Agriculture and Food Management Institute

Mr M.Ameen Shariff is the Academic Head at the Agriculture and Food Management Institute, Mysore. His aim is to deliver professionals who are technically sound and contribute to the organization with their managerial skills at the same time. 

How do you strategize about the key programs and plans for the marketing and administration of your institute?

“Tailor-made course to give the best techno-commercial managers to the industry”

As of now, we are running a program i.e. ‘Agriculture and Food Business management’. It’s a 2 year full-time MBA programme for agriculture, food technology, biotechnology, agricultural engineering and allied agriculture students. This course is designed in such a way where one gets practical exposure wherein they can understand the need on the ground with respect to the farmers and peoples who are in the food industry.

How does the curriculum of the Agriculture and food management institute ensure the best practice of industry? 

“Correlating the curriculum with the industry to give maximum benefits”

First of all, we have our own academic advisory board which is approved by AICTE. We have in our board peoples from the industry as well in the industry and consultancy as well. These people give us the input about what is the market requirement so based on that syllabus is upgraded every semester. We also follow a principle where we are connecting the industry people right from the third semester. Under the internship program, the industrial people get an opportunity to analyze the candidate for 2 months and then they can think about their performance. 

When you first came to the Agriculture and Food management institute, what was your vision for the university? Has it evolved, and how far along in implementing that vision are you?

“To provide a separate platform for students with a technical background”

I joined this institution after 8 months of its inception in 2008. There was a management platform for general graduates i.e. for students who have done B.Com and Business management. Students coming from the agriculture and food industry didn’t have such a platform. With a view to providing the same for these students, especially the ones coming from technical backgrounds, we started this institute. Even IIM Ahmedabad also offers the same course focusing on students from technical areas. To summarize, we have succeeded till date and have provided more than 600 professionals in the past 10 years and are still on the mission. 

Check Agriculture and Food Management Institute Courses & Fees

What would you like people to know about your university they may not know?

“Provide the students with an education that enables them to start something of their own”

The first basic thing this institution provides is a programme which is specifically designed for agriculture, biotechnology, food technology. The students here can get dual specialization, one is sector-specific specialization and other is commercial specialization. In our college, we give them a management plan. In today’s world, no student would say that I would be doing a job for my entire life. After being in the industry for a while, they might plan on their startups and their own venture. 

What do you see as the Agriculture and food management institute‘s greatest strengths?

“Preparing the students with a holistic approach”

One is, the courses throughout we have designed are industry-oriented courses which provide the solution from pre-farm to post-fork approach. Second, the dual specialization that we are giving where students simultaneously explore technical and commercial areas. Third, we focus on the overall development of the candidates individually on their presentation skills, technical skills. We also run English courses through all the 3 years starting from the basics. The best part is we are having 21 students from our institutions working in Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, NABARD, etc. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you see, both for higher education in general and for Agriculture and food management institutes specifically?

“Students being concerned about wealth acquisition over skills”

The biggest challenge that I feel is a lack of awareness. Often institutes give them the assurance of 100% placement and students fall prey to such industry. So that is the primary challenge. Secondly, students are chasing a good salary package instead of the skills and requirements even during internships. 

Click here Agriculture and Food Management Institute Faculty

What is your philosophy of leadership? 

“Being a good influence first”

My basic principle is to never ask others to follow rules. If you want people to act in a way and follow the regulations, you have set an example first. As a leader, I make sure that my actions encourage and inspire them. If there are people who are older than you or have more experience than you and you get a chance to be on the designation above them, it obviously requires good management skills to pull out work from them. At that point in time, all the negativity and problems pop out.