Agricultural Entrepreneurship Research Articles

How does perception of success change between family and solo farmers: A perspective from strategic resources and entrepreneurial orientation

This study compares the resources and entrepreneurial characteristics of family and solo farmers, and influences of these on subjective success perceptions. Quantitative data were collected in Finland and the research model is comprised of Resource-Based Theory and Entrepreneurial Orientation. T-test for equality of means and Structural Equation modelling were employed for testing the hypotheses. The results indicate that family and solo farmers are heterogeneous in most of their resources, entrepreneurial orientation and success perceptions, only except resources in funding opportunities, innovativeness in products and services and investments, and proactiveness in legislation, and success perceptions in self-determination in own work, personal satisfaction. Covariation between resources and entrepreneurial orientation is stronger for family farmers, but this relationship is positive for both groups. Resources and entrepreneurial orientation impact success positively both for family and solo farmers, while the impact of resources is stronger for family farmers and entrepreneurial orientation is stronger for solo farmers. This study suggests a comparative approach in evaluation of the sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship and its implications, also facilitates the methodological development on the measurement of the theoretical models focusing on the role of family in social and agricultural sustainability.

The impact of fintech development on the entrepreneurial behavior of farmers: evidence from the China Household Finance Survey

Fintech is disrupting the traditional financial models with the power of technology. Will it solve the problems faced by farmers in starting their own businesses and stimulate the vitality of rural entrepreneurship? In this paper, we focus on the impact of fintech development on the entrepreneurial behavior of farmers in China. First, we theoretically analyze the effects of fintech development on the entrepreneurial behavior of farmers and put forward the corresponding theoretical hypotheses. Second, using data from Baidu search index and the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we employ a Probit model to verify our theoretical hypotheses. Our findings suggest that (1) fintech development encourages farmer entrepreneurial behavior, (2) it achieves this by alleviating credit constraints, information constraints, and risk aversion effects, (3) in terms of the type of entrepreneurship, the development of fintech mainly promotes survival entrepreneurship among farmers, while the entrepreneurial effect of fintech is more significant among farmers with low education level, low income level and in the central and western regions. Overall, our study provides timely insights into boosting farmer entrepreneurship in emerging countries such as China by leveraging the potential of fintech.

Agricultural extension and farm entrepreneurship: evidence from small-scale farmers of high-density plantations in Kashmir

ABSTRACT Purpose The study examines the transformative trends in agriculture by analysing the adoption patterns of high-density plantations (HDP) among small-scale apple farmers in Kashmir. It explores the factors shaping the adoption process and the role played by extension services in fostering this adoption. Design Employing a mixed-method approach, this study investigates how extension services influence the adoption of high-density farming and farm entrepreneurship. Utilising cross-sectional data from 160 small-scale farmer households, the research employs a recursive bivariate probit regression model to unveil the relationship between extension services and the adoption of high-density farming. Findings The findings reveal a crucial link between small-scale farmers’ adoption decisions and their access to agricultural extension services. Land size, credit, and subsidies play key roles in influencing both HDP adoption and extension service accessibility, highlighting the interconnectedness of financial support in promoting sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, early adopters showcase innovative behaviour driven by production advantages and sustainability concerns. Practical implications It underscores the need for targeted interventions to promote sustainable agricultural practices and enhance extension service accessibility. Recognising the positive impact of credit and subsidy availability on both HDP adoption and access to extension services emphasises the interconnected role of financial support in driving sustainable practices. Theoretical implications The paper integrates theoretical frameworks from agricultural adoption, extension and entrepreneurship while contributing a more comprehensive understanding of sustainable and transformed food systems. Originality This study develops a crucial framework that underscores the significance of public extension services for small-scale farmers in the Himalayan regions. Additionally, it enhances understanding of the potential benefits of high-density farming and farm entrepreneurship for sustainable agriculture and transforming food systems for rural development globally.

The Impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty-empirical evidence from rural China

It is of critical importance to address energy poverty in rural areas if inclusive prosperity is to be achieved. Digital finance offers new opportunities to alleviate energy poverty in these regions. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the impact of digital finance on poverty, neglecting research on its impact in rural areas and on specific forms of poverty. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty. The period 2011–2021 was selected as the observation period, with 31 provinces serving as the study objects. The fixed effects model was employed to investigate the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty, while exploring the mediating effect. The results indicate that digital finance alleviates the level of rural energy poverty, and this conclusion remains valid following a series of robustness tests. Furthermore, digital finance can indirectly alleviate rural energy poverty through technological innovation and agricultural entrepreneurship activities. Further research indicates that the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty is more pronounced in regions with abundant human capital, robust government intervention, and minimal urban–rural disparities. This study extends the theoretical support for digital finance to indirectly support rural energy to alleviate poverty. Likewise, this finding provides a new perspective for the government and relevant departments to improve the welfare of residents and alleviate rural energy poverty.

