A SCALE TO MEASURE ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOUR OF COMMERCIAL DAIRY FARMERS

Entrepreneurial behaviour is one of the most vital factors in making a dairy business commercially successful. With the growing demand for milk and milk products, the scope of dairy entrepreneurship becomes more attractive. Fewer scales are available to measure the entrepreneurial behaviour of commercial dairy farmers, indicating a need to develop a new scale ailored to this context. Existing options do not fully capture the specific nuances of entrepreneurial behaviour in commercial dairying. To develop and validate an entrepreneurial scale, the 14-point statement selection criteria of Edwards (1969) were followed. A total of 45 statements were selected based on nine components of entrepreneurial behaviour: risk-taking ability, elf-confidence, knowledgeability, persuasibility, manageability, innovativeness, achievement motivation, decision-making ability, and profit orientation. These statements illustrated the entrepreneurial behaviour of commercial dairy farmers. Selected statements were sent to 120 judges, of whom 64 responded. A total of 34 statements were included in the final scale. The developed scale will assist researchers in studying the entrepreneurial behaviour of commercial dairy farmers, identifying dairy entrepreneurs, designing training and seminars through educational and research institutions, and shaping government policies.