Why Agriculture is not Attractive
to the Youth ?
• No money from farming / low income /
unstable work / high risk / no prospects
• No pride and dignity in farming , low self
esteem
• Rural life is boring, no “entertainment”
• Exclusion in agricultural policy formation and
decision- making processes
• Lack of rural youth organizations focusing on
agriculture .

• Youth will farm if :
–Agri will provide decent livelihoods
–Agri can be a “wealth multiplier”
–Support for capital investments in family
farm is available

Value added of
Young Professionals
At ease with
change
More
computer
literate
Fresh
perspectives
More aware
of new tools

Disadvantages of
Young Professionals
Lack conflict
resolving
skills
Lack
negotiating
skills

Challenges
of Youth in
agriculture
Access to
Education
,Knowled
ge,Info..
Access
to Green
jobs
Access
to
markets
Engagement
in policy
dialogue
Perceived
Challenges
of Youth in
Agriculture
Labour
intensive.. Traditional
Risky, Not
Lucrative..
Access
to
financial
Services
Access
to
Land
Redefining
Youth in
Agri.. Social
stigma..as
low status

Youth in Agriculture: An Analysis on
Entrepreneurial Perspective
Alok Kumar Sahoo
Ph.D. research scholar
Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR-
IARI, New Delhi

Agri-enterprise development and management CAMBODIA
Rebranding agriculture in schools UGANDA AND SAINT LUCIA
Young Women Open Schools Pakistan
On-the-job training Madagascar
PhD training in agriculture Africa
Distance learning for young farmers Brazil
ICTs for extension services Ghana and Kenya
ICT solutions for agriculture Rwanda
Youth resource centres on agriculture Zambia
Land tenure, farm productivity and enterprise development Philippines
Land ownership for Shea butter producers Burkina Faso
Distributing hillside land to landless youth Ethiopia
Young rural entrepreneur and land fund program me Mexico
Reclaiming desert land for young graduates Egypt
Small landlords and large tenants program me Taiwan Province of China
Short -term land leases for youth Uganda
Several Success stories regarding Youth in Agriculture ….(FAO)

According to Census 2011, India has 55 million potential workers
between the ages of 15 and 35 years in rural areas. At the same time,
the world is expected to face a shortage of 57 million workers by 2020.
This presents a historic opportunity for India to transform its
demographic surplus into a demographic dividend.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
Enable Poor and Marginalized to Access Benefits
Inclusive Program Design
Mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged groups (SC/ST 50%;
Minority 15%; Women 33%)
Shifting Emphasis from Training to Career Progression
Greater Support for Placed Candidates
Post-placement support, migration support and alumni network
Proactive Approach to Build Placement Partnerships
Guaranteed Placement for at least 75% trained candidates
Enhancing the Capacity of Implementation Partners
Regional Focus
Standards-led Deliver
Govt. of India Initiatives….

• "Start-Up India" intended to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation
and Start-ups in the country
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) with Self-Employment and Talent Utilization
(SETU) Program
• “Stand-Up India” to facilitate bank loans between 10 lakh to 100 lakh to at
least one (SC) or (ST) borrower and at least one Woman borrower for setting up
a greenfield enterprise
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was setup as a PPP mode for
catalysing the skills landscape in India.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to enable outcome based skill
training and become employable and earn their livelihood with certificates and
monetary reward with successfully trained, assessed and certified in skill
courses run by affiliated training providers. The average monetary reward
would be around Rs.8000 per trainee
• AC ABC , DAESI and NABARD supported projects to facilitate youth
entrepreneurs with initial financial credit and subsidy support.
Govt. of India Initiatives….

ICAR initiatives Farmer FIRST, ARYA, Student READY and Mera
Gaon Mera Gaurav.
ARYA:
(i) To attract and empower the Youth in Rural Areas for sustainable
income and gainful employment in agri..enterprises
(ii) To enable network groups to take up resource and capital intensive
activities like processing, value addition and marketing
(iii)To demonstrate functional linkage with different stakeholders for
sustainable development of youth.
Implementation: 25 States through KVKs, one district from each State
• 200-300 rural youths identified for their skill development in
entrepreneurial activities & micro-enterprise units …..
• SAUs and ICAR Institutes as Technology Partners.
• Enterprise units of KVK serve as entrepreneurial training units for
farmers.
The purpose is to establish economic models for youth in the villages so
that youths get attracted in agriculture and overall rural situation is
improved.

READY refers to “Rural and Entrepreneurship Awareness Development
Yojana” and the programme was conceptualized to reorient graduates of
Agriculture and allied subjects for ensuring and assuring employability and
develop entrepreneurs for emerging knowledge intensive agriculture.
Component of the programme
Experiential Learning: step forward for “Earn while Learn” concept for high
quality professional competence and practical work experience in real life
situation to Graduates which facilitates Job Providers rather than Job
Seekers .
• To promote professional skills and knowledge through meaningful hands
on experience.
• To build confidence and to work in project mode.
• To acquire enterprise management capabilities
Rural Agriculture Work Experience
The Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) helps the students
primarily to understand the rural situations, status of Agricultural
technologies adopted by farmers, prioritize the farmers problems and to
develop skills & attitude of working with farm families for overall
development in rural area

In Plant Training/ Industrial attachment (10 weeks)
• Provide an industrial exposure to the students as well as to develop their
career in the high tech industrial requirements.
• To expose the students to Industrial environment, which cannot be
simulated in the university.
Hands-on training ( HOT) / Skill development training – 24 Weeks
• To make conditions as realistic as possible. Opportunity for repeated
practice.
• The students become skilled in the identified practices/methods and gain
confidence.
• The ultimate aim is to make student ready to pursue the learned skills as
their career.
Students Projects- 10 weeks
To impart analytical skills and capability to work independently
To conceptualize, design and implement the proposed work plan
Work as a team- sharing work amongst a group learn leadership qualities
Learn to solve a problem through all its stages by understanding and applying
project management skills.

Success Story : Mr.Elango the entrepreneur of “AAVAI” Amla RTS, squash,
candies, mouth refreshner, etc. (Year of Start :2012)
Reasons for selecting this project :value addition unit in amla
I) Simple manufacturing process.
ii)Easy availability of raw material.
iii) Low production cost
Technical guidance was given by Dr.G.G.Kavitha shri, AP (Food science)
working at KVK, Needamangalam
Strength of the business
No shortage for labour.
No middleman hence entire profit goes to the family.
No out sale marketing hence no extra cost on paying rent.
Presently he is not having any competitor in this business.
Weakness of the business
Fluctuation in the cost of raw materials
Lack of paid labour limits the expansion of production and
marketing
Lack of storage facility

LICENSING AND OTHER LEGAL ASPECT OF THE FIRM
Member of any organization: Farmer producer organization
Fees paid: Rs.1000
Procedures for obtaining trade mark
Flow chart of processing
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Output/unit of raw material
From 1kg amla = 800ml of juice
= 4500ml of RTS produced
Therefore, from1kg amla = 15
bottles of RTS (each 300ml) can
be obtained
Unit cost of production: Rs. 15
per bottle
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Minimum amount of raw material
per day
: 25 kg

Conclusions:
• How to create jobs instead of going behind jobs i.e. self
employment becoming an entrepreneur,
• How to choose an enterprise, at what scale the production
should be started , how the product should be marketed at what
cost.
• Patience and it should continue until the product catches the
market and rules it.
• Lesson “of not to be a slave, but to be the ruler”.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT:
Problems of consumers with regard to demand for the product
Lack of awareness
Taste and preference
Habits
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Production cost per unit of output = Rs.15
Marketing cost per unit of output = Rs.30
Profit percentage = 50%

NGO initiatives..
Farmer's Producer Organization
Agriculture Enterprise Facilitation Centre
KNH Community Farm
Adaptation to Climate Change in Rural Areas of India
National Rural Livelihoods Mission
Poverty Reduction Through Sustainable Agriculture
Revitalization of Rain-fed Agriculture
Small Grant Facility

Multidisciplinary enterprise actions by KVK Kannur
(Estd. In 2004 at the Pepper Research Station, Panniyur.)
SHG to Micro processing unit by continuous motivation
Refining Technologies (in Lab scale or Large scale)
Incubation center for Branding product
Linking entrepreneur to sources of support
Hassle free credit through SBI-KVK loan Window
KVK-mall to convey the message: “You Can” to
entrepreneur
Farmer’s Mall for linking entrepreneurs to market
 FRESH (Farming & Rural Employment for Social
Harmony)
Mini-Bioparks
Dar.M.J. Joseph Farmers' Science Museum

• .

Latest ICT initiatives
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) launched a mobile application
(Pashu Poshan) that will recommend a balanced diet for cows and buffaloes
to help boost dairy farmers' income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost.
• Farmer needs to provide complete animal profile, including breed, age,
milk production, fat content in milk.
• This resulted in reducing the feed cost by Rs 5-15 per day per animal and
an average increase in milk production by an average 300 ml per animal
per day .
WhatsApp group for farming solutions
Punjab WhatsApp group ‘Young Innovative Farmers’, was set up by young
farmers and agricultural experts.
• To create interest in the field of farming with young farmers sharing good
agricultural practices on crop health, seed procurement, soil health, use
of fertilizers and pesticides etc.

Complex and interwoven challenges :
• Ensuring youth access to the right information is crucial; integrated
training approaches to respond to the needs of a more modern
agricultural sector; modern ICTs bring youth together to improve their
capacities for collective action
• Youth specific projects and programmes with the extra push needed
to youth enter the agricultural sector
• Coherent and integrated response is needed from policymakers
• Coordinated response to increase youth’s involvement in the
agricultural sector as a rising food demand with increased population
and decreasing agricultural productivity
Conclusion and Remarks..

Suggestions……...
•Make agriculture highly profitable, medium risk taking, and low
labour intensive.
•Create agriculture a choice to start venture rather than by chance
•Set up technical and vocational agri institutes in villages or cluster
villages
•Training and updating of stakeholders with modern technologies
to mobilize rural youth
•Make Young Farmers Association.. funding initially ..Let them
develop their need based programs
•Agriculture inclusion in course curricula in secondary and Higher
secondary education
•Make sure of formation of FOs and FPOs ..for strengthening
backward and forward linkage in agriculture.
•Make them accessible to ICT and market to bridge the gap
between farmers price and consumers share.
•At last not least, each and every initiative needs follow up