International Conclave on the Role of Technology for the Sustainable Agricultural Growth for Future Generations

An International Conclave on the “Transition towards sustainability of Agriculture: Role of Technology in Agriculture Supply Chain” is being organised by the Department of Economics, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh on June 3-4 from 9 am. Renowned economists and experts across the world will be joining the conclave to share their thoughts and perspectives on the much-needed topic of this time. Faculty and Scholars are invited to submit the abstracts of their research papers on or before May 25, 2021. Prof Vijay Paul Sharma, Chairman, Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price (CACP) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Govt of India, will grace the conclave with his presence as the Chief Guest.

The agriculture and food sectors are facing multiple challenges. With the global population projected to grow from 7.6 billion in 2018 (UN DESA, 2019) to over 9.6 billion in 2050, there will be a significant increase in the demand for food (UN DESA, 2017). At the same time, the availability of natural resources such as fresh water and productive arable land is becoming increasingly constrained. Production is not the only concern; although agricultural output is currently enough to feed the world, 821 million people still suffer from hunger (FAO, 2018). Processes such as the rapid rate of urbanisation also have important implications for food production patterns and consumption. The agri-food sector remains critical for livelihoods and employment. There are more than 570 million smallholder farms worldwide (Lowder et al., 2016), and agriculture and food productions account for 28% of the entire global workforce (ILOSTAT, 2019).

Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of a ‘world with zero hunger’ by 2030 will require more productive, efficient, sustainable, inclusive, transparent and resilient food systems. This will require an urgent transformation of the current agri-food system. Digital innovations and technologies may be part of the solution. The so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (Industry 4.0) observes several sectors to be transformed rapidly by ‘disruptive’ digital technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Immersed Reality. In the agriculture and food sectors, the spread of mobile technologies, remote-sensing services and distributed computing are already improving smallholders’ access to information, inputs, market, finance and training. Digital technologies are creating new opportunities to integrate smallholders into a digitally-driven agri-food system. In this two-day Internation Conclave, reputed experts will shed some light by sharing their wisdom with others on the recent challenges and the scope associated with it. Needless to say, food will always be an integral part of the basic need of humans. In these discussions, the path towards ensuring enough food supply for future generations will be searched.

The Department of Economics, under the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at SRM University-AP, is a vibrant unit for teaching fundamental courses (core & electives) in Economics along with allied courses for students across the disciplines. In addition to the Foundation Courses and optional Minors across the departments, the department ensures that the education imparted is truly multidisciplinary with an excellent programme structure that can cater to the growing market demand for professional economists and policy researchers. At Present, the department offers B.Sc. (Hons.) and PhD in Economics and will soon offer a postgraduate programme with specialisations in Econometrics, Finance, Trade and Development in coming years.

Call for Papers:
Faculty and Scholars are invited to submit the abstracts to be presented at the conclave “Transition towards sustainability of Agriculture: Role of Technology in Agriculture Supply Chain” on or before May 25, 2021. The abstract must go through the review, and if accepted by the reviewers, the abstract acceptance notification will be sent. There is no registration fee to participate in the conclave. The event will take place entirely in virtual mode. Please submit the abstracts to ghanshyamkumar.p@srmap.edu.in on or before May 25, 2021. Abstracts should not be more than 250 words, and it must include the purpose of the study, methodology, findings and policy recommendations.

Themes:
Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

1. Sustainable agricultural, farming, and post-harvesting strategies
2. Multicriteria sustainability performance measures in the food context
3. Closed-loop ecosystems for by-product valorisation
4. Improving traceability and transparency of food operations
5. Strategic approaches for waste management
6. Sustainable cold chain design and management
7. Digital twins in food processing, storage, and distribution

Distinguished Speakers:

1.  Prof Vijay Paul Sharma, Chairman, Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price (CACP)Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Govt of India
2. Prof Ashok K Mishra, Professor, W P Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, USA
3. Prof R S Deshpande, Honorary Visiting Professor, Ex-Director, ISEC, Bangalore, India
4. Prof P S Birthal, National Professor, ICAR-National Institute of Agriculture Economics and Policy Research, PUSA, New Delhi, India
5. Dr Anjani Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia Office, New Delhi, India
6. Dr Devesh Roy, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia Office, New Delhi, India
7. Prof Sukhpal Singh, Professor of Economics, IIM Ahmedabad, India
8. Prof Gopal Naik, Professor of Economics, IIM Bangalore, India
9. Prof Prem Vashisth, Professor Emeritus, School of Business Studies, Sharda University, Noida, India
10. Prof Seema Bathla, Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
11. Prof C S C Shekhar, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India
12. Prof S S Kamlakar, Director, Agriculture Economics Research Centre, Anand, Gujrat, India
13. Prof Brajesh Jha Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India
14. Dr Asif Reza Anik Associate Professor Department of Agricultural Economics Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) Salna, Gazipur-1706 Bangladesh
15. Dr Thiagu Ranganathan, Associate Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
16. Dr Sarthak Gaurav Assistant professor, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT, Mumbai, India
17. Dr Amarnath Tripathi, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and International Business School of Business Studies, Sharda University, Noida, India
18. Dr Elumalai Kannnan, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India
19. Dr Jabir Ali, Associate Professor, IIM Jammu, Jammu, India
20. Prof S P Singh, Professor of Economics, IIT Roorkee, India

Registration Link: https://srmap.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LhUJ0qKwQbeZpXj02y7CXQ

Brochure: Click here to view the detailed brochure