Rural management

According to the report on rural management education in India by Prof M S Sriram, IIM Ahmedabad , one of the pioneering initiatives that has fuelled the demand for qualified professionals in the agri sector is the e-choupal experiment of ITC. which is a quiet digital revolution that has been reforming the lives of farmers in remote Indian villages. E- choupals are village Internet kiosks managed by farmers, which enable the agricultural community to access ready information on the weather and market prices.
In his report, Prof Sriram says that it was with the introduction of such a concept in the rural market place, that the demand for rural managers started moving from the theoretical co-operative space to structured corporate buying.Thus a typical rural manager would have the satisfaction of working with farmers, earning a decent pay package and enjoy the prestige attached to working with a reputed corporate. On the retailing front, starting with RPG's entry into the retail segment through its erstwhile partnership with Foodworld and later with the entry of players like Big Bazaar, Reliance, Bharti and Subhiksha, there has been a demand for managers who possibly comprehended this type of business better.


According to the same report, the failure of the co-operative banking system led to the private sector banks foraying into the rural territory. As these banks usually do not have a branch network in rural India, they had to come up with innovative solutions to reach the small and remote customer. The knowledge of rural management graduates can thus be very handy in this sector.

Today, the focus in agricultural studies is on developing the entrepreneurial skills of the students in areas such as agri-business management, post-harvest technologies and marketing.There is also an increasing appreciation of the need for greater synergy between general and agricultural education.With intensive agriculture raking up environmental problems, environmental protection and management have also started receiving increased attention.
Although it is possible to have a career in this sector without any formal training, given the range and scope of career in the agriculture sector it is essential to obtain formal training to become successful particularly in the areas of research and agro-industry. When questioned about the essential skill sets that one needs to have to join the sector, Pranav Prashad, Head - Rural & Agriculture Business Group, ICICI Lombard says, ""The only requirement is a willingness to work in rural areas. There are special products that our organisation has developed for the rural areas which one needs to understand. An understanding and familiarity with the local geography does help in selling products to the local masses.""