The post-graduate programme in food and agri-business management (PGP-FABM) conducted by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has been ranked number one globally for the year 2017. 

The programme has been ranked number one by a Paris-based ranking agency specialising in higher education.

"The two-year PGP-FABM offered by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has been ranked as number one in the world by Eduniversal, France for the year 2017," the IIM-A said today in a press statement. 

The institute quoted the chairperson of the programme, Debjit Roy as attributing the success of the programme to "cross-functional management exposure" of students who come from diverse backgrounds such as agriculture and food sciences, engineering, biotechnology and life sciences. 

"This prepares the participants to take up challenges in this sector-focussed problem-solving. The alumni from this programme are playing a key role in shaping up policies and addressing the needs of this sector," he was quoted as saying. 

The agri-business management courses offered by France's ESSEC Business School, USA' Corness University, Australia's University of Melbourne and Argentina's University of Buenos Aires, were ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

IIM-A's PGP-FABM is a two-year full-time residential programme that covers, apart from agriculture, allied areas such as food processing, commodities and rural development sector, and rural infrastructure. 

As many as 46 students are selected for the course every year, out of roughly 1,27,000 applying for the same, the institute said. 

The "Eduniversal Best Masters Ranking" offers a detailed assessment of Masters and MBA programmes globally and is designed to help prospective students discover the best options for their graduate studies.