Ishita Roy
Ishita Roy is the current Agriculture Production Commissioner Kerala (APC) of the Government of Kerala. Prior to this, Roy had served as the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development for Higher education, CEO & Member Secretary of the Central Silk Board of India in Bangalore, which is under the purview of the Indian Ministry of Textiles. Roy has served as the Secretary-General of the International Sericultural Commission (ISC), an inter-governmental organization of silk producing countries, for a period of three years from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015. Roy was elected to the  Secretary General's post in the tightly contested election held at Cluj Napoca, Romania, on 12 September 2012. Ms. Roy is the first elected Secretary General of International Sericultural Commission from India. The assumption of Ms. Roy as the Secretary General heralded in introducing new programmes and activities in ISC like; global partnership programme, volunteer expert programme, capacity building, sharing of genetic materials, collaborative research programmes among countries, scholarship programme, etc., which has substantially benefited for the growth of global silk industry. Moreover, the ISC HQs situated in Lyon, France for many many years was shifted to Bangalore, India. The  legacy of ISC dates back to 1870, wherein Sir Louis Louis Pasteur and other world renowned scientists were involved in its creation as an inter-governmental organization. The ISC is credited with the revival of silk industry after the second world, which has substantially contributed in providing employment opportunities to many poor and downtrodden people in the rural areas of the developing countries. At present, there are 21 Member Countries and 35 Associate Members in ISC. For more details on ISC, please visit www.inserco.org Ms. Ishita Roy entered in the reputed Indian Administrative Service (IAS) during 1991 under the Kerala  cadre batch. Latest Achievement as the Agriculture Production Commissioner (<nowiki>https://thedailyguardian.com/making-it-happen-nendran-banana-to-european-union/</nowiki>) ‘Nendran’, a unique banana variety endemic to Kerala, is known for its exquisite nutritional qualities and medicinal properties. There is a strong demand for Nendran in the domestic market including as an ingredient for ayurvedic medicines. Considering its high demand among the Indian diaspora, the Kerala government has been attempting to export Nendran to Europe and North American markets. However, there were many challenges to overcome for this to happen like; organizing production of exportable uniform quality of  bananas at farmers level, synchronizing the affordable supply chain facilities aligning with product life, ensuring economic viability among the stakeholders, etc. Recently, a team led of Ms. Ishita Roy, I.A.S, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Government of Kerala, has taken an ambitious project in PPP mode with financial support from RKVY and technical assistance from National Research Center for Banana (NRCB), Trichy to develop a commercially viable model for the export of Nendran to Europe.  Under the project, high quality Nendran banana were produced among 15 farmers by following the prescribed Integrated nutrient management, pest and disease management practices. A well designed  and administered traceability system was integrated in the value chain. The uniformity of the banana was segregated by identifying them at the flowering stage itself. Further selection of the bananas was undertaken during the packing stage. The packing has been done by following all established procedures, especially to maintain optimum temperature and humidity that enable the product to remain fresh for a month. The product was transported by ship to bring down the cost by 1/7 compared to air. Ultimately, the project enabled evolution of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) relating to pre- and post-harvest handling and cultivation practices. It  is heartening to note that the initial task of the project has quiet successfully completed by reaching the first shipment in London after a month’s journey. On arrival, bananas were still green without any deterioration in appearance and quality. The feed-back received about the bananas was overwhelming. The demand for Nendran is building up in UK markets. The enquiries from other European countries as well as Middle east countries have been extremely encouraging. The success of the project will pay the way for new market prospects by integrating Kerala to the global value chain and thereby ensuring farmers  better and consistent price. The reduced logistics cost shall benefit the producers as well as consumers. The remarkable feature of this project was that Ms. Ishita Roy and her team have demonstrated that if there is a vision, a well-defined strategy, meticulous planning and commitment to execute, it can be made to happen by taking all the stakeholders into confidence and by conveying a value proposition that is worth emulating in other sectors.