Subbarao looks back at his illustrious thirty-plus-year career to reflect (in hindsight) on what has changed and what has not in the Indian agri-inputs market landscape.
In this extremely personal conversation with opinionated agribusiness insights that stem from first principles, Subbarao talks of
How reading “Social Impact of Computers” changed his mind about the role of technology and how he fell in love with genetics and plant breeding.
How doing a Ph.D. gave him an edge in the world of agribusiness and the struggles of doing molecular biology in India during the eighties.
His early days when he joined the seed production business during the eighties and nineties and his early work on GM Mustard.
What have been the most significant shifts he has seen over the last thirty years in the Indian agri-input market landscape and what he perceives as the gap between “shift” and “transformation” in the Indian agri-inputs market landscape
His perspectives on Value Selling, the role of Push vs. Pull, and what never changes in the fundamental social relations of farmers in the market.
Whether Digital Distributors can substitute Distributors in the agri-input channel landscape.
The Cycle of Consolidation and Deconsolidation among the leading agri-input players
How the Culture of Big 6 Agri-Input Players have dictated their particular strengths and gameplays
What was the original idea behind setting up Plowlab ventures?
How to make sense of the perennial problems that bedevil Indian Agriculture and why is it important to separate man-made problems from nature-driven problems?