Programme

PhD

Term

II

Academic Year

2021-22

Course title

Agro Value Chain Management & Development

Area

Centre for Management in Agriculture

Credits

1.00

Instructor(s)

Prof. Sukhpal Singh

Course Description & Objectives

Introduction: The internationalization and globalization of agro trade has deepened the interdependence and integration of the world economy through foreign direct investment and subcontracting of production. It is also being realized that the gains from globalization of trade are unevenly distributed within as well as across nations. A significant part of the global trade is conducted within Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) or through systems of governance, which link firms together in a variety of sourcing and contracting arrangements. In global production and trade systems, economic activity is not only international in scope but also global in organization. Internationalization refers to geographic spread of economic activities across national boundaries and it is not a new phenomenon. On the other hand, globalization implies functional integration between internationally dispersed activities and is more recent. If globalization in the production sphere is thus redefined, then the value chain perspective is an effective means of conceptualizing the forms that this integration takes. It shifts the focus from production alone to the whole range of activities from design to marketing. The concept of value chain has many variants such as commodity chain, value system, production network, supply chain, value network, ‘complex’ and ‘filerie’ approach which are also, sometimes, used interchangeably. A value system is a set of interlinked complete firms that have all the business functions. In fact, a value chain describes the full range of activities, which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the intermediary phases of production and delivery, to final consumers and final disposal after use. Alternately, a value chain is a network of labour and production processes whose end result is a finished commodity. It is the series of relations through which an item passes from extraction through conversion, exchange, transport, distribution and final use. The competitive advantage is increasingly a function of how well a company can manage this entire chain. The value chain or global/regional production network approach has also acquired importance in the context of triple bottomline (3 Ps of profit, planet and people) of the corporations wherein environment and people also matter besides profit. Therefore, there is also focus on promoting pro-poor value chains which are inclusive and sustainable. Objectives: 1. To familiarize the participants with the concept and the theory behind value chain framework and its relevance for agribusiness. 2. To expose participants to specific applications of this framework in the subsectors of agribusiness like garments, horticulture, food service, and the like. 3. To help participants to apply global and Indian learning in this field to understand and tackle issues of management and development in such chains.

Pedagogy

Lectures, case study analysis, assignments, discussions, analysis of value chain situations, and guest speakers will contribute to deliver the contents of the course.