Employability Challenges and Solutions from the Perspective of Agricultural Graduates in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Background: Agricultural education produces skilled human resources, yet agricultural graduates continue to face difficulties in securing suitable employment. Empirical evidence on graduates’ perceptions of job-seeking constraints and institutional responses remains limited in Andhra Pradesh. Aims: This study identified the challenges faced by agricultural graduates in obtaining employment and documented their suggestions for improving employability through academic and extracurricular support. Study Design: Exploratory research design. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Andhra Pradesh during 2025. Methodology: Data were collected from 120 B.Sc. (Agriculture) graduates who had completed their degree programmes during the academic years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 from S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, and Agricultural College, Bapatla, under Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University. Sixty respondents were randomly selected from each college. An unstructured questionnaire with open-ended questions was administered through Google Forms. Responses were read, coded, grouped into thematic categories and analysed using multiple-response analysis. Frequencies and percentages were calculated based on the total number of respondents, and challenges and suggestions were ranked according to frequency. Results: The leading challenges were lack of awareness of available job opportunities other than sales and marketing roles (32.50%), high competition due to limited vacancies in the government and private sectors (30.83%), and limited career guidance and placement support during graduation (26.67%). Other challenges included insufficient efforts to enhance personal skills, employer preference for experienced candidates, low pay scales, limited industry-specific exposure, weak professional networks and mismatch between available jobs and graduates’ expectations. Students suggested regular campus recruitment drives (35.00%), industry-linked internships and industrial visits (28.33%), certification courses in frontier agricultural technologies, personality development sessions, industry-relevant courses, stronger placement cells, alumni interactions, and participation in seminars and hackathons. Conclusion: The findings indicate the need for stronger placement support, industry exposure and skill-oriented curricular inputs to improve agricultural graduate employability.