Attitude of Rural Youth towards Agriculture as a Source of Livelihood in Rajasthan, India

Abstract

The research paper spotlights the attitude of rural youth towards agriculture as a source of livelihood. Agriculture forms the crux of the socio-economic development of the country and source of livelihood to majority of the rural life. The youth are the ideal catalyst to change the status of persons involved in farming, especially in the rural communities given their greater possibility to adapt new ideas, concept and technology which are important to change the way farming is practiced and perceived. Despite this, migration of rural youth to other sectors in search of other lucrative jobs has resulted in decreasing participation of rural youth in agriculture. This has several implications for the future of Indian agriculture and India’s food security. It is imperative to find out the reasons for growing disinterest of youth to be involved in agriculture. The present study was carried out in 300 rural youth respondents in Jaipur and Alwar districts of Rajasthan using purposive sampling mehod.. The data were collected by using a well-structured interview schedule. Results revealed that majority of rural youth had neutral attitude (66.67%) followed by 17.67 per cent had highly unfavourable attitude and 15.67 per cent had highly favourable attitude towards agriculture. This, in turn, to attract and retain young people in rural areas, positive attitude toward agriculture among rural youth needs to be developed.