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| AGRICULTURE: THE MISSING YOUTH | | |
Dr. Parveen Kumar
Farming and Farmers are the backbone of Indian economy. Over the years, the contribution of agriculture in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined to 14 per cent at present, but the sector still is a source of livelihood for about fifty per cent of the population directly or indirectly. Although the country now has a record food grain production, but this has been accompanied with a burgeoning population in the country. Never before has India faced such a huge challenge to meet its food demand. By 2050, out of India’s estimated 1.9 billion populations more than two-thirds will be in the middle-income group and this will double the food demand of the country. Doubling food grain production has to be accomplished despite the challenges of low productivity, stagnation, climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity losses and many others that limit the agricultural production in the country.
Another big challenge for India’s agriculture sector and for all of us surviving on the food they produce is that Indian farmers are ageing. This challenge has largely gone unnoticed until a few years back. In 2016, the average age of an Indian farmer was 50.1 years. This is worrying because the next generation of the current farmers is quitting the profession. It means we are approaching a situation where one of the biggest consumers of food will be left with few farmers. Today, both middle-aged and young people are shunning agriculture. There might not be a next generation of farmers left in the country. In 2011, 70 per cent of Indian youths lived in rural areas where agriculture was still the main source of livelihood. According to the 2011 Census, every day 2,000 farmers are giving up farming. The income of a farmer is around one-fifth of a non-farmer. The youth among the farming communities are hardly interested in agriculture so much that a majority of students graduating from agricultural universities switch to other professions. Only 1.2 per cent of 30,000 rural youth surveyed by non-profit organization ‘PRATHAM’ for its 2017 Annual Status of Education Report aspired to be farmers. While 18 per cent of the boys preferred to join the army and 12 per cent wanted to become engineers. Similarly, for girls, who play a major role in traditional farming, 25 per cent wanted to be teachers. ‘The percentage of students in agricultural or veterinary courses around India amounts to less than half a per cent of all undergraduate enrolments,’ Madhav Chavan, founder of PRATHAM, said. It is not just India. Farming population across the world is ageing without an adequate replacement by the next generation. The average age of a farmer in the US is 58 years, while that of a Japanese farmer is 67 years. Every third European farmer is more than 65 years old. Like in India, farmers are quitting farming worldwide. In Japan, for instance, in the next six to eight years, 40 per cent of farmers will quit farming. In fact, the Japanese government has embarked on a massive plan to encourage people below 45 to become farmers. Advancing age of farmers is likely to influence the growth of agriculture in ways that are uncertain and unpredictable.
The young generation not interested in agriculture has largely been attributed to the agriculture sector becoming non remunerative. It is not perceived as a profitable enterprise. The rising cost of inputs and a greed for more production through a chemical intensive agriculture has further added to the woes of farmers as well as degraded the environment. Arguably, reviving India’s agriculture is the country’s most important agenda. But this demand can be converted into a huge income opportunity if the country has the farmers and the supporting technological wherewithal through its vast educational institutions. Although the percentage of population working in agriculture and related areas has now reduced to about 50 per cent, it is an area that could use a more educated and trained workforce considering that productivity lags far behind world’s leading nations, according to the founder of PRATHAM.
Although, India is the second populous country in the world, yet it is first one in having the most of young population. This is what is referred to as ‘Demographic Dividend’ by sociologists. China having the largest population in the world is an ageing country with more of dependent population than the working age population. The present government well seized of this fact has also started many programmes and is providing incentives to the farming community especially rural youths to make this noble profession a profitable venture. To tap the potential of this demographic dividend, it is essential to skill our youths so that their energy can be channelized constructively and productively. This dividend can only fructify when the huge segment of youth in the country are being provided with appropriate skills to create a pool of job creators. A different Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSD&E) has been created and entrusted with the task of skilling India. The government has set up the National Skill Development Corporation to provide skill related training to 500 million individuals by 2022. For this, the government is also promoting private sector in skill training programmes besides providing funds for them. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has taken various initiatives to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled workers. The Pradhan Mantri Koushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is an important programme in this direction. Under this programme, the youth are being provided with short term training in relevant skills. Vocational training in locally demanding skills is provided to illiterates, neo literates and school drop outs youths through 233 public institutes throughout the country. About 34.14 lakh youth have been trained under PMKVY of which 28.36 have got employment. Another entrepreneurship promoting scheme in the country is Start-Ups. The Prime Minister started the Start Up compaign in the country in 2016 and start ups have now created many success stories. The Start-Up India initiative envisions building a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) as an apex agriculture institute in the country is also from time to time running various programmes. To attract, retain and motivate youths in agriculture ICAR has started Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) and Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA). Various state governments have also launched many programmes and providing many incentives for youth and farmers to stay engaged in agriculture. |
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