Mumbai: Dr Gyanendra Shukla has been appointed as the managing director of Monsanto India effective March 1, 2013. He will replace Mr Amitabh Jaipuria, who steped down in order to pursue interests outside the company.

Dr Shukla has served in the agriculture sector for 24 years in varied roles of increasing responsibility spanning sales, technology development, regulatory, customer service, sustainability and corporate affairs across the India and Asia Pacific regions, and was also the country manager of Monsanto in Indonesia. Prior to joining Monsanto, Dr Shukla worked in Ciba-Geigy (now Syngenta) and Hoechst (now Bayer CropScience).

Dr Shukla was named 'Fellow of Indian Society of Weed Science' in recognition for his contributions to farmers and the industry, among receiving numerous other external and internal recognitions. He also represents the company in the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), Association of Biotech-Led Enterprises - Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG), and various other industry associations.

Dr Shukla holds a Bachelor of Science in agriculture and animal husbandry from G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technlogy, India, and a PhD in quantitative genetics from Kanpur University, India, and an executive MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India.