Ekta Joshi is a PhD candidate in the field of applied economics and management. She is interested in how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development in developing countries. Her research is focused on the scope and ability of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) to promote smallholder commercialization and aid agricultural development in India. As part of her doctoral research, she conducted surveys of 1,800 farmers across 100 FPOs in the country to analyze the implications of FPO membership on farming outcomes—one of the first large-scale studies of the individual-level impacts of FPOs in India. Prior to joining Cornell, Ekta worked with the International Rice Research Institute in their agri-food policy division and with the Centre for Policy Research. Ekta holds a master’s degree from Madras School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree from Delhi University’s Hindu College.