What Smallholders Want: Effective Strategies for Rural Poverty Reduction

Since poverty is particularly concentrated amongst smallholder farmers, development programs intend to support rural livelihoods and agricultural entrepreneurship. The final impact of these programs remains, however, rather limited due to insufficient understanding of key challenges that smallholder families are facing. Many well-intended initiatives for reinforcing smallholder production systems and for strengthening their commercial relationships meet conceptual and practical limitations that reduce their effectiveness. Smallholder livelihoods are most constrained because behavioural drivers for adopting innovations and for upgrading value-chain relationships are not well understood and are frequently overlooked. This article discusses the analytical linkages between the key causes of smallholder poverty, the constraints that limit the effectiveness of ongoing rural development initiatives, and the prospects for alternative strategies to support behavioural change. A better understanding of what smallholders want and need may lead to fundamentally new policy propositions. It is argued that technological change in smallholder production or integration into market systems will only take place if embedded in behavioural change mechanisms that are complemented by appropriate institutions and governance regimes. This asks for coordinated structural reforms in farm and community organisation, value chain integration and more effective public-private cooperation.

METHODOLOGY OF INSTITUTIONAL REGULATION OF COMPLEX DEVELOPMENT OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF ITS EFFECTIVENESS

Modern organizational and economic methods of managing agricultural land use in Ukraine do not ensure its sustainable development, which is reflected in the increasing degradation processes. The current institutional system in Ukraine’s land relations sector is characterized by uncertainty and the lack of clearly established social norms and rules for the ecological management and use of land resources, as well as the roles and statuses of participants in land relations. The absence of a unified national system that meets state and public needs and is supported by an adequate social environment and the ecological awareness of government authorities and citizens hinders the development of effective and competitive agricultural entrepreneurship aimed at creating environmentally clean land resources and producing safe products. A land management system is proposed, where the first level of goal decomposition includes the basic regulatory functions (creation of an ecological network and a system of sustainable land use; forecasting and spatial planning for the use of land and natural resources; development of effective forms of ownership and land use; state support and economic incentives for rational forms of ownership and land use). Regulatory functions, as the main element of the institutional regulation system for the comprehensive development of land management, also serve as the basis for classifying regulatory instruments. The article presents the author’s approach to classifying the instruments of institutional regulation for the comprehensive development of land management according to the basic regulatory functions and their instruments. The institutionalization of land management will contribute to environmentally safe land management in rural areas, the formation of unified land masses, and the reduction of degradation processes. It will also improve the procedures for maintaining land cadastre and monitoring, ensure legislative regulation of access for individuals and legal entities, landowners, and land users to information about land plots and soil quality, which will be used for organizing economic activities, as well as for the economic stimulation of rational land use.

ATTITUDE OF GIRL STUDENTS TOWARDS AGRICULTURAL ENTPRENEURSHIP

India is one of the most populated country in the world. It has third largest entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. Agricultural entrepreneurship has wide scope in India. India has around 63 million enterprises, of which 11.4% are agricultural enterprises. Out of total enterprises, only 20% are women-owned. Entrepreneurial activities related to food processing, value addition, custom hiring services can generate employment for youth and reduce unemployment. Agricultural entrepreneurship provides huge scope to women to tap their entrepreneurial potential. It is crucial to enhance their attitude towards entrepreneurship to mainstream them in this sector. With this consideration, the present study was undertaken to investigate the attitude of girl students towards the agricultural entrepreneurship. It was conducted in Anand Agricultural University. 50 final year undergraduate girl students were randomly selected for the study. The responses were collected using specially designed interview schedule. It is found that majority of the girl students had highly favorable attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship. Academic performance, Annual family income, Family type, agricultural entrepreneurship workshop was found positively significant. Locality was found positively related and academic performance was found negatively significant with the attitude of girl students towards entrepreneurship.

