Factors Influencing Youth Participation in Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Kerala and Strategies to Enhance Youth Participation in Agriculture

The present research study was conducted in Calicut, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala during 2020-2021 to identify sustaining and impeding factors influencing youth to take up agriculture as a primary occupation. Focus group discussions were conducted among ninety youth selected for the study from nine rural panchayats and nine urban wards of the three purposively selected districts. On analysis, it was observed that to protect nature, increased affinity towards natural farming, farming gives peaceful life and staying close to family, to engage in agribusiness and to make profits were major sustaining factors and lack of credit support, lack of minimum support prices, scarcity of labour, poor knowledge on scientific methods of cultivation and low social image were reported as impeding factors influencing their participation in agriculture and allied sectors. Strategies such as credit support schemes for youth, agriculture as compulsory course curriculum in school education, promotion of training schemes facilitated by state and central governments among youth, popularization of urban agriculture through modern cultivation techniques were enlisted.