CropLife India chose Dr. Gyanendra Shukla as the Chairman of CropLife India during the 46th Annual General Meeting held in New Delhi. Dr. Gyanendra Shukla is the Managing Director and CEO of Rallis India Limited, a TATA Enterprise. In addition to this CropLife India elected Mr. Rajvir Rathi from Bayer CropScience and Mr. Giridhar Ranuva from BASF Agricultural Solutions as Vice Chairmen.
Who Has CropLife India Elected as Its New Leadership?
The new board has years of experience in seed technology rules for farming and crop protection science.
First, Dr. Gyanendra Shukla steps into the Chairman position after serving as Vice Chairman since October 2025. He succeeds Mr. Ankur Aggarwal of Crystal Crop Protection, who led the organization for two terms starting in 2024. Meanwhile, Mr. Rajvir Rathi from Bayer CropScience and Mr. Giridhar Ranuva from BASF Agricultural Solutions join as the new Vice Chairmen. Together, these executives bring over six decades of industry experience to guide the sector.
| Leadership Position | Appointed Executive | Organization Represented |
| Chairman | Dr. Gyanendra Shukla | Rallis India Limited (A TATA Enterprise) |
| Vice Chairman | Mr. Rajvir Rathi | Bayer CropScience |
| Vice Chairman | Mr. Giridhar Ranuva | BASF Agricultural Solutions India |
| Outgoing Chairman | Mr. Ankur Aggarwal | Crystal Crop Protection |
What Are the Key Priorities of the New Leadership Team?
The new leadership is setting a science-led agenda. This agenda focuses on food security, farm incomes and agriculture that can withstand climate change.
Science and Data Protection: Dr. Shukla spoke about growing manufacturing, in India. He wants to create crop protection molecules right here. He also pointed out the Draft Pesticides Management Bill 2025. That bill includes data protection rules. These rules will help bring products to the market more quickly.
Product. Safety: Mr. Rathi said it’s important to check the safety of chemicals at every point. Growers must get genuine products. This ensures farmers are not using unsafe inputs.
Climate Resilience and Digital Tools: Mr. Ranuva said pest cycles are changing because of climate shifts. Farmers need to mix chemistry with biologicals. They should also use drones and digital tools. Together, these methods help protect crops from pests and disease.
How Does CropLife India Support Sustainable Agriculture?
CropLife India is made up of 17 companies that focus on research and development for crop protection. They operate across different parts of India.
These member companies take up 70% to 75% of the local crop protection market. Also the members are responsible for 95% of all the crop protection chemicals that come into the country. These companies spend about 6 billion USD each year around the world on research and development for agriculture. Because of this the association works with government departments and scientific organizations to encourage farming. Farmers can look into ways to increase the amount of crops they produce by using inputs along with good practices, in the fields.
Final Thoughts
The election of Dr. Gyanendra Shukla as Chairman puts CropLife India in a spot to push science‑based growth, in agriculture. By strengthening policy, stewardship and climate resilience CropLife India will help Indian farmers protect yields and boost overall farm profitability.
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