The School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad organized an International Conference on Responsible Production and Consumption (ICRPC): Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security from 5th to 7th March, 2024 at the University of Hyderabad premises on hybrid mode. The conference, a part of the Institution of Eminence (IoE) Project “The Causal Link between Supply Chain Management Practices and Food Inflation in India” (UoH/IoE/RC1/RC1-2020-035), was fully funded by the IoE, University of Hyderabad and was further supported by the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, USA and ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad.
The conference was inaugurated by Prof. B. J. Rao, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad. Prof. V. Mary Jessica, Dean, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, Prof. M. Ghanshyam Krishna, Director, Institute of Eminence (IoE), University of Hyderabad, Prof. Sameer Prasad, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), USA, being part of the inaugural event, shared their thoughts on the responsible production and consumption. Prof. Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM Nagpur, the Chief Guest of the event, highlighted the importance of agriculture and its sustainability issues, especially in developing and emerging economies.
While Prof. V. Mary Jessica, Dean, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad chaired the activities of the conference, Dr. Pramod K. Mishra of School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad convened the same. Prof. B. Raja Shekhar, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, Dr. Chinmaya Behera, GIM, Goa and Dr. Pratap K. Jena, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Odisha, Faculty Members and Staff of the School of Management Studies provided support in organizing the event.
Prof. B. Kamaiah, GITAM, Visakhapatnam, Prof. Raktim Pal, College of Business, James Madison University, Virginia, USA Prof. Nezih Altay, Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University, Chicago, USA, Prof. Siba K. Udgata, School of Computer & Information Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Prof. Debashis Acharya, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Prof. Amit Bardhan, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi also contributed to the event in various capacities.
Participants from Agricultural Universities in Hyderabad and students of various Masters/Doctoral Programmes of the University also attended the three-day event. There were three panel discussions organized which were, respectively, chaired by Prof. Sameer Prasad of University of Colorado Colorado Springs, USA, Dr. Dayakar Rao of ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad and Prof. Badri Narayan Rath of IIT Hyderabad
The valedictory session of the event was presided by the Dean and Conference Chair, Prof. V. Mary Jessica, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad. The esteemed Director of ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Dr. Tara Satyavathi, was the Chief Guest during the event while Mr. Ram Kaundinya, Former Director General, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), New Delhi graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour. The Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour resounded the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and appreciated the efforts of the School and University for their contribution to the same.
Providing a forum to the researchers to share research papers/thoughts among their peers, both from industry and academia, panel discussions on some of the key issues pertaining to the young researchers in the field and the conference proceedings by the Taylor and Francis (CRC Press) were some of the key deliverables of this conference.
(Dr. Pramod K. Mishra, PI and the Conference Convenor)