Summer: Rutgers-Agribusiness Frontiers: Farm to Market Leadership
The Program
The program offers a unique platform for participants to understand the changing dynamics of food and agriculture, explore entrepreneurial opportunities, and gain exposure to modern technologies and global markets. Blending expert guidance, hands-on training, and real-world field experiences, the program equips future leaders with the knowledge, skills, and vision to navigate emerging challenges and seize new opportunities across the agribusiness value chain.
Program Locations
India
Jorhat
The program will have a special emphasis on the Northeast region of the country where Assam Agricultural University is located.
The program incorporates extensive excursions to cultural and ecological sites such as Majuli Island, Kaziranga National Park, Shillong, and Mawlynnong village, ensuring immersion in the unique socio-cultural landscape of Northeast India.
Academics
The Summer Program is designed to provide Rutgers undergraduates with a holistic understanding of agri-food systems in a developing country, India, which is also the 5th largest economy in the World. The program will have a special emphasis on the Northeast region of the country where AAU is located.
The specific learning objectives are:
1. To develop a comprehensive knowledge of supply, demand, and price dynamics of agricultural products in India and the Northeast, and understand their implications for farmers, markets, and consumers.
2. To explore entrepreneurship opportunities in the Indian food industry and study the organizational, technological, and financial innovations that support agribusiness ventures.
3. To analyze marketing strategies in national and international agribusiness contexts, including branding, e-commerce, and geographical indications (GI).
4. To acquire practical exposure to food processing, high-tech farming systems, and value addition in the agri-food sector.
5. To engage in cross-cultural exchange and gain comparative insights by studying Indian agricultural traditions, food enterprises, and consumer behavior.
Opportunities for meaningful interaction with the Host Country
The program offers multiple structured and informal opportunities for Rutgers students to meaningfully engage with the people, institutions, and communities in the region:
• Engagement with local experts and institutions: Students will receive classroom instruction from AAU faculty, industry experts, and entrepreneurs, as well as visit premier institutions like the North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, etc.
• Field visits and hands-on learning: Through visits to hi-tech farms, eco-resorts, community food factories, and food processing industries, students will directly interact with farmers, processors, and agripreneurs, gaining first-hand experience in production and value addition.
• Entrepreneurship and innovation exposure: Students will meet successful local entrepreneurs, including women-led enterprises, and observe the functioning of Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs) to understand collective entrepreneurship models.
• Cultural immersion: Visits to historical sites in Sivasagar and Charaideo, the Kaziranga National Park, and Meghalaya’s cultural landmarks will provide opportunities for students to interact with communities, artisans, and cultural practitioners.
• Peer-to-peer interaction: Informal dinners, joint activities, and guided town visits with AAU students and research scholars will foster peer learning and cultural exchange.
Internships, research, language practice, excursions, and cultural activities
• Students will engage in field-based experiential learning projects (e.g., visits to commercial and non-commercial farms, food processing centers, and high-tech farm demonstrations). Due to time and visa constraints, the program is not designed as a formal internship.
• Research-oriented components include exposure to agricultural market intelligence, supply chain management, food safety compliance, and sustainability practices.
• Informal language exposure will take place through everyday interactions with local students, farmers, and entrepreneurs.
This program is ideally suited for undergraduate students who have academic or career interests in agricultural sciences, agribusiness, agricultural economics, food science, entrepreneurship, international business, development studies, and global trade. This program is also well-suited for students considering careers in food systems management, international development organizations, global supply chains, rural entrepreneurship, or sustainability-oriented enterprises. It offers them an opportunity to strengthen cross-cultural competence, develop a comparative perspective on agri-food systems, and build networks with local experts, entrepreneurs, and peers in India.
Housing and Meals
Students will be staying in one of the AAU guest houses (double accommodation). ALL meals are included, including those during travel days and visiting cultural and heritage sites.
Scholarships
Faculty Leaders
Dr. Sanjib Bhuyan is a professor of agricultural economics and marketing in the Department of Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics at Rutgers University, New Jersey. His areas of research and teaching are in the economics of food industries, with special focus on farmer cooperatives, food industry competitiveness, and food consumption behavior by adults and addresses various questions faced by the farmers, consumers, and other market participants as well as policy makers in the face of ever consolidated agri-food production and marketing environments. He has published numerous research articles in world's leading agricultural/applied economics journals and authored or co-authored multiple book-chapters. Dr. Bhuyan is serving or has served as a member of the editorial board, as an associate editor, and a book review editor for several leading journals in agricultural/agribusiness economics, development economics, and management sciences.