AGRISUMMIT 2017
SIIB organized ‘Agri Summit 2017’, the flagship event of Agriculture Business Management on 1 st and 2 nd September, 2017 with the theme “ICT- On fertile lands of agriculture”. On the first day of the summit, three pre-events were organized, namely “EXIMOID” - The Business-Plan competition, “ALPHA”- The Best Manager competition and “Hit the Click”- The Photography competition. The events saw a huge participation from various colleges.
The “EXIMOID” was the Import and Export Business-Plan competition. The objective of this competition was to recognize and encourage entrepreneurial skills within individuals who have the potential to plan and build their own empire. “EXIMOID” gave them a platform to showcase their business techniques in the international market. Out of 49 teams, 5 teams qualified for the on campus round. The esteemed panellists for the event were- Dr. Nisha Bharti, Assistant Professor & HOD - Agribusiness Management, Dr. Shubhangi Salokhe, Professor - Agribusiness Management, Dr. Jeevan Nagarkar, Assistant Professor & HOD - Finance. After a nail biting competition, team ‘Antaragani’ from SCIT Pune was declared as the winner. Team Falcons from Prin. L.N Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai was the 1st runners up for Eximoid. The event ended with a vote of thanks from the jury who appreciated the efforts of the teams as well as gave some useful insights to the other teams so as to make their business model more efficient.
Eximoid was followed by “ALPHA”- The Best Manager competition. The objective of this competition was to recognize and encourage budding managers who have the potential to innovate and create value for the society. It gave them a platform to showcase their ideas to solve the real time problems of the corporate world and take it to a different level altogether. The esteemed panellists for the event were - Mrs. Viraja Bhat, Assistant Professor & HOD - Information Technology, Dr. Suchita Jha, Assistant Professor, Dr. Krishnamurthy Inumula, Associate Professor - Statistics. Out of 77 teams, 4 teams qualified for the on campus round and team ‘Krusher’s’ from SCMHRD, Pune was declared as the ultimate winner. Team ‘Invincible’ from K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research was the 1st runners- up. The event ended with a vote of thanks from the jury who appreciated the efforts of the participating teams.
“Hit the Click” was the photography competition. The objective of this competition was to recognize and encourage photographers who have the potential to visualize and capture the visuals at the right time. A total of 19 teams from all over the country registered for the event and only 2 teams could make it till the end. The winner of the event is yet to be declared. Finally the first day concluded with a great success.
On 2 nd September 2017, the main event was commemorated by lighting the lamp by Dr. Asmita Chitnis, Director SIIB along with the esteemed guests namely, Dr. Shakil Ahammed, Joint Secretary, MIDH, Dr. P.M. Ghole, CGM, NABARD and Mr. Ritesh Mishra, Lead - Regulatory Affairs, Mahyco.
After felicitating the guests, Dr. Asmita Chitnis, gave insightful information on Agribusiness and its scope. She emphasized on the importance of technology in the field of agriculture and how ICT will effectively connect farmers to consumers.
Dr. Shakil Ahammed provided valuable insights on the Horticulture Industry, Floriculture industry, Apiculture, Mushroom cultivation in India, the different advancements in this field and the importance of ICT in agriculture. He provided recent data about the industries mentioning the growth of the said industry and increasing export potential. He also talked about the logistics support required for the quickest evacuation of floriculture. While discussing about Apiculture he spoke about the natural honey production and exports. He further mentioned that there is still a room for the expansion of mushroom cultivation with proper marketing and public awareness. Lastly, he informed us about the Maharashtra mobile app – HORTNET, which is an app providing financial assistance under MIDH.
Dr. P.M. Ghole enlightened us about the importance of NABARD and how it has helped revolutionize the agriculture sector. He also spoke about how NABARD has played an important role in the recent innovations which have occurred in the field of agriculture. He discussed about NABARD credit planning and monitoring methods which are Refinance and Kisan Credit Cards. He also emphasized on the support given by NABARD in conducting Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programmes. Promotion and development in the farming sector, Precision farming and how to double the farmer’s income was also discussed.
Mr. Ritesh Mishra, spoke about smart agriculture, the challenges of food security and how we can take the farmers to great levels through information communication technology. He focused on the genetically modified crop ‘Bt cotton’ and its increased production and productivity through technology which has made India emerge as the largest cotton producer in the world. He also touched upon the Import and export facts with reference to ‘Bt brinjal’ and ‘Bt cotton’. Mr.Mishra also gave his valuable insights on urban farming.
The morning session was followed by a panel discussion, which witnessed esteemed speakers participating in a Q and A session wherein inquisitive students asked their queries regarding the subject matter.
The afternoon session began with an interesting discussion with Mr. Balchandra Thakur, Exporter, Ruchi Group of Companies. He emphasised on the production and export potential of papaya. He shared his experiences in the export industry, marketing Thailand guava in China and retail trade in China. He suggested future agriculturalists to use urea on larger scale and avoid hazardous chemicals in order to be more sustainable.
Mr. Swanand Gudhate, talked about UAV’s – a crucial link for technology integrated farming to speed up the process of irrigation for different crop types. He stressed upon the importance of data analysis in the near future.
Mr. Dharamveer Kamboj, innovator of multi-purpose food processing machine, shared anecdotes about his life. He discussed that how he started his life as an organic farmer and later became the CEO of DFPT Private Limited. He has also worked on an excellent prototype which was brought by GIAN-North. He wishes to develop a farm where he wants to grow, process and sell herbs. His innovative work has been covered in many new papers.
The Summit ended with a vote of thanks by Mrs. Ketaki Barve, Assistant Professor, Agribusiness Management who acknowledged the guests, Director- Asmita Chitnis, faculty and the students for gracing the occasion with their presence. Lastly, she congratulated the entire team of Agri Summit for making this event a grand success.
