Post-graduate Programme in Agri-business Management (PGP-ABM)

The Two-Year Post-graduate Programme in Agri-business Management (PGP-ABM) is designed to transform dynamic and determined individuals into excellent managers, to meet the unparalleled demands on their capabilities as posed by the increasingly challenging food, rural and allied sectors.

Eligibility

(1) The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Agriculture Sciences or in Agriculture-related disciplines, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe(ST), Persons with Disability Category (DA) category of any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under 3 of UGC Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.  The Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.

OR

(2) The candidate must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in any non-Agriculture discipline from a University or Institution as defined in the above paragraph and have an interest in Agriculture, Agro/Food Processing, Rural and Allied sectors.  The Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidates must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.

Rules for conversion of CGPA, for computation of percentage scored and for the candidates appearing in the final year of qualifying examination would be same as mentioned above in the minimum eligibility criterion for admission to PGP for all IIMs.   Students who are in the final year of their bachelor’s degree education and may have to go back to complete their examination formalities during June 2011 will be granted special leave for this purpose.   Please refer to www. catiim.in and in the IIMA programme details  (url : http://202.41.76.11/download/IIMAProfile.pdf),  The provisional admission of students who DO NOT complete ALL their examination formalities on or before June 30, 2012 will be CANCELLED.  Under no circumstances will an extension of this date of June 30, 2012 be granted.

You are required to produce the mark sheet and a certificate on or before December 31, 2012 of having passed the Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification.  The admission will be confirmed only when you submit the mark sheet and a certificate of having passed the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification as mentioned in the certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar with at least 50% marks (45% in case of candidates belonging to  SC/ST/PWD category).  Under no circumstances the deadline of December 31, 2012 will be extended.

Students who are identified by the Interview Committee  for attending the Preparatory Programme are expected to attend the programme which will start during the end of May 2011.   The preparatory programme provides special inputs in Mathematics, Communication and Information Technology, and is designed to enable the students to prepare themselves for the first year of the PGP-ABM programme. (Students who are in the final year of their bachelor’s degree education and need to go back to complete their examination formalities during June will be granted special leave from the preparatory programme).  The first year’s curriculum is compulsory and is same as that of PGP.  In addition, there is a special course on Rural Environment and Institutions designed to familiarize the students with the sectoral environment.  After the end of the first year, students will undergo the first phase of Rural Immersion Module and subsequently, work in an organization engaged in agri-business on a summer assignment lasting eight weeks.

The second year of the programme is designed to impart specialized multi-functional knowledge and innovative skills required by agri-business managers for excellence in planning, decision-making, organization and implementation in the sector and in its sub-sectors.  The second year courses also provide the students with an opportunity to pursue areas of special interest to them.  The second year includes compulsory courses in agri-business management, a few compulsory courses in general management, and elective courses.

Diploma

The graduate of PGP-ABM are awarded the‘Post-Graduate Diploma in Agri-Business Management’.

Placement

PGP-ABM graduates will be assisted in finding suitable placements in organizations engaged in agri-business, food, agriculture and allied sectors.  Excellent opportunities are available for careers in upcoming agribusiness sectors like retail management, micro finance, agricultural input companies, food processing industries, rural marketing, international agricultural trade, commodity exchanges, rural financial institutions, market research in agribusiness and NGOs engaged in rural development.

Admission/Selection Process

The selection for the PGP-ABM is done through a two-stage process.  In the first stage, candidates to be called for group discussion and personal interview are short-listed from among those who have applied to IIMA’s post-graduate programme.  The actual cut-offs used for short-listing would depend upon the performance of candidates in CAT- 2011.  While short-listing the candidates for group discussion and personal interview, candidates belonging to categories for which seats are reserved, are treated differently.

In the second stage, candidates to be admitted to the PGP-ABM are selected from among those who have attended the group discussion and personal interviews.  In preparing this admission list, inputs such as performance in group discussion and personal interview, the CAT score, suitability for the programme in terms of interest and background (considering that this is a sector-specific programme), academic profile and achievements, extra-curricular activities, and post-degree work experience and its relevance, are taken into consideration.