners, which provide students field and organizational experience.
PGP-FABM 2nd Year Syllabus & Specializations
The second year of the FABM programme aims at building and deepening decision making skills within the specific context of rural and agriculture sectors. It consists of electives and compulsory courses and the second phase of Rural Immersion Module.
The second year is designed to impart specialized multi-functional knowledge and skills required by food and agri-business sector managers for excellence in planning, decision-making, organization and implementation in different sub-sectors and activities in the sector including agriculture, food, and agribusiness, rural and allied sectors.
3 Types of Courses
- Regular Course: This helps a student to learn tools, techniques, skills and concepts primarily through class discussions.
- Seminar Course: This provides a specified number of class sessions and time for research to explore the frontiers of knowledge.
- Projects: These are designed to suit individual student needs. There are four categories of projects. (1) An Independent Project, (2) Project Course, (3) Course of Independent Study, and (4) Comprehensive Project.
Second Year Courses (Compulsory and Electives)
Term IV
- Agricultural & Food Policy*
- Agricultural Finance*
- Marketing of Agricultural Inputs*
- Strategic Food Marketing*
- Management for Agribusiness Projects *
- Shodh Yatra (between Term IV & V)
- Market Research and Information Systems
- Rural Immersion Module (2 phases, total credit 1 unit) Phase I
Term V
- International Agri-Food Trade
- Value Chain Management – Applications in Agribusiness
- CINE: Understanding Creativity, Innovation, Knowledge, Networks And Entrepreneurship
- Food and Agri-business International Strategies and Organisations
- Micro Finance Management
- Food Supply Chain Management
- Analyzing and Building Competencies
- Carbon Finance
- Public Policy
- Social Entrepreneurship: Innovating Social Change
- Sales and Distribution Management For Agriculture
Term VI
- Agribusiness Entrepreneurship*
- Agribusiness Leadership*
- Agricultural Futures and Option Markets
- Agricultural Markets and Pricing
- Economics of Food Quality
- Applied Agricultural Trade and Policy Analysis#
- Managing Sustainability
- Managing Energy Businesses
- Investigating Corporate Social Irresponsibility
- Rural Immersion Module (2 phases) Phase II
*Compulsory Courses
#New Course
Agri Business Rural Immersion Module (RIM) – Managing at the grassroots
Rural Immersion module is a distinctive feature of PGP-FABM. During RIM, all students are required to spend four weeks (one month) in rural areas. The objective of RIM is to provide students with an opportunity to interact with the rural people, thereby exposing them to rural lifestyle, values, society, institutions, and economy. The exercise not only brings students closer to the ground realities and constraints, but also provides an understanding of the functioning of rural markets and their linkages with socio-economic institutions. The Rural Immersion module is sub divided into 2 stages namely problem identification and solution. The first stage spans 10 days and is undertaken during the first year, the second stage is also 10 days and is during second year.
