Graduate and Post Graduate in Agriculture with specialization in Horticulture with Management background with more than 10 years experience in the field of Agriculture and Rural Sector Enterprise development and Market Linkage activities in India.

EXPERIENCE:
July 2007 Onwards – Agribusiness & Rural Consultant
Key deliverables
• Value Chain Analysis and Enterprise Development Plan for Uttrakhand in the areas of Off-Season Vegetables, Eco-Tourism and Medicinal Plants as Consultant (Economist) under Uttrakhand Regional Economic Development Programme (Joint venture of GTZ and NABARD).
• Developing Agribusiness Plan 2030 for Punjab state as consultant with KPMG.
• Setting up Rural Enterprises (From Planning to Marketing Stage) based upon natural fibres, plant extracts used in cosmetics industry and Non Edible Oilseeds in Uttrakhand
• Developed Business development plans for NTFP (Non-Timber Forest Produce) for SHGs/ Federations in Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya
• Capacity building of agripreneurs under Agri. Clinics and Agribusiness Centre Scheme of Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.
• Agribusiness Consultant for Module development for NCERT-UNESCO programme.
• Farm Development Services as part of increasing the profitability of farms
• Agribusiness Consultancy support to Corporates, ****modity Export Firms, NGOs etc.
• Headed Agro. Delegation in Afghanistan for Agricultural Trade Fair – Agfair 2007, October ***** , 2007, Kabul, Afghanistan for market linkages
• Arranged Canadian Agro. Delegation visits in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Mumbai etc. , 31st Oct. – 6th Nov. 07 and from 7th Dec. – 14th Dec. 07 as part of exposure visits
• Organized Honey Consumption Week in Delhi with the support of Khadi and Village Industries Commission as part of increasing the demand of honey in urban areas so as to benefit honey producers in rural areas.
• Made fresh and processed fruit products importers directory for Indian producers as part of market linkages activity.


From Mar. 2005 – June 2007 – Agribusiness Company
Work Profile:
• Handled market linkage department of the company
• Developed market linkages for Commodity Specific Farmers Organizations such as Apple Growers Association of India; INFARM, Kerala; Banana Growers Association of India; Growers Associations in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala etc.
• Done market mapping exercises and need assessment survey of agricultural produce.
• Planning and implementing the agriculture based events as part of market linkage activity.
• Maintaining and establishing linkages with Govt. and Non Govt. agencies such as Ministry of Agriculture, different State Agricultural Marketing Boards, National Horticulture Board, APEDA, Min. of Food Processing Industry, National Medicinal Plant Board, National Productivity Council, Farmers’ Associations / Organizations, NGOs, Agri. -Entreprenuers, Scientific Community, Corporates, Exporters, Importers, Retailers etc.
• Developed business relationship with potential clients.
• Consultancy support to Corporates for business development.
• Making agriculture based project proposals (World Bank, National Medicinal Plant Board, APEDA)
• Facilitate training to agricultural and allied sector graduates for agripreneurs under Agri. Clinic & Agri. Business Centre Scheme of MANAGE, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.
• Handled projects supported by Ford Foundation, Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, JBIC, ICICI Bank, One World South Asia etc.

Key Results:

Market Linkage Events:

• International Banana Festival and Conference, New Delhi
• Dairy Value Chain Workshop for ICICI Bank, Chennai
• Honey buyer seller meet & conference, New Delhi
• Buyer Seller Meet & Conference on Fruit Industry of Himachal Pradesh, November 2006, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
• Indo-Canadian Agri. Business Partnership Meet, February 2007, New Delhi.
• 3rd International Conference on Linking Markets with Farmers, ***** March, New Delhi.
• Oxfam International Consultation on Agribusiness, 18th April 07, Amritsar, Punjab.
• Buyer-Seller Meet & Conference on Apple, Temperate Fruits and Nuts of Jammu & Kashmir, 5th – 6th June 07, Srinagar.

• Developed online weekly price monitoring system of herbal and medicinal plants.
• Established strong backend linkages with farmers / commodity based farmer’s organizations.
• Developed importers directory of fresh and processed fruits and herbal and medicinal plants and directory of different stakeholders of biofuel in India.