ATTITUDE OF AGRICULTURE STUDENTS TOWARDS AGRIPRENEURSHIP: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A SCALE

Agripreneurship is doing business in agriculture or taking entrepreneurship in agriculture. Attitude is defined as the degree of positive or negative affect associated with some psychological object. The main objective of the study was to develop a scale on Attitude of agricultural students towards agripreneurship. In present study 'Scale Product Method' was used which is combination of Thurston's technique of equal appearing interval scale for selection of the items and Likert's technique of summated rating for ascertaining the response on the scale as proposed by Eysenck and Crown (1949). The statements, thus selected were edited on the basis of the criteria suggested by Edward (1969) and finally, 60 statements were selected. A schedule of 60 items was sent through 'Google forms' via email and whatsapp as well as through direct personal contacts to 140 experts working in the discipline of Agricultural extension of SAUs of Gujarat and other states. The judges were requested to sort out 60 statements on 11 point continuum from 'most unfavorable' to 'most favorable'. Out of them, 75 judges were responded. Based on Thurstone and Chave (1928) criteria in addition to Q as a basis for rejecting the statements in scales constructed by equal appearing interval scale method. Accordingly, when two or more items had the same scale values, those items having lowest Q values were selected. Thus, 24 statements were finally selected to constitute the attitude scale. A split-half technique was used to measure the reliability of the scale and the reliability coefficient was 0.82. The validity of the scale was also proved as per experts' judgments.

UNVEILING ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITY AMONG GIRL STUDENTS IN AGRICULTURE FACULTY

Empowering future leaders, the Agriculture Faculty ignites entrepreneurial spirit among its female students, fostering innovation and growth in agricultural ventures. The study is conducted in 10 Agriculture Colleges of four State Agricultural Universities of Gujarat with 300 respondents to find out the entrepreneurial ability of girls. Entrepreneurial ability refers to the skills, mindset, and capacity individuals possess to recognize opportunities, take calculated risks, and innovate to create and manage successful ventures or initiatives. It involves traits such as creativity, resilience, leadership, and strategic thinking, essential for navigating the challenges and uncertainties of entrepreneurship. The study revealed that more than two third (58.68 per cent) of the respondents were observed with medium level of entrepreneurial ability in youth farmers. There are positive association of entrepreneurial ability of the girl students with their type of family, parents' education, family land holding, family occupation, mass media exposure, relative owning business attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship.

Age groups of agricultural entrepreneurs in Paraguay. Year 2023

Uno de los componentes con mayor efecto en el desarrollo de un emprendimiento es el que respecta a las características del emprendedor. El trabajo de investigación tuvo como objetivo sondear el grupo etario de los emprendedores agropecuarios en el Paraguay. Primeramente, se realizó una revisión bibliográfica documental tomando datos oficiales con respecto a la composición etaria del país. En la etapa de campo, se ha tenido un enfoque cuantitativo, con un alcance exploratorio, aplicando el instrumento de levantamiento de datos a un total de 51 propietarios de emprendimientos agropecuarios. El diseño del mismo es no experimental cuantitativa. De las fincas estudiadas el 96% se encuentra dentro de las dimensiones establecidas para ser consideradas en el rango de la Agricultura Familiar Campesina. Todos los emprendimientos cuentan con menos de 10 personas involucradas. En un 96% dirigen un emprendimiento de tipo familiar. La formación académica con mayor porcentaje entre estos es la primaria y secundaria. El 35% de los encuestados pertenece a la Generación X, 26% Millennial, 27% Baby Boomers y 12% a la Generación Z. Si bien la generación Millennial es la Generación predominante a nivel laboral en la actualidad, los resultados prueban que son aun las Generaciones de más edad las que prevalecen en las fincas agropecuarias del país. La Generación X es la de mayor participación en el caso de la muestra ocupando poco más de la tercera parte. Se podría esperar que esta sea la generación preeminente en cuanto a la dirección de los emprendimientos agropecuarias en la futura década.

