IIM-L: Programme on Leadership for Innovations in Agriculture organized

A total of 16 sessions on different aspects of managerial and leadership were organized by the experts with diverse background and experience. In order to impart practical based learning, group projects on different issues related to managerial and leadership skills were also done by the participants.

Agriculture sector in India is witnessing an unprecedented paradigmatic shift. Increasingly the emphasis is shifting from producer-driven to market-led agricultural development. The National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in India needs to respond to the twin challenges of facilitating the transition from producer-driven to market-led agricultural development, and of ensuring sustainability of livelihoods, particularly of the rural poor in the disadvantaged regions. Accordingly, the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) is implementing the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) with the objective to give NARS an innovation perspective by transforming it to a pluralistic National Agricultural Innovation System (NAIS). In the NAIS, public, private and civil society organizations are expected to be involved together in well-defined partnerships to pilot accelerated and sustainable transformations of Indian agricultural to meet national goals.

Institutional learning and capacity building (L&CB;) are central to achieving this transition. Centre for Food and Agribusiness Management (CFAM) at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow is to carry out 21 Management Development Programmes on Leadership, Public-Private Partnerships, Policy Monitoring and Evaluations etc., for next four years. It is an acknowledged fact that Agricultural Research Management, in addition to technical skills and capabilities, involves various other facets of general management also. Senior agricultural administrators, in order to effectively manage various research projects, not only have to be good researchers but they also need to possess good leadership and managerial skills. Importance of imparting managerial skills to agricultural scientists and administrators has been duly recognized and emphasized in the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP).