Master of Business Administration [MBA] (Agri-Business and Rural Development) Top Colleges, Syllabus, Scope and Salary

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Sounak Banerjee

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MBA in Agri-business and Rural Development is a 2-year Post Graduate course in the domain of business administration with a specialization in the application of administrative principles and techniques in the context of agro-based business and rural economic development. Candidate with a minimum score of 50% (Relaxable for reserved category students) marks at UG level in any stream can make an application for admission to the course. Candidate must have obtained an Under Graduate (UG) degree from a recognized central or state/private/deemed university.

Note: Students who wish to pursue their education in Management field or get a career boost, can check MBA course.

The fee for the course ranges from INR 85,000 to 7 Lacs across various colleges and universities across the country. The variation in fee is based on the location and nature of university (that is government, state/private/deemed etc.).

Admissions to the course are generally based on Common Entrance Test (CET) like CAT, GMAT, etc. which are held for selection of candidates for admissions in various disciplines of MBA course. Certain colleges/universities conduct their own exam apart from the common exams for selecting candidates for admission however, preference is given to the score of common exams (CAT, XAT, GMAT etc.) when it comes grant of admission.

The course is structured to accord specific knowledge and skills to master’s level students in regards to growth, development, organization, and management of agro-business and rural economic setups. A fresh graduate in the respective discipline can look for job opportunities in Food processing industry, retail agriculture sector, Agriculture financing, rural banking, Nonbanking financial institutions, Regional Rural banks etc.

A new recruit after completing his/her course can expect a starting salary in the range of INR 18,000 to 22,000. The variation in salary depends upon the placement record of college, candidate’s academic performance, the status of the recruiting company and his/her performance in the selection rounds. However, the average comes out to be in between the above-mentioned range.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Course Highlights

Course Level Post Graduate
Duration of the Course 2 years
Examination Type Semester-wise
Eligibility Minimum score of 50% (Relaxable for reserved category students) marks at UG level in any stream.
Admission Process Entrance exam based
Course Fee Between INR 85,000 to INR 6 Lacs
Average Starting Salary INR 18,000 to 22,000
Top Recruiting areas Food processing industry, retail agriculture sector, Agriculture financing, rural banking, Nonbanking financial institutions, Regional Rural banks
Job Positions Rural development officer, Operations manager, Relationship manager, Investment analyst, a Banking executive, Account manager, Finance manager, Auditor etc.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: What is it about?

Agriculture happens to be the backbone of the rural economy in India. More than fifty percent of country’s livelihood is dependent upon agriculture. Apart from that agriculture is seen driving agro-based setups like food processing industries that contribute immensely to agriculture based GDP.

With around seventy percent population residing in rural areas, the size of the rural economy can’t be neglected when expansion and growth are on the mind. The rural economy has the potential to drive the growth and prosperity in economy on a macro level and thus requires proper management and administration.

This management and administration in rural and agro-based setup require a dedicated team of qualified and skilled professionals who have expertise in the domain to bring out effective and efficient changes.

MBA in Agri-business and Rural Development course is a specific and extensive PG academic underpinning which deals with industry-specific knowledge and skills that students should have in order to make a significant contribution the organizations in which they would be working.

The course focuses at bridging the gap of skilled and qualified professional that is required in the respective domain by nurturing the young graduates with industry relevant and market-specific knowledge base so, that they can make a contribution through its application and at the same time would be able to enhance their employability prospects.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Who Should Opt for?

  • Students who have interest in agro-based industries and development.
  • Those who have done bachelors in the domain of agriculture development /animal husbandry/rural development.
  • Those who are looking for a career in food processing industry.
  • Those aiming at public sector jobs after graduation can also opt for the course.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Admission Process

The admission process for this course involves a common entrance test based admission process (as seen across various Universities and colleges in the country). 

  • Most of the Universities/Colleges conduct a common entrance test for admission into MBA courses or take admissions through commonly held entrance exam like CAT, GMAT etc.  Hence students would have to make an application for such exams.
  • Students have to qualify these exams (for which they should be eligible to appear) in order to get admission in the course.
  • After the conduct of the test, a merit list of finally qualified candidates is prepared and candidates are invited for counseling cum admission process by the respective university or college.
  • After counseling cum admission process final allotment of seats to the candidate takes place and the candidate is asked to deposit the fee for the course and register for the respective academic year.

Admission process would mostly be same across all the B-schools and universities that are offering this course.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Eligibility

Candidate must have passed the UG or equivalent examination in any stream with at least 50% (relaxable for reserved category candidates) of the marks at graduation level from a recognized state/private/deemed or central University

  • He/She shall not be having any backlog or compartment in any of the subject/subjects at UG level that is yet to be cleared at the time of taking admissions.
  • Apart from the above-mentioned eligibility criteria’s various colleges and institutes may have their own additional criteria’s which the students would have to satisfy in order to take admission(like work experience in the domain).
  • In case of reserved category students, they would have to present their reservation certificates issued by the competent authorities in order to avail the benefits applicable to them.
  • Most of the Institute give admissions through Common Entrance Test (CET) (like CAT, MAT, etc). To get admissions in these institutes candidates would have to qualify the respective entrance exam by securing minimum qualifying marks.

The eligibility criteria’s mentioned above are common to most of the universities and colleges across the country that are offering this course to the students.

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Entrance Exam

There are many national-level or state-level entrance exams that are considered for admission into MBA Data Analytics courses. Mentioned below some of the top entrance exams conducted to shortlist the most eligible candidates for MBA Data Analytics course admission in India: 

  • CAT stands for Common Admission Test is conducted every year by IIMs to shortlist candidates wishing to get admission into various MBA and PG Diploma courses. The exam comprises three segments which are Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability.
  • MAT AKA Management Aptitude Test is a national-level entrance examination conducted by All India Management Association four times in a year. This exam is conducted to offer admission in various MBA or PGDM in more than 600 business schools across India. 
  • XAT stands for  Xavier Aptitude Test is another national-level entrance exam conducted by XLRI for admission into various MBA programs offered by XLRI once in a year.  Candidates must secure a score of 30+ to land in top XAT Colleges.
  • SNAP is a national-level entrance exam conducted by Symbiosis International University for MBA course admission. After clearing this exam, candidates need to appear for the Group Discussion, Written Ability Test (WAT) followed by a personal interview (PI).
  • CMAT is a national level entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency to shortlist the eligible candidates for admission into various Postgraduate Management courses offered by AICTE. This test facilitates institutions to choose appropriate understudies for affirmation in all administration programs. CMAT is a numerous decision-based examination for students seeking interest in MBA courses.
Exam Name Exam Details
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MAT  Check Here
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IBSAT Check Here
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NMAT Check Here
ATMA Check Here
XAT Check Here
TISSNET Check Here
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MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Top Institutes

A good number of colleges across the country offer the MBA in Agri-business and Rural Development course to candidates who have passed their UG or equivalent examination from a recognized state or central University. Students can take admission in the course through Common Entrance Test conducted certain exam conducting authorities such as IIMs as well as separate exams conducted by respective colleges/Universities that are offering this course.

For your reference, we have tabled down a list of various colleges/universities that are offering this course in India.

Institute City Average Fee
IMTS Noida INR 2, 44, 050
KIIT School of Rural Management Bhubaneswar INR 2,40,000
MGCGV Satna INR 35,700
Sherwood College of Management Lucknow INR 96,675
Siddharth Institute of Modern Management Jaipur INR 34,000
University of Lucknow Lucknow INR 1,53, 250
Orissa University Bhubaneswar INR 31,932
Lovely Professional University Jalandhar INR 1,69,427
Symbiosis Institute of International Business Pune INR 4,48, 200
Amity University Jaipur INR 242,000

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Syllabus and Course description

The syllabus of the course is divided into 4 semesters spread over a span of two years with each year comprising of two semesters. The syllabus of the course is divided into various parts and modules that students are taught during the course of their post-graduation. The syllabus covers all the aspects related to Agri-business and Rural Development so as to provide a holistic understanding of the subject to the master’s students.

The details regarding the syllabus of the course are mentioned below for the reference to the candidates.

Semester I Semester II
Management principles and values Organizational behaviour
Accounting and Financial analysis Rural economy
Quantitative Techniques Operation management
Agro-business management Production management
Managerial economics Computer application in business
Marketing principles Professional management
Quality management Professional Communication
Economics of Business Viva-Voce
Practical -
Semester III Semester IV
E-commerce Strategic management
Seed production technology Seminar
Material management Dissertation
Entrepreneurship Rural infrastructure
Business laws Horticulture development
Business ethics Specialization subject-1
Watershed management Specialization subject-2
Rural banking set-ups Viva-Voce
Rural development -
Management of animal husbandry -
Practical training -

MBA in Agri-Business and Rural Development: Career Prospects

MBA in Agri-business and Rural Development Postgraduates have plenty of options to choose from in terms of their career. One can choose from to work as a rural development officer, Operations manager, Relationship manager, Investment analyst, a Banking executive, Account manager, Finance manager, Auditor etc.

To provide you a holistic view of the career prospects of the course we have tabled certain areas and the respective roles attached to the same where MBA post graduates can look for in terms of their career.

