Constraints Faced by Agriculture Graduates in Adopting Farming as a Profession - Suggestions to Overcome Them

Abstract

Agriculture is an age-old Profession in India and is considered just a way of living rather than a profession or an occupation to earn money. Since India has a massive power as more than half of its population is below 35 years of age and several agricultural students are being graduated from several universities, it is the need of the hour to orient the graduates to go along the mainstream of the development process of the country by encouraging them to enter into the agriculture and make it a profitable sector Taking this into consideration, a research study was conducted to know the constraints faced by agriculture graduates in adopting farming as a profession. The study was conducted at Sri Venkateswara Agricultural College, Tirupati of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) with its headquarters at Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. A sample size of 120 agricultural undergraduates were randomly selected for the study. The study revealed that the constraint, “Need for financial security” was ranked at first position followed by the constraints like instability in market prices, non-agriculture background, lack of initial investment, lack of family support, and lack of cultivable land. Furthermore, when respondents were asked for suggestions, the top three responses were: more exposure and field excursions, internships in new start-ups, and more actual work than theory.