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Seminar 1:International Agri-Business Management

Introduction:The Seminar relating to International Agri-Business Management was conducted on 28th December 2010. The Seminar was conducted in MITSOM College itself. The guest lecturer was Dr. Ms. Bhagyashree Yargop, HOD Geography Department, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune. She is a well known authority in the field of agriculture and agro-based industries and their scope in international markets.

History of agriculture
Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. Evidence points to the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East as the site of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in the wild. Independent development of agriculture is also believed to have occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and several regions of the Americas. Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers, and pesticides were developed long ago but have made great strides in the past century. The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints. In the past century, agriculture has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the replacement of human labor by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding, and mechanization. The recent history of agriculture has been closely tied with a range of political issues including water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs, and farm subsidies. In recent years, there has been a backlash against the external environmental effects of mechanized agriculture, and increasing support for the organic movement and sustainable agriculture. India Wheat, barley, and jujube were domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE; Domestication of sheep and goat soon followed. Barley and wheat cultivation along with the domestication of cattle, primarily sheep and goatcontinued in Mehrgarh culture by 8000-6000 BCE. This period also saw the first domestication of the elephant. Agro pastoralism in India included threshing, planting crops in rows either of two or of sixand storing grain in granaries. By the 5th millennium BCE agricultural communities became widespread in Kashmir. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th millennium BCE-4th millennium BCE. Archaeological evidence indicates that rice was a part of the Indian diet by 8000 BCE. The Encyclopedia Britannicaon the subject of the first certain cultivated rice holds that: A number of cultures have evidence of early rice cultivation, including China, India, and the civilizations of Southeast Asia. Irrigation was developed in the Indus Valley Civilization by around 4500 BCE The size and prosperity of the Indus civilization grew as a result of this innovation, which eventually led to more planned settlements making use of drainage and sewers Archeological evidence of an animal-drawn plough dates back to 2500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilization.

What is International Agri-Business?


Agri-Business is the sum of operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies, production activities on

the farm and the storage, processing and distribution of farm commodities and items made from them. It also involves all institutions which affect and co-ordinate the successive stages of commodity flow such as government, future markets and trade associations. International AgriBusiness refers to all transactions, private and governmental, between 2 or more countries. Private companies take such transactions for profits; government may or may not do the same in the transactions. These transactions include sales, investments and transportation. International Business is the process of focusing on the resources of the globe and objectives of the organizations on the global business opportunities and threats. The conditions within the firms external environment affect the way business functions such as marketing are carried out. These conditions are physical, societal and competitive. When a firm operates internationally, it adds foreign conditions to its domestic ones, marketing its external environment more diverse.

Need of International Agri-Business:There are four major objectives that influence firms to engage in international business. 1) To expand sales Any sales are dependent on 2 factors, namely:- the consumers interest in their production or services and the consumers willingness and the ability to buy them. The number of people and the amount of their purchasing power are higher for the world as a whole than for a single country, so firms may increase their sales by reaching international markets. 2) To acquire sources Producers and distributors seek out the product commodities and components produced in foreign countries. They also look for foreign capital, technology, hybrid varieties of seeds, new equipments and information they can use at home. 3) To diversify sources of sales and supplies To minimize swing in sales and profits, firms may seek out foreign markets to take advantage of business cycle recessions and expansions, differences among the countries.

4) Minimize competitive risk Many agricultural organizations enter into international business for defensive reasons. They want to counter advantages competitors might gain in the foreign market that, in turn, could help them domestically.

Sustainable agriculture:Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment. It has been defined as "an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a sitespecific application that will last over the long term:
y y y y

Satisfy human food and fiber needs Make the most efficient use of non-renewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls Sustain the economic viability of farm operations Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

Sustainable Agriculture in the United States was addressed by the 1990 farm bill. More recently, as consumer and retail demand for sustainable products has risen, organizations such as Food Alliance and Protected Harvest have started to provide measurement standards and certification programs for what constitutes a sustainably grown crop.

Soil
Soil erosion is fast becoming the one of the worlds greatest problems. It is estimated that "more than a thousand million tonnes of southern Africa's soil are eroded every year. Experts predict that crop yields will be halved within thirty to fifty years if erosion continues at present rates."[8] Soil erosion is not unique to Africa but is occurring worldwide. The phenomenon is being called Peak Soil as present large scale factory farming techniques are jeopardizing humanity's ability to grow food in

the present and in the future.[9] Without efforts to improve soil management practices, the availability of arable soil will become increasingly problematic.[10] Some Soil Management techniques
1. No-till farming 2. Keyline design 3. Growing wind breaks to hold the soil.

Agro Based Industries:An Agro based industry means any unit which adds value to agricultural products/intermediaries/residues, both food and nonfood, by processing into products, which are marketable or usable or edible or by improving the storability or by providing the link from farm to the market or part thereof. Agro industry also includes hi-tech and biotechnology based agriculture. There are basically three types of agro based industries. The following table explains the same.

Group Food Processing Industries.

Meaning Raw Material (Agro-Produce) Are Often Processed Into Edible Products. Raw Materials are processed into products which are then use as raw material for other products. This industries are based on high technologies and can be part of above 2 groups.

Examples Manufacture of Edible Oil from oil seeds, sugar, dairy products cashew nut processing. Cotton spinning, leather, and tobacco leaves processing.

Agro Processing Industries

Emerging Agro-Based Industries.

Tissue culture, production of transgenic fermentation plant for bio-fertilizer, gene mapping.

The Hi-tech and Biotechnology based Agriculture means and also includes Mass Multiplication of parasites/predators,

Fermentation Plant for bio fertilizers, Gene mapping, Cloning, Genetic Engineering, Green House, Aquaculture or any other frontier technology having agro industrial application. Agribusiness involves the production, processing and marketing of farm products. It is the sum of the operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies, production activities on the farm and the storage, processing and distribution of farm commodities and items made from them. The multinational companies started producing their products in foreign/host countries. Agribusiness in the international scenario has got tremendous scope as it covers not only a wide range but also multifarious magnitude of activities. The scope of international business management extends from agricultural inputs, outputs, agri-based industries to services related to agriculture as well as bio-technology. The Indian economy is greatly affected by the international agribusiness. Various factors like the heavy dependency on Monsoons, structural weakness have necessitated the need for second green revolution.

Agribusiness marketing:Agribusiness marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in doing this, such as planning production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing, transport, storage, agro- and food processing, distribution, and sale. Such activities cannot take place without the exchange of information and are often heavily dependent on the availability of suitable finance. Marketing systems are dynamic; they are competitive and involve continuous change and improvement. Businesses that have lower costs, are more efficient, and can deliver quality products, are those that prosper. Those that have high costs, fail to adapt to changes in market demand, and provide poorer quality, are often forced out of business. Marketing has to be customer-oriented and has to provide the farmer, transporter, trader, processor, etc. with a profit. This requires those involved in marketing chains to understand buyer requirements, both in terms of product and business conditions. Support to developing countries with agricultural marketing development is carried out by various donor organizations. Activities include market information development, marketing extension, training in marketing and infrastructure development. Since the 1990s trends have seen the growing importance of supermarkets and a growing interest in contract farming, both of which impact significantly on the way in which marketing takes place.

Bibliography
Sr.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Industrial Visit. Whirlpool India Pvt. Ltd. Dynamic Logistics. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Seminar-1 Book Referred. ------------------International Agricultural Business Website. www.whirlpoolindia.com www.dynamiclogistics.com www.coca-colaindia.com ----------

THANK YOU

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