Agriculture Industry

Dr U.S Awasthi, MD of IFFCO and Dr Deepak Shah, CMD of Sulphur Mills to be honoured with ABSA Lifetime Achievement Awards

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09 August 2021, Hyderabad, IN: Dr U.S Awasthi, MD of IFFCO, one of India’s biggest cooperative and Dr Deepak Shah, CMD of Sulphur Mills who is known as the Sulphur Man of India will be honoured with “ABSA Lifetime Achievement Awards for the years 2020 and 2021”. Both leaders have put in 50 plus years of service to the Indian Agriculture Industry and the nation.

ABSA Lifetime Achievement Award winners were announced by Dr. Kalpana Sastry, MD of Ag Hub Foundation, Prof. Jayashankar, Telangana State Agriculture University, (PJTSAU) at a Press Conference on behalf of the Jury comprised of Mr. S Siva Kumar, Group Head Agri and IT Businesses – ITC Chairman Technico Agri Sciences Limited, Vice Chairman ITC Infotech India;  Mr. Ram Kaundinya, Founder, ThinkAg (platform for Agri and Food innovation), Ex MD Cyanamide, Advanta Seeds; Dr. K Chandra Shekara, Director General, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE); Dr. Joanna Kane Potaka, Assistant Director-General, ICRISAT. 

The award ceremony is scheduled to be held on 2nd September at Park Hyatt, Hyderabad. “Distinguished professionals in the agriculture industry will also be recognised for their professional excellence and outstanding contribution to the industry”, informed Mr. Raj Kumar Agarwal, Founder & Managing Partner of Ray Consulting which organises Agribusiness Summit & Awards. “It is an annual feature that honours and recognise the achievements and share the success stories of organisations, enterprises, institutions and individuals that are actively involved in boosting economic growth and achieving milestones in this sector”, mentioned Mr. Raj Kumar Agarwal.

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Talking to the media Mr. Ram Kaundinya, Founder, ThinkAg (platform for Agri and Food innovation), Ex MD Cyanamide, Advanta Seeds, member of the jury, mentioned “There are so many awards, awards in every category. But there are no Awards for Agri Professionals in AgriScience, Scientists and Agri Input Industry. Not many Padma Awards are given to the Agriculture Sector. ABSA awards is a great initiative and Agriculture industry is undergoing a huge transformation. The recipients for the ABSA awards are chosen through a robust and credible process, he said.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Joanna Kane Potaka, Assistant Director-General, ICRISAT spoke about the role of women in agriculture. 50 percent representation is not enough and we need their 100% participation, she said. Mr. Raj Kumar interfering here on the Role of Women in Agriculture, he said 70% of students of Indian Agriculture Universities are girls. The Agri sector is emerging as the most attractive now to women too, he added. 

Mr. S Siva Kumar, Group Head, Agri and IT Businesses – ITC India, said Because of the pandemic, Indian Industry shrank by more than 7%, service industry shrank by 8%. On the whole, the GDP shrank just by 7%, thanks to the Agri sector which grew by 3% as all Lockdowns exempted Agriculture.  This has provided a silver line. Unlocking Agriculture worked well for us. More investments has poured in the sector, more innovations, digital technologies all put together contributed immensely to the growth of the Agri sector despite other sectors shrinking.  

The Agribusiness Summit & Awards 2021 (ABSA 2021) will host over 200 Senior Corporate Executives, Industry Captains from over 150 companies. Over 200 nominations for various award categories have been received. The Summit will host high profile, decision-makers and influencers from the Agri Inputs industry (Agro Chemicals, Nutrition, Bio Ag, Seeds, irrigation, farm mechanization, Precision Ag), researchers, management education, Government, Finance, Universities, etc.

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