Profile of rural youth to retaining in agriculture for livelihood security

Agriculture in India faces a dual challenge—meeting the rising food demand while dealing with shrinking farm sizes and declining land availability due to urbanization and industrialization. With the world population expected to surpass 850 crores by 2025, sustainable agricultural growth is crucial. Despite agriculture being the backbone of the Indian economy, its contribution to national income has declined significantly, from 50% at independence to 25% by 2000. Moreover, global investment in agricultural research and infrastructure has reduced, further complicating the situation. India's youth, constituting a significant portion of the rural population, hold the key to revitalizing agriculture. Encouraging their active participation requires understanding and addressing the barriers they face in farming. The research adopted a purposive and random sampling technique, selecting Rajkot and Jamnagar districts from South Saurashtra based on high migration rates. Four talukas were randomly chosen from each district, resulting in eight talukas. From each taluka, two villages were randomly selected, totalling 16 villages. In each village, 15 rural youth were chosen as respondents, totalling 240 youth who expressed a desire to leave agriculture as their profession. The study analysed socio-economic and psychological factors influencing rural youth in Saurashtra. Most respondents were aged 24-29, with at least a secondary education. Family sizes were medium to large, and incomes ranged from ₹50,001 to ₹2,00,000 annually. Land holdings were mainly small, with most owning marginal to small plots. Social participation and extension contact were moderate to high, and farming experience was medium. Information source utilization, risk and market orientation were moderate, as was economic motivation. Achievement motivation was highest among those with medium motivation. Leadership ability was moderate to high, and migration behaviour showed medium migration tendencies.