Agribusiness Management from Utkal University: Scope and the road ahead

Bhubaneswar: Utkal University’s Centre for Agri-Management (CAM) is inviting fresh applications for admission of students in MBA Agribusiness for the academic session 2022-24.

This year, the department will welcome its 17th batch of students in Agribusiness programme.

Established in 2006 under department of Business Administration of the university, Center for Agri-Management (CAM) offers a two-year full time MBA (Agribusiness) programme.

Agribusiness Management is an innovative programme designed to create quality Agribusiness professionals who would cater to the growing requirements of various organizations. The programme includes practical field work along with theory classes.

“Activities taken up in different subjects and stay at the institution enables students to build upon social and emotional aspects, thus preparing them as better human beings. Further, they are prepared to assume responsibilities, negotiate professional and personal relationships, solve problems, take decisions and gain confidence as well as esteem in life. Field studies, Industry-academia interactions, seminars/workshops, guest lectures and career guidance/personality development workshops are organized to equip them to meet the challenges in the professional life”, a press release read.

The alumni of this programme are successfully working in various reputed organizations in the functional area of agriculture, Agribusiness, rural development, banking, microfinance, retail and food processing sectors. Besides the academic programme of Agribusiness, CAM has been quite proactive in agricultural research, training, incubation for start ups and consulting services.

Stressing that the concept of living lab would emphasize on bridging the gap between research/ classroom teaching and commercial success of innovation, the centre has set up a ‘Rural Technology Park-Agibusiness Living Lab.’ In the lab, varieties of Agribusiness models are showcased with practical demonstration, which is called a ‘Training-cum-Production Centre’. The lab is used to guide aspiring youth and agri-entrepreneurs in developing profitable agri-business enterprises in the biocompost/vermi-compost, coir pit, amrutmiti, amrutjal, polyhouse nursery, high tech agriculture, fish farming, beekeeping, integrated fish-cum-duck farming and organic vegetable farming etc.

So far, the students under this programme have developed, procured and sold multigrain atta preferable for diabetic persons, organic turmeric powder, kitchen/terrace garden seedling kit, etc.

Recently, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Mumbai signed an MOU as a technology partner for technical knowledge dissemination through value based education and innovative technologies in the area of water, land, agriculture, food processing and urban-rural waste management.

The practice of putting students in the shoes of managers and applying theoretical skills to the professional life with unstructured problems has proved to be a successful approach for learning over the years. Adopting this strategy, CAM, Bhubaneswar exposes its students to case studies, covering an array of subjects, which are discussed in the classes by the faculties and also among the students fraternity to enhance learning.

An integral part of the CAM, Bhubaneswar curriculum is the Term Projects which each student prepares for each subject during the semesters. It is a combination of the insightful research and analytical thinking on a topic that is a reflection of what is taught in the classroom and its relation to the current business scenario.

Moreover, looking into the contemporary market scenario, the Centre has revamped and revised the course curriculum with courses on Digital Marketing and Data Science / Business Analytics, which have provided contemporary grooming.

In furtherance to the principle of industry aligned growth, CAM Bhubaneswar facilitates guest lecturers from industry experts and organizes series of corporate talks by reputed corporate leaders, management experts and eminent academicians as part of the course curriculum. This ensures a continuous industry interaction process that aims to provide students with an insight into current global trends and future opportunities.

At the time of induction, the students undergo a crash course on Basic Agricultural Sciences for 30 days, which is followed by field visit to different farms to give the students practical exposure.

The Agribusiness managers are well trained and equipped to suit for Agribusiness and rural development sectors including sales and marketing, retail management, banking, logistics and supply chain management, micro-finance, commodity management, e-commerce, etc. The Agribusiness managers combine the technical and managerial skills to provide exclusive services beyond just management to the farming and allied sectors.
Moreover, the centre maintains a track record for placement since inception in various reputed sectors with a strong alumni base.

 

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