Sharma is a Professor in Centre for Management in Agriculture (CMA) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He was Chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, for 5 years from June 2016 to May 2021. He has held several important positions at IIMA including Chairman, Centre for Management in Agriculture (CMA) for 5 years from 2005 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012 and Chairman, MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management (MBA-FABM) for 4 years from 2002 to 2004 and 2013 to 2015.
He is an eminent agribusiness management expert, agricultural economist and policy maker with more than three decades of rich and diverse experience. He has been deeply involved in agri-food policy formulation, analysis and advice. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of economic, market and policy issues in food and agribusiness sector, agricultural price policy, role of infrastructure, institutions, technological and economic factors in making agricultural sector efficient and sustainable, food/nutritional security and rural development, etc.
He has been a consultant to many national and international organizations in agri-food, and development sector. He was International Consultant, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during 2015-16 and Advisor to the “USAID’s Economic Reforms Projects in Central Asian Countries” in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2005.
Prof. Sharma has been a Member/Chairman of several national and State level Committees. He was a Core Member, Ad-hoc Task Force (ATF) on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation System, Performance Management Division, Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India; Member, Advisory Committee, Reserve Bank of India - College of Agricultural Banking, Pune; Member, Board of Governing Council, Agricultural Skill Council of India (ASCI); Member, Advisory Group on Agriculture and Food Processing, Ministry of Finance; Mid-Term Review (MTR) Committee and Five Year Plan Working Groups on Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Planning Commission; Long-term Fertilizer Policy Committee; Empowered Committee on Agri-Infrastructure Development, etc.
Prof. Sharma has about 10 books to his credit on Indian agri-food sector, besides over 150 publications, which include research papers in national and international journals, working papers, lead/keynote papers in national/international conferences/seminars/workshops, etc.
Primary Area : Centre for Management in Agriculture
Email : vijays@iima.ac.in
Phone : +91-79-7152 4946
Secretary : Shoebmohemed Chobdar
Phone : +91-79-7152 7925
Research and consulting interests focus on agricultural and food policies, international trade issues including the World Trade Organization (WTO), agribusiness competitiveness and strategic planning, pricing policy, subsidies, rural infrastructure, and food safety and quality issues. Teaches courses on Agricultural and Food Policy, International Trade and Commodity Trading and Risk Management.
Currently involved in studies on issues related to subsidies in Indian agriculture, linking small-scale producers to markets, implications of the WTO for Indian agriculture, agri-market reforms, commodity markets and livestock sector policy analysis.
Today the role of fertilizer subsidies is again an important issue in agricultural policy debate. There is a general view in academic, policy and political circles that subsidies are concentrated geographically, they are concentrated on relatively few crops and few producers and in many cases do not reach the targeted group(s). One of the most contentious issues surrounding fertilizer subsidy in India is how much of what is paid out actually finds its way into the pocket of the farmer, and how much is siphoned away by the input companies. In order to address some these issues, we recently completed a Study on Indian Fertilizer Sector. The study provides a comprehensive overview of growth of Indian fertilizer sector and analyzes trends and patterns in consumption of fertilizers at all-India, regional, state and district level. Various issues related to imbalance in fertilizer use and pattern of fertilizer use by farm size and crops have been studied. Macro aspects of India fertilizer sector policy environment, fertilizers price policy objectives, relations between fertilizers prices and consumption over-time, and economics of fertilizer use have analyzed. The extent, nature and causes of fertilizers subsidies, as well as issues related to equity in distribution of fertilizer subsidy have been addressed.
Completed a study on issues related to "Inclusion of Small-Scale Producers in Dynamic Local and Regional Agri-Food Markets". The focus of the research program is on the restructuring of dynamic national and regional Agri-food industries, and the effects that this market restructuring is having on small-scale farmers and implications for local rural economies including local labourers. The program emphasizes analysis of all three segments of the food industry (retail, processing, and wholesaling), as they are intimately connected, in particular in the cases of fresh produce and processed products. The work has two overarching objectives: (i) to inform, with facts and recommendations for practical action, public sector policy and private sector strategies; (ii) to build local capacity to continue to inform the policy debate and process.
Agro-food Value Chain Management and Development