Students’ interest in agribusiness as a future career

Purpose. This study was conducted among Bangladeshi undergraduate agricultural students to see how likely they were to launch their agribusinesses after awarding Bachelor’s degrees. Methodology / approach. As an agricultural country, agribusiness among the students is increasingly important. To achieve the purpose, we selected undergraduate students from the University of Rajshahi as the respondents. Agriculture, Fisheries, and Veterinary Science students were surveyed to determine their interest in starting an agribusiness (opening their own enterprises) after graduation. Questionnaire data were subjected to a logit regression analysis. Results. Most students come from rural backgrounds and many work in family farming either directly or indirectly, only a small percentage of them (29.6 %) want to start an agribusiness after graduation. Most students think working for the Government or providing other services is safer than doing business. Except for students whose families had large landholdings, students were not interested in becoming agribusiness entrepreneurs, although female students were more curious than males. The students perceived agribusiness as too risky and preferred civil service or other service sector employment over any business. If they were to set up such companies, they would be the most interested in fruits and vegetables, feed mills, beef, floriculture, and fisheries. Part of the reason for this disinclination to entrepreneurship is South Asian culture, which values security over independence, although agriculture, where the product is perishable, is risky. Originality / scientific novelty. Over the last 10 years, there has been a decline in total agricultural employment despite a rise in the youth unemployment rate. Encouraging these young people to go into agribusiness, we can reduce unemployment and increase agricultural productivity. But, regarding the interest of young people in Bangladesh in agribusiness, there is no published material. Thus, this study is the first in Bangladesh to assess the interest of agricultural students in starting an agribusiness and describe its determinants. Practical value / implications. The state wants to encourage agribusiness, but does not have a policy to achieve the goal and universities do not even teach this subject to agriculture graduates. If the government is serious about expanding agricultural entrepreneurship, it will have to invest in agribusiness to reduce its risk: in agricultural mechanisation, better rural transport and infrastructure, insurance for agricultural enterprises, mentors to impart business skills and advice, and a national capital fund to invest in such enterprises and finance them by capital rather than by debt.

Exploring e-Commerce Potential: Improving Sales Performance Through Product Innovation in The Agriculture Sector

This study explores the impact of e-commerce on sales performance, mediated by innovation, among agricultural business entrepreneurs in Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi Province. Utilizing a quantitative research design, data were collected from 97 agricultural entrepreneurs who have adopted technology in their sales processes. The study employs WarpPLS 8.0 for data analysis to test the hypothesized relationships between e-commerce, innovation, and sales performance. Results indicate that e-commerce significantly enhances sales performance both directly (path coefficient = 0.727, p < 0.001) and through innovation (path coefficient = 0.207, p = 0.001). Additionally, e-commerce positively impacts innovation (path coefficient = 0.901, p < 0.001), and innovation itself significantly boosts sales performance (path coefficient = 0.230, p < 0.001). These findings corroborate prior research, underscoring the importance of effective resource management, strategic goal alignment, and employee competencies in improving sales outcomes. Advanced technologies, such as machine learning, further enhance businesses' ability to predict and optimize sales strategies. For agribusiness entrepreneurs in Polewali Mandar, the study highlights the necessity of embracing digital transformation. Despite initial skepticism, the integration of e-commerce platforms and innovative marketing strategies can expand market reach, improve operational efficiency, and build consumer trust. This research provides practical recommendations for leveraging digital technologies to drive growth and profitability. By focusing on consistent and relevant digital content, agribusinesses can overcome barriers and achieve sustainable competitive advantages. The findings underscore the critical role of digital and technological innovations in fostering business success in the agricultural sector.

Women and Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas in West Africa: Case of Benin

This research identified factors that can influence the forms of women's entrepreneurship in rural areas in Benin. The Harmonized Survey on Living Conditions of Households database carried out in 2018 was used for the study. Data in several countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo) and financed by the World Bank. The annual survey to monitor the living conditions of households is part of the perspective of a better knowledge of poverty in WAEMU member countries, in order to understand its manifestations. This Data were submitted to a multinomial logistic regression model and, rural women in agricultural entrepreneurship were categorized into three groups based on sources of funding: entrepreneurship with access to credit (1.70%), entrepreneurship in association (17.88%), and entrepreneurship with equity (80.42%). The regression model identified factors such as socio-cultural affiliation, religion, geographical location, age, marital status, and the mother's branch of activity as social factors that determine the choice of forms of entrepreneurship. In addition to these factors, the study identified some constraints on women's agricultural entrepreneurship such as lack of employment, lack of access to land, level of education, access to water and grazing sites, floods/droughts, poor management, and poor sales of agricultural products as exogenous factors. Improvement of these factors could promote women's agricultural entrepreneurship in rural areas.

