Migration from rural areas to urban areas has become an unavoidable during the last

two decades.

Industrialization of urban areas, investment opportunities, growing service industry,

food security, better health infrastructure, education facilities are some of the factors

responsible for the growth of urbanisation in India.

Urbanisation has become an opportunity for the rural youth seeking jobs in urban

areas because of its potential of creating more job opportunities. Though urbanisation is

usually something to rejoice about, the hidden reality beneath it is our country‟s current

concern.

Indian economy is also showing a transition from an agricultural to an industrialized

one. The rural population of India is slowly deserting their origin and swarming towards the

urban areas.

Withdrawal of rural youth from agriculture – the raising trend

Most of the agricultural extension programmes which was implemented in India

traditionally targeted the farming family as a whole for training and technology transfer.

Most of the programme does not meet the needs of the youth and current change. Young

farmers often have greater capability for innovation, team building, planning and

entrepreneurship than older adults and these characteristics should be effectively utilised

by extension services to provide better livelihood opportunities for youth in agriculture

(Chander Mahesh, 2013).

The investment on youth in agriculture is very minimal, as there are only a few youth

focused programs. However, many young farmers are taking up high risk and high returns

based ventures like poly house agriculture, precision farming, organic agriculture, exotic

and oriental produce, medicinal and aromatic plants cultivation etc, which are mostly

avoided by the aging farmers. These new agri-ventures need to be actively supported by
the government agencies and financial institutions with skill training, financing and

marketing support. Some of the initiatives presented below have tried to enhance capacities

of individual rural youth and new initiatives has to be planned for youth groups ( Chander

Mahesh, 2013).

1. Farm Level Producers: At the individual family level, each family is to be treated as an

enterprise, to optimize the production by making best use of the technology, primary

processing, value addition, branding and marketing.

2. Service Providers: For optimizing agriculture by every family enterprise, there are

different types of services required at the village level. These include the input

procurement and distribution, hiring of farm machinery like tractors, seed drills, sprayers,

harvesters, threshers, dryers and technical services such as installation of irrigation

facilities, plant protection, transportation, storage, etc. Similar opportunities exist in the

livestock husbandry sector for providing breeding, vaccination, disease diagnostic and

treatment services.

3. Input Producers: There are many enterprises, which require critical inputs. Some such

inputs which can be produced by the local entrepreneurs at the village level are

biofertilizers, biopesticides, vermicompost, nurseries, plants of different species of fruits,

vegetables, ornamentals, micro nutrients, agricultural tools, irrigation accessories, cattle

feed concentrate, There are good opportunities to support sericulture, fishery and

poultry as well, through promotion of critical service facilities in rural areas.

4. Processing and Marketing of Farm Produce: Efficient management of post-harvest

operations requires advanced technology as well as investment. Such enterprises can

be handled by youth or farmers organizations, either in the form of cooperatives,

societies or producers company. The most successful examples are the sugar

cooperatives, dairy cooperatives and fruit growers’ societies in many states. However,
 the success of such ventures is solely dependent on the integrity and competence of the

leaders involved. Such ventures need good professional support/training for managing

the activities as a competitive business and to compete well with other players in the

market, particularly the retail traders and middlemen.

The Government of India has formulated its youth policy (NYP-2012 draft) to

respond effectively to the changing conditions of the young people in the 21st century. This

national policy aims to place young people at the centre of country’s growth and

recognizing the problems addressed through suitable interventions.

 KrishiVigyan Kendra (KVKs): Imparting need based vocational training to farmers,

farm women and rural youth to change and improve their knowledge, skill and attitude.

 .Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(NYKS): Established a network of youth clubs in

villages, where Nehru YuvaKendras have been set up, harnessing youth power for

development by forming youth clubs at the grassroots level to involve them in nation

building activities, working for community development and youth empowerment.

 NABARD Farmers’ Clubs: NABARD’s support for Farmers’ Club Programme

emphasizes on linking technologies with farmers’ club members. Facilitating market

access through

 Farmers’ Clubs and capacity building through leadership training; linkage with

technology/markets; Self Help Groups (SHGs)/Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) formation

and forming Federations of Farmers’ Clubs/Producers’ Groups/Companies.

 ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture): The Indian Council of

Agricultural Research (ICAR) has constituted a seven-member expert committee, to

suggest ways of attracting youth to agriculture. The committee is working on issues

such as providing training to farm youth on innovative and sustainable agricultural

practices to help make agriculture a profitable venture.

 National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM): NRLM aims at creation of opportunities for

both wage employment and skill development for the rural youth, who lack skills in

many areas of agricultural production and processing. Need based experiential skill

learning supported by public sector banks/organizations in rural areas.

 Agricultural Skill Council of India (ASCI): Considering the need for skill development of

the work force in agricultural sector, the Agricultural Skills Council of India (ASCI) has

been recently proposed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which

could be one ideal institution to train rural youth. The ASCI proposes to train, certify

and accredit 56.5 million work forces comprising of farmers, wage workers,

entrepreneurs and extension workers, over 10 years through its training partners.

 ASEAN-India Farmers Exchange: The Ministers of the ASEAN (The Association of

South East Nations) Concerned over the small number of young farmers’ involvement

in the agriculture sector, agreed on the importance of promoting innovation and

entrepreneurship among young farmers to achieve more sustainable agriculture

development in the region. This initiative is expected to create greater awareness

among the young and innovative farmers on the promising career in the agriculture

sector. Unemployment of rural youth is much higher than the unemployment of urban

counterparts. According to the GOI, for every non-youth who remains unemployed,

there are nearly six young people who are unemployed in the rural areas.

Furthermore, over the years, young people have increased their share in the group of

unemployed. The economic survey in 2012 stresses that in order to achieve inclusive

growth, India must create adequate and appropriate employment opportunities: the

number of unemployed is large and there are more youth entering the job market. In

the absence of detailed data on youth and employment, it is very difficult to find out

factors that impede the availability of employment opportunities for them. However, as
 in other developing countries, unemployment among young people in India is the

highest compared to other age groups.

Vocational Training India needs to train 70 million people in vocational skills over the

next five years. The government’s target is to train 500 million people by 2022, also by

encouraging the participation of entrepreneurs and private organisations. The target is

high and training module for the youth should focus on value chain perspective. The

workability of the structure that India has developed would depend on the capacity of

the people who are responsible for reaching the objectives. Efforts over the past few

years have not yielded satisfactory results with regard to the achievement of the

objective in a defined period.

Youth employability must be increased through skill development and vocational

training. The Government of India has realised the importance of skills. A three-tier

institutional structure consisting of:

(i) Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development,

(ii) National Skill Development Coordination Board and

(iii) National Skill Development Corporation, has been set up to take forward the Skill

Development Mission.

 Why are the rural youth withdrawing from agriculture?

 What are the motivations behind it?

 Do they have an positive view towards „agriculture‟ as their occupation?

 What will be the consequences effects of rural youth migration on farm and home?

 What should be done to attract and retain them in agriculture?