A Review on Organic Farming as a Potential Sector of Agripreneurship Development among the Tribal Youth of India

Abstract

The agrarian system of our country is in state of transition from subsistence oriented to commercialization. The modern farming system is gradually becoming unsustainable and the increasing problems of chemical agriculture, cost of cultivation and upsetting environmental as well as health impacts have many negative impacts over agrarian society. Unemployment and underemployment are two major constraints in generating livelihood options for young farmers. Agripreneurship has been recognized as an effective means for economic transformation and poverty reduction. More than sixty per cent of India's arable land is under traditional agriculture where use of synthetic inputs are strictly avoided. Young farmers are active stake holders in the agripreneurship design and are enable to transform rural communities in a sustainable basis. Tribal youth form a considerable part of country's tribal population and they lag behind their urban and rural counterparts with respect to education and training as they reside in hilly and undulating forest areas. High and rising levels of unemployment among the tribal youth force them to choose unorganized sectors. Despite having ample scope in several agricultural enterprises, unmatched skill sets of tribal youth force them to undertake labour operations. Tribal youth are tomorrow's entrepreneurs, innovators and indeed leaders. Thus, this review focusses on agripreneurship development among tribal young farmers in organic farming, challenges of tribal youth in undertaking organic farming as agribusiness and solutions to eradicate the same along with a potential case of Odisha supporting the context.