Growing better crops

The adoption of hybrid seeds by Indian farmers was not an accident, but it was through the application of a well-designed consumer strategy

The first time I learnt about diffusion of new ideas was when I was having a chat with my summer internship mentor, Subhas Chakravarthy, in 1978. We were discussing the challenges of launching products in the context of a new magazine that was being launched by the Ananda Bazar Group. Who will pick up a magazine that offered in-depth content, long-form interviews, and very little politics and movies? Is it possible to specifically target these consumers?

Subhas, I remember, told me about the way Indian agronomists managed to convince the largely illiterate farmers to adopt new varieties of hybrid seeds.