Aug. 2001 - Feb. 2005
Division of Post Harvest Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Work Profile:
• Handled World Bank supported project on reduction in post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables
• Farm Management
• Supply chain management of horticultural crops (From cultivation till storage of fresh fruits and vegetables).
• Liaison with Govt. authorities
• Organizing training for the farmers and entrepreneurs (Good Agricultural Practices)
• Market surveys
• Data analysis and documentation
Key Results:
• Developed supply chain management protocol for fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Developed minimally processed bell pepper for domestic consumption.
• Publication of 11 articles in reputed journals out which 3 in international journals.


August 2000 – Oct. 2000
Central Inland Capture Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR), West Bengal
Work Profile:
• Collection of primary data from farmers on food and nutritional security impact assessment of technology intervention aspects in Jamnagar district of Gujarat.
• Statistical analysis of data

IT SKILLS
Proficient in MS Office packages, Power Point Presentations, Internet etc.
PARTICIPATION IN SEMINAR / WORKSHOPS:
• Participated in the seminar “Horticulture is an Industry “organized by G. A. U and Horticultural Society of Gujarat.
• Winter school organized by Div. of Post Harvest Technology, IARI, New Delhi.
• Participated in short term training programme on export packaging. December 8th to 10th. 2004. Jointly organized by Small Industries Service Institute, Govt. of India, M/O. Small Scale Industries, Haldwani and Indian Institute of Packaging, New Delhi.
• Participated in a seminar organized by Indian Oil Corporation on Biofuels in Nov. , 2005 at New Delhi.
• Participated in Nodal Officers training on Agri. Clinic & Agri. Business Centre Scheme, MANAGE, Min. of Agril. , Govt. of India at Hyderabad in March 2006.

Participated in many national and international Rural and Agribusiness events across the country.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:
DEGREE/ DIPLOMA INSTITUTE YEAR OF PASSING MARKS OGPA MAJOR SUBJECTS
Diploma in Export Management
National Institute of Export Management, Chennai 2005 First Class Specialization in Export of fruits, vegetables and processed products
French language course YMCA, ew Delhi 2003
First Class
Post-Graduate Diploma in Total Quality Management and ISO 9000 All India Institute of Management Studies, Chennai
2002 First Class
National Eligibility Test Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR) 2001 - Horticulture – Vegetable Science
M. Sc (Agri. )
Horticulture Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand. ***** . 23 / 10 Horticulture
B. Sc. (Agri) Gujarat Agricultural University,
S. K. Nagar. ***** . 63 / 10 Agriculture
H. S. C. Kendriya Vidyalaya,
New Delhi ***** . 0 % PCBM (Science)
S. S. C. Kendriya Vidyalaya,
New Delhi ***** . 4 % -



PAPERS/ ARTICLES (Published):

2001 - Innovative packaging of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. Practical Guide of home gardening.

2002 - Post Harvest Capsules for Flowers. Production and Management of Flower Crops.

2003 - Post-harvest management of bell pepper: a case study. Indian Horticulture, January-March 2003 issue.

2003 - Response of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L. ) cultivars to foliar application of magnesium, boron and zinc. Poster Session held at Mysore, CFTRI in 5th International Food Convention (IFCON, 2003).

2003 - Effect of harvesting time on physicochemical attributes of sweet pepper varieties. National Seminar on “Diversification of Agriculture through Horticultural Crops” 21st-23rd Feb. , 004 organized by NHRDF, IARI-Karnal, NHB.

2004 - Effect of maturity at harvest on physico-chemical attributes of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum var grossum) varieties. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Vol. 74, no. 5, pp. ***** .
2004 - Utilization of commercially unmarketable bell pepper through minimal processing and modified atmosphere packaging technology. Paper presented in International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Agricultural and Food Engineering (etae 2004), December ***** , 2004, IIT- Kharagpur.
2004 – Influence of harvesting time on phsicotextural changes in fruits of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. ). Vegetable Science, Vol. 31 (2), pp. ***** .
2004 – Response of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. ) cultivars to foliar application of magnesium, boron and zinc. Vegetable Science, Vol. 31 (1), pp. ***** .
2004 - Influence of Storage Environment, Surface Coating, and Individual Shrink Wrapping on Quality Assurance of Guava (Psidium guajava) Fruits. Plant foods for Human Nutrition. Vol. 59 (2), pp. ***** . (http:// ***** /app/home/contribution. asp?wasp=d ***** d ***** aca1fd23a ***** &referrer=parent&backto=issue, , ;journal, , 5;browsepublicationsresults, 936, 442;)
2003 - Influence of harvest maturity on respiration, ethylene evolution, texture and nutritional properties of bittergourd (Momordica charantia). Journal of Food Science and Technology.