Abdul Rahman Ilyas
CEO
IKP Center for Advancement in Agricultural Practice (ICAAP)
India
Biography
Abdul Rahman Ilyas, born 23rd May 1973, started his professional career in 1995 soon after finishing his post graduation in business management and in a span of 18 years he has worked in diverse sectors and organization setups. He decided to make his career in the development sector as early as 1999 and built his career in core agribusiness development. Worked for a State Government of Andhra Pradesh as OSD – Marketing and Processing and went on become the COO of Agri-Science Park for ICRISAT (a CGIAR Center headquartered in India). Through his career span he has worked with smallholder farmers, progressive farmer, stakeholders from varied sectors – horticulture, dairy, aquaculture and agribusiness. His core expertise is institutional innovations, sustainable business modeling and research / technology outreach. Widely traveled on missions and work, with contacts spread across globally from academia, private sector and research institutions in USA, Africa, Asia and Middle East, he has helped various organizations with strategic advise and custom facilitations. Lead industry missions abroad for technology and research collaborations and vice versa. He is on various national and internationals committees / action groups that work in the agricultural / agribusiness spectrum. Supported ventures in Gherkins, Organic Farming, bio diesel, nutraceuticals and agricultural extension. Currently he is CEO of IKP Center for Advancement of Agricultural Practice (ICAAP), a center promoted by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington and ICICI Knowledge Park Trust, India. ICAAP is developing a knowledge platform which, will be supported by the Centers of Excellence to showcase innovative technologies, global best practices and scalable models that can benefit small holders at large.
Research Interest
Horticulture, dairy, aquaculture and agribusiness