Prof. Vidya Vemireddy is a faculty member at the Centre for Management in Agriculture (CMA), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, an M.A. in Economics from Boston University, and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. Since joining IIMA in 2019, her research and teaching have focused on agriculture and food policy, food systems, rural women, climate resilience, and rural/agricultural finance.
Prof. Vemireddy has undertaken projects on farmer behaviour and technology adoption, skill gaps in micro-irrigation, mechanisation for women in agriculture, and nutritional impacts of women’s empowerment in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. She has contributed to research on the contextualisation of the Women’s Empowerment in energy Index; mobile phone access for rural women; agri-nutrition linkages at the household level; the financial inclusion of women in agriculture, and the integration of self-help groups into food fortification strategies. Furthermore, she has researched projects on Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) viability, agri-food system resilience, and the role of digital technologies in value chain transformation. A large part of her work also deals with creating context relevant frameworks and metrics.
Her work is supported by collaborations with leading national and international institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (GoI), NITI Aayog, United Nations, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), CGIAR institutions, IIMA Ventures, TARINA (Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture) and Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI). She has also conducted consultancy assignments with several companies and other research organizations such The Nature Conservancy, Population Council etc.
Her ongoing long terms research projects/grants include: a project aligned with UN SDG 5, focusing on contextualising insights at the district level in India; Evaluation for the (Women Entrepreneurship Program by NITI Aayog); research on women in agriculture in the Andhra Pradesh Community Natural Farming (APCNF); affordability of diets and food security in India; and intervention research with Tata Trusts to study the role of childcare provisioning for improving nutritional outcomes of rural women and children.
Her research has been published in leading international journals including Food Policy, Global Food Security, European journal of marketing, Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, BMC Public Health, and others. She is a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association and International Association of Agricultural Economists. She is an Executive Committee Member of the Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and serves on the Advisory role in CII Centre for Women Leadership, The Agri Collaboratory. She was awarded the Tata-Cornell Scholarship and selected as a Next Generation Delegate by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and young board member of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association.
Primary Area : Centre for Management in Agriculture
Email : vidyav@iima.ac.in
Phone : +91-79-7152 4953
Secretary : Vanitha Mudaliar
Phone : +91-79-7152 7912
Website : Personal Website
PhD, Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, 2014-2019
M.A. , Economics, Boston University, 2013-2014
B.A.(Hons.) , Economics, Lady Shri Ram College for Women (University of Delhi), 2009-2012
Agriculture and Food Policy, Nutrition, Gender
Agricultural Economics, Gender, Food and Nutrition Policy
Applied Microeconomics, International Development
Fieldwork Methods
Assistant Professor, Centre for Management in Agriculture, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Ahmedabad, [July 2019 – present]
Chairperson, Gender Centre, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Ahmedabad, [April 2022 – present]
Tata Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutriiton (TCI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (GoI), TARINA (Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture); Population Council, IIM- Ahmedabad, India, Cornell University and Boston University, Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), United Nations-Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDN), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Uppsala, Sweden.
Courses for MBA students
1. Agricultural Finance:
This course is a compulsory course offered to the final year MBA graduates in IIMA’s flagship Food and Agribusiness Management Program. This course seeks to develop an understanding of the agricultural finance environment, the major institutions involved, and the strategic financing issues. Besides introducing the agricultural finance environment, students get exposed to various new innovations in financial instruments and agribusiness valuation. Topics of risk management are also included within this course specifically designed for the agricultural context in India.
2. Food Systems Approach to Indian Agribusinesses:
This course is an elective offered to final year MBA graduates at IIMA. Given the issues related to malnutrition that plague India, connecting agriculture and nutrition is critical. This course introduces students to this framework and presents various existing and potential agribusiness opportunities. This course intends to develop systems thinking among students of agribusiness.
3. Food and Agribusiness (FAB)
Courses for PhD students
1. Applied Microeconomics for Food and Agribusiness:
The course focuses on advanced microeconomic theory and applications within the domain of food and agriculture. It aims to develop the understanding of the core concepts in consumer and producer theory and applications. Topics such as estimating demand and production function, welfare analysis, interdisciplinary applications etc. are discussed through a mix of lectures, empirical exercises and presentations. Students are exposed to current topics in the literature and equipped with tools to analyse (experimental, quasi-experimental, panel data methods etc.) complex empirical problems across different contexts. This course is an advanced level course and designed for students from second year onward with a background in microeconomics and econometrics.
2. Agricultural Management I & II
The objective of this course is to introduce advanced concepts of consumer behavior, demand, supply, economic systems, water and input management, agricultural marketing, risk analysis, development and institutional economics.
Agricultural Economics Research Association- India (AERA) [Executive Committee 2024, member], Indian Association for Agricultural Economics (International Association of Agricultural Economics (Member), American Economic Association (Member); American Agricultural Economic Association [present] Reviewer: Oxford Development Studies, Economic Modelling, Nature Food, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Food Security, Food Policy, Global Food Security, World Development, Applied Economics and Policy Perspectives, World Development
Chair of the committee
Muddasir Ahmad Akhoon [Three Essays on Agricultural Productivity and Technical Efficiency] Disha Bose [Non-farm employment & gender] Suruchi Singh [consumer behavior & marketing] Jannet John [Farmer Producer Companies] [co-chair]
Member of the committee
Shehzala [consumer behavior & marketing] Bhanu Pratap Singh [consumer behavior & marketing]
2014-2019 - Tata Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition.
2016-2018 - PhD dissertation field research, Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition, Cornell University.
2016 - Next generation delegate, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
