Holistic ideas that can change the world for good come from years of discipline building and patience. Great minds do not wait for the ideal time to knock at their doorstep. But these visionaries make efforts to build systems and products that will inspire generations to come. The editorial of Business Outreach Magazine collaborates with Dr. Arvind Kapur, whose decades of experience in the agricultural industry have defined our country’s sectoral scalability.
Dr. Arvind Kapur is a technopreneur and has more than 45 years of experience working in the agri-seed sector, delivering high-performing seeds to the Indian farmers. Under the leadership of Dr. Arvind, three companies have risen from their initial stages to become one of the top five in this industry. As we deep-dived into our conversation, Dr. Arvind Kapur shared with us the basic principle of a successful career. He said that entrepreneurs need to hire the right talent who can share the same goals as the company has. Coupled with that, the right products should solve farmers’ problems and make their lives easier, and these will make a business succeed and prosper. Dr. Arvind truly believes that these principles are essential for a scalable and growing company.
Looking back, Dr. Arvind reflects on his distinguished career. He started as a university professor after his PhD in plant physiology. Gradually, he strategized a transition into the private sector, where his dedication and hard work took him up to the promotion ladder. Eventually, Dr. Arvind became the managing director of Nunhems India, which was a subsidiary of the global company Nunhems Netherlands, owned by Bayer. He took that company from Rs. 4 crore turnover to Rs. 130 crore turnover in eight years. In 2009, Dr. Arvind started a subsidiary vegetable seed company of the largest cotton seed company of India. Dr. Arvind Kapur grew that company into the fifth-largest vegetable seed company.
The 1988 New Seed policy revolutionized the seed sector, as it has attracted MNCs to invest in the Indian seed market. During the decade 1998-2008, there was exponential growth for the private seed industry due to the introduction of biotechnological tools and the first GM technology called the “Bt” gene, resulting in the release of Bt cotton seeds in 2002. Today, he says that about 70% of the market is dominated by the private seed sector. In 2023, Dr. Arvind Kapur started his own seed consultancy company called “AGRI SEEDS CONSULTANTS.” He has been proactive and motivated in sharing his over four decades of experience with new companies and guiding them towards an optimistic direction in this industry.
Furthermore, the veteran visionary adds that the Government of India Ministry of Cooperative Sector has given them a mandate along with a global agri-company to make a complete strategy and business plan for establishing the “BHARAT BEEJ” brand under Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL), a multi-cooperative initiative including IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NDDB, NCDC, and NAFED. Dr. Arvind has successfully delivered this project on time and is now working on other promising assignments in the pipeline. Currently, AGRI SEEDS CONSULTANTS is working on the project called BRIDEP (Burundi Rwanda Integrated Development Project), funded by the African Development Bank. Here, they are training Burundi farmers, research institute scientists, and government departmental officials to improve agricultural productivity under climate change scenarios.
Dr. Arvind Kapur has had a distinguished career. He started his career working on the first product, hybrid maize, at Pioneer Seed Company Ltd. (PSCL) in 1988. They also introduced SSG (Sorghum Sudan Grass) as fodder seed, sorghum hybrid seeds, pearl millet hybrid seeds, and sunflower hybrid seeds. After the company rebranded itself to “PROAGRO SEED COMPANY LTD (PSCL),” he started the hybrid paddy seed program for the first time in India and launched the first hybrid in paddy. In 1994, Dr. Arvind and the team made a joint venture with the leading biotech company of Europe, Plant Genetic System, called “PROAGRO-PGS,” and Dr. Arvind was made director on board. We introduced the first GM seed research in India in rapeseed and mustard. The technology was called “SEEDLINK,” which is for introducing male sterility in plants for hybrid seed production. After being an MD at Nunhems India, Dr. Arvind Kapur’s career skyrocketed even further. Dr. Arvind received innumerable awards. Some of those are the BHARTIYA UDYOG RATAN AWARD in 2006 and 2015 for individual achievements and National Development from the Indian Economic Development and Research Association (IEDRA) and recognition by MARQUIS “Who’s Who in the World” in 2013, 2014, and 2015, etc. He is also a Member of the board of CII National Committee on Biotechnology, the Agricultural Committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Board of CII National Committee on Agriculture, the co-chair of the regional committee on Agriculture of CII , etc.
Today, Dr. Arvind Kapur focuses on further innovation in this sector and navigates severe challenges like climate change. He says it’s about diverse germplasm and a focus on biotechnological tools, which can not only speed up the breeding cycles but also introduce precision in introgressing novel traits in the crops. We applaud such leadership that thinks of a society where the next generation will be inspired by the opportunity-driven ecosystem that the current leaders have left. To the visionaries, Dr. Arvind Kapur has to say, “DO YOUR BEST AND LEAVE THE REST. I never followed money; I did my job honestly, and money followed me.”