Master of Business Administration [MBA] (Agri-Business and Rural Development annual salary
Area/Domain Role Average Salary for Fresher’s
Rural development Officer It is a public sector job that involves oversight of government welfare measures at the grass-root level. INR 4.4-5.52 Lacs
Operations Manager Operation Managers are entrusted with the duty of ensuring smooth flow and execution of operation as a part of production setups. INR 2.43-2.85 Lacs
Banking executive The job involves visits to rural areas on behalf of the respective bank to extended banking facilities in rural areas. INR 2.28-2.63 Lacs
Investment analyst The job involves tendering market relevant and effective advice to investors in regards to their investment plans. INR 3.2-3.4 Lacs
Finance manager It is a typical managerial job that requires one to take management and control of financial resource allocation and distribution. INR 2.4-2.67 Lacs

Master of Business Administration [MBA] (Agri-Business and Rural Development) : 12 answered questions

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Ques. Is it worth joining the IIM Ahmedabad FABM programme after spending Rs. 21 lakhs?

● Top Answer By Debolina Bhattacharya on 26 Jul 21

Ans. IIM-A's PGP-FABM is a two-year full-time program that covers allied areas such as agriculture, food processing, commodities and rural development sector, and rural infrastructure. The fees for the batch 2021-2023 are 28 lakhs. One of my friends studying at IIM Ahmedabad said that a certificate doesn’t mean you will get a good placement offer. If you are taking a loan then be careful as your placement is not certain. Getting a collateral-free loan would be easy but paying it off will be a real task. The most important thing here is your financial goals and if getting a certificate from the IIMA PGP-FABM program fits into it then go ahead. As the fees for this program are too high, I’d say think about it and only go for it if you are highly interested in this field of study. However, if you are still dicey about whether to opt for this program or not I would suggest you to invest in attending a course conducted by Pavan Bhattad’s Brainival. It is a 2-day workshop in which he discusses speed reading, mind mapping, memory techniques, and ideas generation which was initially conducted in Pune.Read more
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Ques. What is the placement scenario and scope of the IIM PGP Agri Business Management (ABM) program in general and with special reference to IIM Lucknow?

● Top Answer By Shubham Chauhan on 08 Feb 24

Ans. It depends on the other options available to you. ABM graduates are eligible for many of the marketing and operations jobs that normal PGP students are. Choosing an ABM at any of the top IIMs (including IIM Lucknow) is a better option than a general MBA from a tier 2 business school. Even if you take a drop for CAT, it will be a waste of your year. In an MBA, your college tag makes a big difference. In the long run, the IIM tag will benefit your corporate career a lot.Read more
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Ques. Should I go for a PGPM in MDI Gurgaon or for IIM L ABM?

● Top Answer By Rishika Shindde on 22 Feb 23

Ans. Go for the IIM Lucknow ABM program only if you are sincerely inclined towards agri. If not then choosing ABM will limit your career prospects considerably and you might even regret it later. MDI Gurgaon PGDM is one of the oldest programs that have great value. MDI Gurgaon can easily be called the country’s best B School. The admissions are solely based on merit so the quality of your peers is top-notch. Some major highlights of the institute and its PGDM program are Experienced permanent faculty Student-driven clubs Student-driven Mutual Fund  Elaborate alumni network  Lush green campus Excellent peer learning So you will not regret choosing MDI even over IIM Lucknow.Read more
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Ques. I am interested in PGP-FABM of IIM Ahmedabad. I am 25. X- 86.7%,XII-70.3%, B.Tech-62.5%. AR-17. 1+years of work-ex in Accenture. What are my chances?

● Top Answer By Lalit Kumar on 13 Dec 22

Ans. The PGP-FABM program does not have any marks limit in its eligibility criteria. Rather it requires you to hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in agricultural sciences or agriculture-related disciplines with at least 50% marks ( or equivalent CGPA). The specific stream clause was added last year only. Make sure your stream does not pose any problem and you are fit to apply. Your chances depend on two factors/ CAT score Your performance in the interview  There is no specific age limit for this program.Read more
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Ques. How is the MBA agribusiness in Utkal University?

● Top Answer By Anupama Gupta on 02 Nov 21

Ans. In terms of academics, Utkal University will a decent option. The faculties at the university are well-experienced. Teaching methodology used at UU is better than other universities in Odisha. The environment at the university is great for academics. You will get to learn a lot from the faculties and it will expand your outlook.  However, the placement opportunities are limited at UU, since there are only a few companies at Orisha. But if you are serious about your studies and have the required skills, you can easily get jobs from off-campus placement.Read more
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Ques. Is there a separate shortlist for PGP fabm at IIM Ahmedabad?

