Ram Kaundinya, a leading expert on management and agribusiness in India, will deliver a distinguished lecture at Cornell University on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 11:30 a.m.­–12:30 p.m. EDT in Mann Library 160. The lecture is titled, “The Role of Biotechnology in India’s Food and Climate Security.”

The event will be held in a hybrid format. Virtual participants can register to attend via Zoom. Light refreshments will be served.

An author, strategic management consultant, teacher, and policy analyst, Kaundinya regularly writes in the Indian media on issues related to national agricultural policy. He worked in the crop protection and seed industries for more than two decades, holding high-level positions at companies like Hoechst, Cyanamid, Emergent Genetics, and Advanta. He is currently an adviser to the Federation of Seed Industry of India.

Kaundinya was a member of Dr. Swaminathan Task Force 2002–2004, which formulated the Biotechnology Policy for India.  He was also a member of the Dr. RS Paroda committee constituted by the principal scientific advisor to the Government of India in 2019, which prepared the Report on Policies and Action Plan for a Secure and Sustainable Agriculture.

He previously served on the Maize Independent Steering Committee of CIMMYT and the Expert Review Committee of the Access to Seeds Foundation, which rates seed companies based on the effort they are making to bring benefits to smallholder farmers around the world.

He also served on the boards of Advanta, Axis Bank, Axis Finance, and Syngenta India. He is currently on the board of Hikal Ltd, Kalgudi Digital and NICR (a subsidiary of NCDEX).

Kaundinya is the coauthor of Agri-Input Marketing in India, which he wrote with Professor Pingali Venugopal of XLRI – Xavier School of Management. He is a guest faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, and at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE).

Kaundinya co-founded two non-profit organizations. ThinkAg promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in Indian food and agriculture. The Agri Collaboratory seeks to accelerate the use of open-source innovations and the creation of digital public goods in agriculture.

This lecture is sponsored by the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition.