By Nikita Tiwari

It’s important for rural young India to possess knowledge of agriculture that would make the profession economically profitable with multiple options and aspects. This can only happen with the collaboration of the Government, relevant stakeholders, youth and farmers.

India is the nation which has witnessed both low agricultural productivity and then agricultural boom after the Green Revolution. A huge proportion of India’s population works in agricultural and allied activities even today. There are several challenges faced by these people which need the attention of the Government and respective stakeholders. There is a missing link between uncertain and confused farmers seeking guidance and well-equipped agricultural graduates seeking opportunities. Also, there is a need to ensure active youth involvement in agriculture. Policies need to act as a strong bridge between these two parties to ensure that their symbiotic relationship strengthens the nation’s agricultural status and economy. Government has come up with several measures in the form of schemes, policies, guidelines, etc. but their implementation is a herculean task which needs close monitoring and honest efforts from all the stakeholders. This study aims at finding out the possible ways through which the potential of agriculture in India can be utilized in the best possible manner.

The Current State of Agriculture in India

As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the NSSO and MoSPI, about 45.76% of the total workforce is engaged in agriculture and allied sector during 2022-23. (Chazhikadan et al., 2023) while the share of agriculture in total Gross Value Added (GVA) of the economy has declined from 35% in 1990-91 to 15% in 2022-23. (Munde et al., 2023). India is a major agricultural force in the world. It possesses a huge cattle herd (buffaloes), the largest area covered in wheat, rice, and cotton, and it is the world’s largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices. It is the world’s second-largest producer of tea, fruit, vegetables, farmed fish, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, and sheep and goat meat. There are over 195 million hectares (ha) under cultivation in the nation; of these, roughly 125 million ha are rainfed and the remaining 70 million ha are irrigated. Furthermore, 65 million hectares of India’s territory are covered with forests. (India: Issues and Priorities for Agriculture, 2023).

India’s agricultural sector has a huge potential to cater to the demands of food security of the nation and even the world but it has its own set of challenges which need the attention of policy makers and stakeholders to craft a practical roadmap. Application of sustainable agricultural practices would be possible only after proper knowledge of these practices. Potential can only be utilised when our farmers would get assistance from agricultural researchers and scholars adept at understanding the link between high yield and eco friendly farming.

Currently, India has 74 agricultural universities, including 63 state-level universities, 4 ICAR-deemed, three central agricultural universities as well as four central universities that offer agriculture faculties. (Soam et al., 2020). These Agricultural universities offer certificate, degree, master and doctoral level courses in a variety of agricultural subjects, including veterinary and animal husbandry, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fisheries science, food technology, agricultural engineering, dairy science, and agricultural business management. About 35,000 full-time faculties work in agriculture and related fields. Teaching, research, and extension in the sciences are spread throughout various universities, and an estimated 1.65 lakh students are registered in various UG, PG, and PhD programs in these universities. (Soam et al., 2020)

Large population of India, especially rural India is engaged in agricultural activities. With the advent of technology and threats of climate change, agricultural practices need to be revolutionized with the help of those who possess knowledge about this field. There should be a bridge between agricultural graduates who are uncertain about their career prospects and farmers who are unaware about the modern agricultural practices. This bridge would ensure that both parties would be economically secure and their interaction would benefit India’s economy along with ensuring an empowered eco-friendly agriculture sector.

Challenges of Farmers and Youth Involvement

Problems of attaining education in the field of Agriculture

Currently, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in agricultural courses stands at 1%, meaning that merely 1% of students at the PUC (Pre-University Course) level who are eligible for agricultural and allied sciences education, are being admitted to higher agricultural educational institutions. (View of Gap Analysis of Higher Agricultural Education Competencies Among the Students for Industrial and Farmers’ Needs, n.d.) Although youth engagement is essential for the expansion of a country’s economy, youth involvement in the agriculture sector is surrounded by additional socio-economic constraints. These obstacles include parents who discourage their children from going into farming and instead encourage them to choose white-collar jobs, which are perceived to offer better financial returns and less risk considerations. Furthermore, the majority of young people in rural areas choose to become farmers due to their immediate need to meet basic necessities, a lack of employment prospects, or the certainty that they would inherit the land. When that occurs, involvement is circumstantial rather than intentional; young people frequently depart in search of a “better life” in cities when possibilities arise. (Geza et al., 2021)

Difficulties of Utilising Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Agriculture

Agricultural entrepreneurship facilitates the growth of agricultural activities into new businesses and the development of innovative strategies to enable rural populations to reap the rewards of economic expansion. (Garima et al., 2021) Despite several attempts to improve agri-preneurship in rural regions, there are still relatively few of them because of a number of difficulties. The most difficult aspects include risk, lack of institutional backing, lack of government and bank support, and lack of technical expertise, marketing difficulties, a dearth of extension services, insufficient market expertise, excessive expense, less government policies and subsidies, inadequate facilities and infrastructure along with less expertise in management, etc. (Garima et al., 2021)

Challenges faced by Farmers in practicing Agriculture

Agricultural holdings are primarily run by smallholder farmers like individual companies, smallholder farmers lack access to technology, they have to feed a growing population while following the guidelines of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), they need to ensure a consistent production and high-quality produce. (Agricultural Problems and Solutions, 2023) Advent of technologies like drones, precision farming, hydroponics etc has to be accommodated along with keeping sustainability in mind. All these challenges surround the huge population of rural farmers.

Promising Measures by the Government

NEP-2020: Steps taken for promoting Agricultural Studies

A four-year undergraduate degree program is what the NEP wants, although the majority of relevant degrees devoted to agriculture already span four years. To get hands-on training, awareness of rural areas, experience in the industry, research abilities and aptitude for entrepreneurship, every pupil registered in the Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) initiative must carry out an internship of six months in their fourth year. (Soam et al., 2020b). NEP and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) gave a detailed plan of action for higher educational institutions including agricultural universities comprising scholarships, and reforms on individual, institutional, and structural basis to improvise agricultural institutions.

Government’s initiatives to economically secure Agricultural Sector

The government has come up with multiple schemes in the field of Agriculture. Some of them are Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres for providing training and subsidy, GoI introduced Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) program is to produce a skilled labor force for both farm and non-farm duties by offering skill-based training in agricultural and allied fields to rural youth, Project ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture) for youth participation, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) was introduced to focus on infrastructural development along with building a start-up ecosystem for young agripreneurs, Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) would help in farm mechanization through  facilitating custom hiring centres, farm machinery banks and high tech hubs in states.(Hr, 2023)

Gist of Current Landscape along with Suggestions for a Promising Future

All studies that focussed on analysing the scope and challenges of Agriculture have pointed out at a dearth of knowledge based agricultural practices. Youth trying to migrate from rural areas in search of better job prospects isn’t an ideal scenario when urban unemployment and population is also high. It’s very important for those connected to grassroot level and possessing an agricultural acumen to enhance agricultural productivity using technology while being eco-friendly. It’s important for rural young India to possess knowledge of agriculture that would make the profession economically profitable with multiple options and aspects. This can only happen with the collaboration of the Government, relevant stakeholders, youth and farmers. When everything will come in sync with a common objective of changing the scene of agriculture and making it a desirable profession using technology and field knowledge then we would witness a new wave of development originating from rural India.

(PubMed Central Image Viewer., n.d.)

Suggestions for a fruitful youth participation in Agriculture

Government has given much emphasis on agriculture and is trying its best to increase youth participation. Many schemes and policies in this field are waiting in a long queue for its implementation. So, there is a need to focus on ensuring implementation as it ultimately boils down to it while determining success or failure of a particular scheme. There are various steps that can be taken by the Government to ensure that what’s on paper is also transitioning to ground reality. These measures are:

1. Compulsory workshop after 10^th standard explaining the scope, opportunities and guidance to pursue agriculture for higher education. This would ensure that students are taking a well-informed decision and the enrolment tally is also increasing.
2. Compulsory remunerative benefits to interns while their graduation in agricultural course. This would work as an incentive to students who want to be independent to meet their expenses along with practical skills that would help in having a great career.
3. Farmers-Students Gateway by Agricultural Universities in every two-three months of the course so that students can understand how their knowledge can be useful in alleviating farming issues along with feedback from farmers that will help them in refining their knowledge base.
4. State sponsored workshops for farmers by group of third- or fourth-year students pursuing agricultural studies to teach them about modern farming techniques, crop diversification, eco friendly practices, Genetically Modified Crops along with that projects should be given to students who are in the third or fourth year of Agricultural Engineering to demonstrate technological usage in farms using drones, hydroponics, etc. Students should be paid a stipend by the state government along with an internship certificate for this.
5. ICAR – MSc/PhD students Gateway: There should be a collaborative effort by Agricultural Universities and ICAR to encourage higher education students to take up a research topic whose findings can be implemented. It can be done through organising a competition where research scholars would compete to address a specific agricultural issue and the best research should be awarded and promoted by ICAR along with certificates to all the promising researchers for their commendable job.
6. Supervision of policies on institutional, zonal, regional and national level: There should be officials responsible to track the status of scheme implementation from bottom to top in order to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency.

These are just a few suggestions among many possible measures that could be taken on all levels to ensure that we are heading towards improvement and growth in the field of agriculture.

Conclusion

Agriculture impacts every citizen directly or indirectly. Food on our plate has to be nutritious, free from toxins, prepared by eco friendly practices and beneficial for both who consume and produce. Current world is facing adverse effects of climate change and hence eco-friendly practices in agriculture is not a choice rather a necessity. Similarly, agriculture can’t be in silos oblivious to technological advancements. Blending of technology with agriculture would ensure that we are not stagnant. To ensure growth, youth participation in agriculture becomes crucial in order to face new challenges. There are many issues which need the attention of the government and the government has rightfully dealt with those issues by coming up with extensive policies. The need of the hour is to ensure efficient implementation which would be possible with the collaboration of Government, Stakeholders, Farmers and the Youth. Bottom to Top approach would ensure that schemes wouldn’t be there for formality rather for their feasibility.

Nikita Tiwari is a Policy Research and Advocacy Intern at SarkariSchool.in and has completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Sri Aurobindo College(M), University of Delhi. Please write your comment at [email protected].

References

• Agricultural Problems and solutions. (2023, August 23). https://www.cropin.com/blogs/agricultural-problems-and-solutions
• CHAZHIKADAN, T., GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE, & MUNDA, A. (2023). WORKFORCE ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE. In LOK SABHA. https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/1714/AS228.pdf?source=pqals#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Periodic%20Labour,allied%20sector%20during%202022%2D23.
• Garima, G., Dhingra, A., & Ghalawat, S. (2021). Constraints faced by first generation Agripreneurs while selecting Agripreneurship as a profession: A study of Haryana. In The Pharma Innovation Journal: Vol. SP-11–1 (pp. 215–218) [Journal-article]. https://www.thepharmajournal.com/archives/2022/vol11issue1S/PartD/S-11-1-24-816.pdf
• Geza, W., Ngidi, M., Ojo, T., Adetoro, A. A., Slotow, R., & Mabhaudhi, T. (2021). Youth Participation in Agriculture: A Scoping Review. Sustainability, 13(16), 9120. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169120
• Hr, R. (2023, March 8). Government schemes for young agriculturalists. Kisanvedika | BigHaat. https://kisanvedika.bighaat.com/govt-for-farmers/government-schemes-for-young-agriculturalists/
• India: Issues and priorities for agriculture. (2023, March 31). World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/17/india-agriculture-issues-priorities
• MUNDE, P. G., SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE, कृिष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी, & SHRI ARJUN MUNDA. (2023). Contribution of agriculture in GDP. In LOK SABHA. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/winter_session_2023/Loksabha-Contribution%20of%20Agriculture%20in%20GDP.pdf
• PubMed Central Image Viewer. (n.d.). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/core/lw/2.0/html/tileshop_pmc/tileshop_pmc_inline.html?title=Click%20on%20image%20to%20zoom&p=PMC3&id=7615079_EMS187376-f002.jpg
• Soam, S. K., Raghuvanshi, R., Raghupathi, B., Ministry of Education, VCI, & AICTE. (2020). Agricultural higher education in India: status and scope. In JUST AGRICULTURE: Vol. Sep 2021. https://justagriculture.in/files/magazine/2021/september/005%20Agricultural%20Higher%20Education%20in%20India.pdf
• View of Gap Analysis of Higher Agricultural Education Competencies among the Students for Industrial and Farmers’ Needs. (n.d.). https://journalajaees.com/index.php/AJAEES/article/view/933/1865