Financial literacy, farmland mortgage financing, and household entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence from rural China

Farmland mortgage financing policy has been actively carried out and intertwined with mass entrepreneurship strategy in China in recent years. Using survey data of 1947 rural households in pilot counties of farmland mortgage loans (FMLs), we contribute to the literature by examining the impact of financial literacy on rural households’ entrepreneurship with considering the heterogeneity between agricultural and non-agricultural entrepreneurship and exploring how financial literacy affects entrepreneurship through FMLs. The results show that financial literacy has a significant and positive impact on both rural households’ agricultural and non-agricultural entrepreneurship. Moreover, households with higher level of financial literacy show a higher probability in the application for and approval of more FMLs. This study provides strong evidence that the impact of financial literacy on farm households’ agricultural entrepreneurship is partially mediated by FMLs, while that impact on their non-agricultural entrepreneurship is partially suppressed by FMLs. We further find that financial literacy can also increase rural households’ entrepreneurial income through their approval of FMLs. These findings suggest that systematical financial literacy training programs are needed to popularize FML products and services and facilitate rural households’ entrepreneurship.

Large-scale Farms and the Rice Economy in Lau North-East Nigeria, 2005-2015

Entrepreneurship in agriculture or agribusiness is one activity that has survived different eras namely pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods in Africa and Nigeria in particular. But despite years of experiment on this path, development in the agricultural sector has remained stagnant or at an insignificant level of growth. Interestingly it has received little attention from scholars in the field of history partly because it was viewed as a domain for the economists and business managers. This paper therefore, examined the agribusiness or activities of large farms in the rice economy of Lau Local Government Area of Taraba State. Broadly two sources were relied upon: primary and secondary, and the multi-disciplinary method were also employed for complementary purposes. The paper was organized around themes, and the historical analytical tool was used in the analysis. The study revealed that the people are largely agrarian based, and the rice economy has huge potentials to feed the state and even the northeast region, but the peasant are largely exploited by the market forces thereby short changed. This is further compounded by government insignificant interest in the sector. Hence, the study posits that government support is critical in providing access to subsidize credit, investing in infrastructure, transport and farm input services like advisory services to reverse decades of neglect, and set the path to sustainable development.

Impact of regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional pressures on rural agribusiness entrepreneurial opportunities and performance: empirical evidence from Ghana

Abstract Entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector in Ghana encounter numerous challenges due to the weak institutional framework in the country. This often leads to business failure and poor performance of agribusiness ventures. In this paper, we aim to highlight the significance of institutional support for agribusiness entrepreneurs and its crucial role in creating more opportunities for farm entrepreneurs and ensuring the success of farm ventures. The study analyzes empirical data collected from 246 maize farm entrepreneurs in Ghana using the Structural Equation Modelling technique (PLS-SEM). The findings show that regulatory and cognitive institutions have a more positive significant influence on the opportunity recognition and exploitation strategies of maize farm entrepreneurs. Both opportunity recognition and exploitation partially mediate the effects of regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional pressures and farm business performance. The study suggests that maize farm entrepreneurs appear to benefit from regulatory and cognitive institutions. The findings, therefore, have strong policy relevance. The results of this study contribute significantly to food policy aimed at boosting maize supply chain business and food security.

The Value Chain and Sustainable Efficiency of Industrial Potatoes Through an Entrepreneur

This research was driven by the need for sustainable and efficient farming, productivity, and market expansion. This study mapped the industrial potato value chain, identified key stakeholders and their responsibilities, and assessed value chain linkages. This case study employed purposive sampling. The industrial potato value chain includes input suppliers, producers, processors, traders, and consumers, according to the research. Agricultural entrepreneurs are vital to the industrial potato value chain. He chose the Sharazur Plain, Kalar City, and Penjwin districts of Sulaimani Governorate in Iraq's Kurdistan Region for industrial potato production. Additionally, the entrepreneur has entered into agreements with Green Iraq Company as a processor, input supplier, and a chain supporter of the industrial potato value chain. The company has a significant role in enhancing producers to produce industrial potatoes, Lay's Chips is manufactured by a company in Sulaimani governorate/Bazian region. The study demonstrates that the implementation of contractual agreements may lead to a win-win situation for all parties involved. This reduces the farmer's risk by promoting cultivation and guaranteeing the firm has enough raw materials for processing. According to this study, universities, research centers, and agricultural departments have no role in the industrial potato value chain.

