2024 Dignitaries
Chief Guest
Sri Thummala Nageswara Rao
Minister for Agriculture, Cooperation & Textiles, Government of Telangana State
Sri Thummala Nageswara Rao
Special Guests
Dr P K Singh
Commissioner of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India
Dr P K Singh
Sri M Raghunandan Rao
IAS APC and Secretary Agriculture & Cooperation Government of Telangana
Sri M Raghunandan Rao
Sri Rajesh Kumar
Chief General Manager - State Bank Of India
Sri Rajesh Kumar
Guest of Honour
Mr.C S Liew
Director and shareholder at Pacific Agriscience Pte Ltd
Mr.C S Liew
A citizen of Singapore and a graduate of Iowa State University in Agronomy and Pest Management with 45 years of global experience in agricultural inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) industry.
C S has worked for MNCs such as Ciba-Geigy (now called Syngenta), Uniroyal (now called Chemtura), Nufarm before starting his own company, Pacific Agriscience, 23 years ago. www.pacificagriscience.com
Pacific Agriscience started out trading in generic pesticides, sourcing from China and India, but 5 years ago, focused more on Mergers and Acquisitions in the agricultural inputs space.
The claim to fame was getting InVivo of France (sales turnover of Euro 5+ billion) to acquire a majority stake in CCAB Agro (sales turnover of over USD120 million at the time) of Brazil with a deal size of about USD100 million.
CS is currently working on a few global deals and also helping start-up companies with good or patented technologies in the bio agricultural inputs sector raise capital or going global.
Mr.Fukunaga Takuya
CEO IFFCO MC
Mr.Fukunaga Takuya
Mr.MG Lee
HANEARL SCIENCE LTD Korea
Mr.MG Lee
Jury
The Director General of ni-msme
Read MoreDr.S. Glory Swarupa
With over 25 years of experience in Entrepreneurship & Skill development. She has worked across various Union Ministries and institutions, implementing government schemes and projects nationwide. Her expertise spans policy advocacy, program design, training, mentoring, and research, with a focus on MSMEs, rural development, and agriculture. She has authored numerous publications, presented at international conferences, and led capacity-building initiatives in entrepreneurship education.
As Director General, she has promoted agro-rural clusters and championed initiatives aligning with national priorities and UN Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Swarupa serves on key committees and boards, contributing significantly to innovation and skill development policies. Recognized with several awards, including Lifetime Achievement and Excellence in Education, she holds a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship & Skill Development and is multilingual. Her dedication to fostering MSME growth and gender equality has earned her accolades, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Award.
CGM of NABARD Telangana Regional Office
Read MoreSmt. Suseela Chintala
Smt. Suseela Chintala currently serves as the Chief General Manager of NABARD Telangana Regional Office, driving significant progress in both business and development initiatives since July 2022. With a focus on strengthening agricultural and off-farm sectors, she spearheads innovative projects in collaboration with stakeholders across Telangana.
Previously, Smt. Chintala held the position of Managing Director and CEO at NABKISAN Finance Limited. Her leadership led to the NBFC winning the Distinguished NBFCs Awards.
With over three and a half decades of experience in agriculture and rural development projects, credit planning, monitoring, finance, and microcredit, Smt. Chintala has held roles in various capacities across several Regional Offices of NABARD. Notably, she has actively engaged with incubation centers supported by NABARD and agricultural startups. Her diverse experience includes working with NABFINS, focusing on financing Self Help Groups (SHGs), and serving on the board of the Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation Ltd.
Project Director- ICAR
Read MoreDr.S K Malhotra
Project Director- ICAR
Dr. S K. Malhotra, the Project Director in Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, ICAR is a renowned agriculture scientist & administrator, has over 3 decades of experience in food and nutritional security. He has served as Agriculture Commissioner, Horticulture Commissioner, ADG (Horticulture) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and ICAR.
He is the architect of many new mission programs such as National Pulses Sub Mission, National Mission for Edible Oils, National Millets Mission, Per Drop More Crop program of PMKSY, National Saffron Mission and National Bee & Honey Mission.
As a Chairman of Insecticide Board, Central Fertilizer Committee, Central Biostimulant Committee, his contributions are immense in formation of policy framework and guidelines for their registration and commercialization of novel products. Represented Government of India in more than 24 international events organized by international agencies. The most recent is FAO (COUNCIL), where he introduced proposal of International Year of Millets & was approved for 2023 by United Nation Organization.
Group Head of Agri and IT Businesses of ITC Limited.
Read MoreMr.S. SivaKumar
Group Head - Agri & IT Businesses at ITC Limited
Mr. Sivakumar oversees the Agri and IT Businesses of ITC Limited and is a Member of its Corporate Management Committee. He also holds responsibility for ITC's Sustainability and Social Investments programs.
Sivakumar serves on the Advisory Council to the Ministry of Rural Development on the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, the Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee of SEBI, and the Management Committee of National Agricultural Higher Education Project of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Sivakumar has served as the Chairman of the National Agricultural Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry, and as the Vice Chairman of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Social Innovation and UN Global Compact's Core Advisory Group to develop Sustainable Agriculture Business Principles.
Sivakumar was also on the Boards of India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and IRMA among other organizations.
Chairman And Managing Director of Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd
Read MoreDr. M Prabhakar Rao
Dr. Mandava Prabhakar Rao is a prominent figure in India's agricultural industry. Since taking the helm of Nuziveedu Seeds (NSL) Limited in 1982, a company founded by his father, he has transformed it into a diversified conglomerate with interests in seeds, textiles, sugars, infrastructure, and renewable power.
Serving as Chairman, Dr. Rao's leadership has propelled NSL to become India's largest seed company, renowned for its pioneering work in developing superior cotton hybrids and other agricultural varieties. He has championed initiatives such as High-Density Planting System (HDPS) in cotton and Direct Sowing in Rice (DSR) to enhance farmer productivity and sustainability.
Dr. Rao has also played a pivotal role in fostering collaboration between biotechnology developers and plant breeding companies, contributing to industry growth and farmer profitability. Recognized for his contributions, he has received numerous awards and honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Beyond business, Dr. Rao is deeply committed to corporate social responsibility, founding the Mandava Foundation to support education, healthcare, and rural development initiatives.
Co-Founder - ThinkAg
Read MoreMr. Ram Kaundinya
Ram Kaundinya is an expert in the field of business of agriculture. He is an author, strategic management consultant, teacher and a policy analyst in India. He is a graduate in Agricultural Sciences and MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.
He worked for 22 years in agrochemical industry in Hoechst, Cyanamid Agro and for 13 years in the seed industry at Emergent Genetics as the Global CEO of Advanta Seeds of UPL Group.
Mergers and Acquisitions is a major area of Kaundinya’s expertise having led his companies in multiple transactions across the world.
Ram served as the Chairman of the Crop Life India & ABLE AG and is currently the Director General of Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII).
He served as an independent director on the boards of Axis Bank. He is also on the boards of Axis Finance, Syngenta India, CapAleph Advisors, Bruhat Energy Solutions & Technologies, AgriRain Industries and Vasudhaika Software Solutions.
He served as a member of the MS Swaminathan Task Force on biotechnology policy for Indian agriculture and as a member of a committee set up by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India.
Ram consults companies and VC/PE funds in areas of strategic planning and M&A. Serves on the Expert Review Committee of Access to Seeds Foundation and the Netherlands MAIZE Independent Steering Committee of the CGIAR Institution CYMMIT.
He has co-founded ThinkAg.