● Top Answer By Abhijeet Goyal on 26 Jun 23

Ans. Yes, there is a separate shortlist for PGP FABM (Post Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management) at IIM Ahmedabad. The course primarily prefers students from agriculture, food, and allied courses. However, if a student is from a diverse background and has opted for the course while filling out the CAT form, they may also get shortlisted. There is no surety that all backgrounds will get shortlisted. For instance, it's rare to find a lawyer getting shortlisted for FABM. Read more
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Ques. Which course among PGP at IIM Indore and PGP-ABM at IIM Lucknow should one choose if he/she has an interest in Marketing and Operations?

● Top Answer By Amit Datta on 09 Jan 23

Ans. The simple answer is that the choice of the course depends more or your overall profile than the course itself. Irresponsible of your specialization your chances at placements will be low if your resume is below average. Moreover, institutes like IIM Indore and IIM Lucknow offer joint placements for both programs.  Students can apply to any company irrespective of their specialization. Yet there are many who are able to get into their dream companies while some failed to get a call from a reputed firm. This is because the PGP program just added value to your resume and if that is already poor then even PGP cannot guarantee you a high-paying job. So if you already have a good resume all you need to do is improve your resume in marketing and operations. This can be done through extra-curricular activities and B-school competitions. For this the PGP-ABM program is perfect. But if you have a below-average resume, then go for PGP. Because then extracurricular activities alone will not improve your resume. You need class projects and good academic scores to upgrade it. Unlike PGP-ABM, you won’t miss out on basic electives related to marketing/ops/finance. So nothing is certain about an MBA program. One needs to know what he will be doing after acquiring knowledge to decide which course to take. I will personally suggest you go for IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM if you just want to improve your resume.Read more
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Ques. Which course should I choose between IIML ABM, SPJAIN IM and IIM Shillong PGP?

● Top Answer By Himank Agarwal on 16 Jan 23

Ans. No matter which B School you choose, PGP is always a better choice than ABM. But there might be a specific reason why you got an ABM offer rather than a PGP. But at IIM Lucknow, students of both programs are offered equal opportunities. These include final placements. summer placements and subsequent PPOs.  The major drawback of ABM is that you are deprived of the PGP electives and can cover ABM electives only. These electives cover strategy marketing and operations.  Talking about your offer from SP JAIN for IM, let me tell you that in this regard, IIM Shillong is a much better choice. Its campus in Dubai is a testament to its worth.Read more
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Ques. What is your review of PGP-ABM (PG Programme in Agribusiness Management), IIM Ahmedabad?

● Top Answer By Vinisha Vasudevan on 08 May 23

Ans. The 2-year full-time Post Graduate Programme in Agribusiness Management (PGP-ABM) at IIM Ahmedabad is a great course. It teaches agribusiness management. The program trains agriculture and allied managers.PGP-ABM covers agriculture production, marketing, supply chain management, finance, and policy analysis. IT is also stressed in agriculture management. The program includes agribusiness internships and field trips. The PGP-ABM program at IIM Ahmedabad requires a written test, group discussion, and personal interview. Bachelor's degree in any field with at least 50% grades or comparable CGPA. Agriculture or related experience is preferred. The PGP-ABM program at IIM Ahmedabad is well-regarded and offers good prospects for agribusiness management students. In terms of placement, it offers 100% placement. The total number of offers accepted was 47 with one international offer. The highest domestic package offered was INR 33.83 LPA and the average domestic package was of INR 21.49 LPA.Read more
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Ques. How is MBA in Agribusiness Management at KIIT School of Rural Management(KSRM)? 

● Top Answer By Ankush Roy on 05 Jan 21

Ans. The MBA in Agribusiness Management program offered at KIIT School is a new course. It was started in 2019 and the first batch will graduate in 2021. The student intake for the course is 60. However, the strength of the first batch is 25. There are 2 students from abroad in the program. According to the reviews, some of the students dropped out of this course mid-way and various complain they didn’t receive their refund. The table below has a brief overview of the MBA in Agribusiness Management program at KIIT School. Category KIIT School of Rural Management Course Fee INR 7.59 lakhs Highest CTC INR 8 LPA Average CTC INR 6.75 LPA   Faculty: The faculty of this course are well-experienced but the teaching methodology adopted by them is dated. Most of the faculty members use PPT to discuss the topics and skip the details. The classes are 75 minutes long which leaves students exhausted. There is a 15 minutes break after each class. Admission: The entrance examination KIITEE is more of a formality. There is no minimum cutoff that you need to secure for admission. Hostel: There are hostel accommodations on-campus. The hostel is good but it is surrounded by buildings. You can feel a bit claustrophobic in the hostel rooms sometimes. During the lockdown for Covid-19, students were at home and taking classes online. Despite this situation, the institute charged around INR 7.5 lakhs course fee. Also, due to the pandemic summer internships were canceled this year. Students now need to find internships on their own.  Do your research and make an informed decision. Do not take admission just so you can get a job. Read more
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