Organisational and economic support for the development of business enterprises in agriculture under martial law

Entrepreneurs in agriculture ensure the potential of the country's food security and environmental protection. The study aims to substantiate the social, economic and conceptual foundations of the activities of business entities in agriculture under martial law. The research methodology is based on the provisions of system-functional analysis and institutional economic theory. Graphical, and abstract methods of systematisation of results were used. The study found that in 2023, more than 50 thousand business entities (92% of them were farms) produced products. 1.6 thousand agricultural businesses received loans worth 60.1 billion UAH. The author substantiates the need to keep the preferential financing of agricultural entrepreneurs under the "Affordable Loans 5-7-9%" programme as "survival loans" with the expansion of the limits to 130-140 million UAH and a reduction of the interest rate to 5%. The study determined that small business and family farming are the primary guarantors of employment. It is proved that in the period 2017-2022, 84.64% of the variation in net profit is explained by the variation in the level of agricultural products sold by business entities. The article substantiates the expediency of applying the organisational and economic principles of business development in wartime, developing comprehensive indicators for assessing the state of development of business structures in the agricultural sector of the economy and the impact of entrepreneurship on the development of rural areas. The indicators of development and efficiency of agricultural enterprises are characterised. The information and analytical material can be considered when developing regional programmes for the development of agrarian entrepreneurship.

The impact of rural e-commerce participation on farmers’ entrepreneurial behavior: Evidence based on CFPS data in China

The "Three Rural Issues", encompass challenges related to agriculture, farmer, and rural area, which hold significant importance in driving comprehensive rural revitalization efforts in China. Farmer entrepreneurship, as a crucial means to enhance productivity, create job opportunities, and increase residents’ income, has gradually become a key driving force in promoting rural revitalization in the new stage of development in China. With the rapid development of rural e-commerce, farmer entrepreneurship has encountered new opportunities. This study utilizes the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data and employs a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the direct impact of rural e-commerce participation on farmer entrepreneurial behavior, considering factors such as human capital, social capital, and network infrastructure. This study further explores the indirect effects and mechanisms of e-commerce participation as a mediating variable and analyzes the impact and mechanisms on agricultural entrepreneurship behavior. The findings are as follows: (1) E-commerce participation significantly promotes farmer entrepreneurial behavior; (2) E-commerce participation as a mediating variable has a positive indirect effect on the relationship between social trust, network infrastructure, human capital, and farmer entrepreneurial behavior; (3) E-commerce participation has a significant positive influence on farmer entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, and farmers with higher levels of network infrastructure and human capital have a higher probability of choosing agricultural entrepreneurship under the influence of e-commerce participation. Finally, this study provides policy recommendations in terms of infrastructure construction, entrepreneurial policy environment, and education level, aiming to optimize the situation of farmer entrepreneurship and contribute to the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization.Overall, the research in this paper effectively combines theory and empirical evidence to outline the direct and indirect impact mechanisms of rural e-commerce participation on farmers’ entrepreneurial behavior and agriculture-related entrepreneurial behavior and to test the effects of their impacts. First, most of the existing literature deals with farmers in individual sample areas, while the sample selected in this paper is farmers in the whole country, which is relatively more generalizable; second, most of the previous studies explore the level of e-commerce in the inter-provincial or county areas, while this paper expands the empirical study of rural e-commerce on the entrepreneurial behavior of farmers and the micro-period of agricultural entrepreneurial behavior, and focuses on the impacts of the e-commerce activities of farmers on their entrepreneurial behavior.

Strengthening the agricultural entrepreneurship: Insights on transformative influence

Agri-entrepreneurship being very important component of attracting youth to agriculture, the efforts made by different public agencies in India in this direction through various interventions and enterprises needed to be studied. Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) production is one of the most popular enterprises promoted to pursue this objective throughout India. This study considered 2016–17 as the base year and 2020–21 as the assessment year. Mushroom production in India almost doubled during the assessment period (1.29 lakh tonnes in 2016–17 and 2.59 lakh tonnes in 2020–21) at a robust compound annual growth rate of 19.17%. The net agricultural income of the respondents at national level (other than mushroom income) was ₹1.25 lakh/annum during 2020–21 while their net income from mushroom cultivation was 2.48 lakh/annum. On an average 532 man-days of employment per unit was generated by the mushroom entrepreneurs at national level with considerable variation in income and employment generation across the states/UTs. Age of the entrepreneur was found having negative effect on employment generation, validating the relevance of attracting rural youth to agriculture in India. The lack of ability of resource centres for building capacity of the entrepreneurs for generating net income to the level of sizeable proportion of their annual expected livelihood was observed to be the strong reason for higher attrition rate in this enterprise. The insights suggest that redesigning of capacity building programs and institutional supports as per the current challenges in entrepreneurship development can better influence the ultimate outcomes.