Factors Affecting the Agripreneurial Behaviour of Rural Youth Involved in Mushroom Production as an Enterprise

Abstract

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched ARYA project in the year 2016. The project's main objectives are to entice rural youth to participate in India's agricultural sector and to create employment opportunities in the agricultural and related sectors. It is recognized that there is greater potential for mushroom cultivation as an enterprise as there is increasing consumers' preferences in nearby cities towards mushroom. The KVK promoted mushroom cultivation through demonstrations, capacity building and by providing critical inputs under the project. As a result, rural youth are motivated and engaged in spawn production, mushroom cultivation, marketing and mushroom processing. The result of the present study reveals that majority of the rural youth of successful enterprises as well as discontinued enterprise exhibited a medium level of agripreneurial behavior. The agripreneurial behaviour of rural youth of successful mushroom enterprises correlated positively and significantly with factors like age, education, gender, agri-enterprise experience, occupation, training, social participation, family size, land holding, annual income, source of credit, attitude toward agri-enterprise, extension contact, and mass media exposure. In case of the agripreneurial behaviour of rural youth of discontinued enterprises the variable gender, agri-enterprise experience, occupation, training, social participation, family size, land holding, annual income, attitude toward agri-enterprise, extension contact, and mass media exposure showed positive and significant correlations with agri-entrepreneurial behavior.