Sudarson Alwin Suyambu

An agricultural leader with 15+ years experience, managing integrated farm to factory & procurement operations across 14,500 hectares of rice value chain at Olam Agri, Nigeria. Specialised in developing & optimising captive farms (9,000 ha's per annum) and large outgrower farming models of >10,000 hectares. Building & managing a 10,000+ farmer outgrower ecosystem for paddy sourcing and institutionalizing good agricultural practices (GAP) to improve yield from 2.80 tonnes to 5.0 tonnes per hectare, while controlling costs.

Led business turnaround from $3.5 million loss to profitability through yield improvement strategies, cost per tonne optimisation, farmer's produce quality improvement & mechanisation.

General Manager – Farming at Olam, Abuja, Nigeria (2024-04 – Present)

Growth Path: Farm Assistant Manager (Jul. 2012 – Apr. 2014) | Deputy Manager (May 2014 to Aug 2018) | Manager (Sep 2018 to Mar 2024) | General Manager – Farming (Apr. 2024 – Present). Managing production & sourcing of approx. 50,000 MT of paddy annually through captive farming & farmer linked procurement.

• Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Management - Managed production & sourcing of approx. 50,000 MT of paddy annually through captive farming & farmer linked procurement, with ownership of USD$15M seasonal OPEX budget and CAPEX planning for farm machinery & irrigation. Drove 5 to 10% year on year cost optimisation through productivity, procurement & resource efficiency initiatives.
• Procurement & Vendor Management - Lead seasonal procurement of fertilizers, crop protection products, diesel and spares negotiating with local & international vendors and aligning inventory with production schedules, seasonal demand and working capital requirements.
• Contract Farming & Outgrower Development - Conceived, built and scaled a 10,000+ farmer outgrower network, integrating input distribution on credit, agronomy support, aggregation, quality assessment and assured buyback to strengthen dedicated, high quality paddy supply for milling.
• Agronomy & backward Integration - Directed agronomic strategy across a 4,500 hectare captive farming operation and provided technical support to outgrower & community farmers across rice, maize, sorghum & soybean with focus on soil health, crop protection & water management.
• Supply Continuity & Risk Management - Developed mitigation measures for weather variability, acidic soils and difficult to control grassy weeds in direct seeded rice, improved weed control efficiency by 40% and reduced associated production losses by approx. 15 to 20%.
• GAP. Yield & Crop Quality - Institutionalized Good Agricultural practices covering Nutrient management, Integrated pest management, water management, weed control & harvest timing, Improved captive farm's yield from 2.8 MT/ha to 5.0 MT/ha, while improving farmer field yield from 1.8 to 2.1 MT/ha.
• Business Turnaround & Operational Performance - Led a turnaround from a US$3.5M loss to break even and profitability through input optimisation, mechanisation, logistics alignment, yield improvement & tighter cost management.
• CAPEX & Mechanisation - Led CAPEX planning & deployment of about USD$1.5 million for land preparation, planting, spraying, harvesting & irrigation equipment, reducing labor dependency and improving operational efficiency through mechanisation.
• Farm to Mill Integration & Quality - Partnered with milling & Quality teams on harvest scheduling, paddy moisture management, drying & storage, improved head rice recovery from 54% to 58% and supported better milling performance.
• Traceability, Sustainability & Digital Agriculture - Enabled block level traceability from field block to mill and drove resource efficiency through precision application and mechanisation, reducing diesel, water & pesticide usage.
• Weather & Market intelligence - Integrated short, medium & long range weather forecasts from specialised weather advisory services with farm planning & operational decisions. Monitored local & international crop prices, planning trends and port/market data to support procurement & crop planning decisions.
• Seed Production & Commercialisation - Led certified seed production & commercial sales exceeding 2,000 MT, ensuring availability of quality planting material and strengthening seed supply to the farming & outgrower ecosystem.
• Agricultural market & price intelligence - Monitored local & international crop prices, planting trends, port & market data, industry reports & statistical models to support seasonal procurement decisions, crop planning & assessment of market & supply risk.

Marketing Executive at AVT consumer products division (2011-08 – 2012-03)

• Handled product positioning & branding, market collateral development, market audits & analysis, & customer relationship management.

Assistant Manager at Harrisons Malayalam Limited (2010-08 – 2011-07)

• Managed plantation operations with focus on operational efficiency, quality control, agricultural standards & day to day field execution.

Master of Business Administration in Production & Marketing – SRM IST Chennai (2010)

B.Sc. in Agriculture – Annamalai University (2008)