Profiling of Agricultural Graduates of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Agriculture plays a vital role in India’s socio-economic development and requires skilled human resources capable of addressing emerging challenges in agricultural productivity, sustainability, rural development, and technological advancement. Agricultural graduates constitute an important human resource for translating scientific knowledge into research, extension, agribusiness, entrepreneurship, and other professional activities. The present study was undertaken to profile agricultural graduates of Uttar Pradesh with respect to their socio-economic, educational, communication, and psychological characteristics. A descriptive research design was adopted, and the study was conducted at all four State Agricultural Universities of Uttar Pradesh. A total of 140 agricultural graduates pursuing M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes were selected through simple random sampling, with 35 respondents from each university. Data were collected through personal interviews using a structured interview schedule and analysed using appropriate statistical techniques. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents were young, male, and from rural backgrounds, with satisfactory to high academic performance. Most respondents had completed their schooling through the Hindi medium and belonged to marginal and small farming households, with agriculture being an important family occupation. Information access was strongly oriented towards digital sources, with smartphones and the internet used daily by all respondents, while interaction with extension personnel was comparatively limited. Formal training exposure related to natural farming was low, and social participation was also limited. The majority of respondents exhibited medium levels of information source utilisation, library exposure, achievement motivation, and scientific orientation. The findings highlight the need to strengthen practical and experiential learning, training opportunities, student–extension linkages, professional participation, and career guidance to improve the competence and employability of agricultural graduates.