6245 Problems Faced by Rural youth in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu P. Radhakrishnan1 and P.P.Murugan2 ABSTRACT To achieve the evergreen revolution in agriculture sector, retaining rural youth in agriculture is one of the important tasks of the government and other stakeholders in India. But there are less number of studies with conclusive evidence on the problems rural youth face while practicing agriculture. Hence, a study on problems and suggestions for retaining rural youth in agriculture was taken up. It was found that most the respondents expressed lack of irrigation facilities, price fluctuations, involvement of intermediaries in marketing, inadequate crop insurance and insufficient inputs as the constraints. Regarding suggestions, it was found that rejuvenation of rural youth clubs, timely input supply, creation of infrastructure facilities in the village and ICT based transfer of technology would retain the rural youth in agriculture. Keywords: Agriculture; problems; rural youth; Coimbatore; Tamil Nadu 1. Assistant Professor, PGP College of Agricultural Sciences, Namakkal, District, 637 405, Tamil Nadu, India and 2. Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, AC&RI, Madurai, 625104. Tamil Nadu, India The population of the state of Tamil Nadu according to the 2011 Census is about 7.2 crore. More than half of them live in villages, although Tamil Nadu is fast becoming a urban state. More than half of the state population is below the age of 30. The younger generation will be interested in taking to agriculture as a profession only if agriculture becomes both economically and intellectually attractive. The future of food security in our country will depend on attracting the educated rural youth to agriculture and allied activities such as animal husbandry, inland and marine fisheries, agro-forestry, agro-processing and agri-business. Rural youth are migrating from rural to urban areas due to unemployment opportunities and non remunerative income from rural areas. To achieve the evergreen revolution in agriculture sector, retaining of rural youth in agriculture is one of the important tasks. Hence a study was undertaken to know the problems for rural youth in agriculture and to offer suggestions to retain rural youth in agriculture. METHODOLOGY The study was taken up in Annur, Karamadai, Thondamuthur and Pollachi blocks of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu, with a sample size of 200 respondents. Coimbatore district consists of twelve blocks and out of these, Annur, Karamadai, Thondamuthur and Pollachi blocks were purposively selected based on the maximum area under agricultural Research Note Journal of Extension Education Vol. 31 No. 1, 2019 DOI:https://doi.org/10.26725/JEE.2019.1.31.6245-6248 Received : 18-05-2019; Accepted : 04-06-2019 6246 crops. The list of rural youth was obtained from various possible sources including State Department of Agriculture, NGOs operating in the jurisdiction and Nehru Yuva Kendra. The final list of rural youth was arranged alphabetically for each village. A sample of 50 youth from each block were selected by employing simple random sampling method. Thus the total sample of 200 was arrived and included in the study as the sample. By having elaborate discussion with the planners, administrators, extensionists and others directly and indirectly concerned with the development of the rural youth, important suggestions were finalized. The responses were dichotomous, where ‘Yes’ carried a score of two and ‘No’ carried a score of one. Percentage analysis was done to get meaningful interpretation of the study. Data were collected using well structured and standardized interview schedule. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Problems of Rural Youth The results are presented based on the responses of the rural youth on the problems faced by them while practising agriculture. Table 1. Problems of Rural Youth in Agriculture n=200* Sl.No Problems Respondents Percentage Rank 1 Uncertainty in nature of job 180 90.00 VIII 2 Long working hours 160 80.00 XII 3 Travelling distance and huge expenses in marketing farm produce 142 71.00 XIV 4 Expensive farm machineries 200 100 III 5 Discrimination due to language/ community 173 86.50 IX 6 Lack of irrigation facilities 200 100 I 7 Insufficient required inputs 190 95.00 VI 8 Price fluctuations 200 100 IV 9 Lack of extension agency contact 129 64.50 XV 10 More involvement of intermediaries in marketing 200 100 II 11 Inadequate crop insurance 200 100 V Journal of Extension Education 6247 The table shows that, 100% of the rural youth had reported lack of irrigation facilities in the village, extensive involvement of intermediaries in marketing, expensive farm machineries , price fluctuations and inadequate crop insurance as the constraints while practising agriculture. A big gap between the farm gate price and the consumer price might be the major reason for the felt problems. On the other side, fake and poor quality of inputs supply associated with lack of required inputs as well as lack of timely availability also hinders the agricultural related activities. The rural youth in agriculture would have been frustrated that their hard work did not bring in profits in comparison with traders involved in marketing of farm produce. Venkatesan et al., (2018) too had reported that lack of proper marketing facility is one of the major problems faced by the rural youth Most of the migrants in the study are temporary migrants who migrate during off-farm seasons to seek their fortune in urban centers. The lack of irrigation facilities, may be due to the shrinking of available irrigation water and failure of monsoon. This might have forced them to seek alternate job in rural or urban areas. Imparting training on water management and use of improved water management practices could help the rural youth sustain profits in farming. Intervention of intermediaries in market is also one of the major problems expressed by the rural youth. It is an accepted reality that the middle men always get more benefits than the producers. The famers are forced to go for farm mechanization due to non availability of skilled labours in the village. Inspite of the exorbitant cost of equipment (or) hire charges of farm implements is failing the rural youth. Suggestions for Retaining Rural youth in Agriculture. The suggestions obtained from the respondents to overcome the constraints for retaining rural youth in agriculture are given in Table 2. Majority of the respondents (97.50 per cent) suggested the need for improved water management practices in agriculture for their Sl.No Problems Respondents Percentage Rank 12 Lack of village information centers 168 84.00 XI 13 Lack of knowledge about ICT 143 71.50 XIII 14 Scarcity of labour 181 90.50 VII 15 Lack of awareness about government schemes 171 85.50 X Multiple responses* Problems Faced by Rural youth in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu 6248 income generating activities, 95.00 per cent of the respondents revealed that formation of rural youth clubs will develop their skill, knowledge, and act as motivation. From the above observations, it could be concluded that rural youth in agriculture are facing multifaceted problems with no viable solutions. Despite their problems, the youth in agriculture are striving hard to overcome their problems. The problems of Table 2. Suggestions for Retaining Rural Youth in Agriculture (n=200)* Sl. No Suggestions No Percentage 1 Rejuvenation of rural youth clubs 190 95.00 2 Timely input supply 166 83.00 3 Making rural youth as successful agricultural entrepreneurs 182 91.00 4 Creation of better infrastructure facilities in the village 174 87.00 5 ICT based transfer of technology in agriculture 162 81.00 6 Establishment of farm machinery hub 158 79.00 7 Need for improved irrigation water management practices 195 97.50 8 Regular visit of extension official on fixed dates 138 69.00 9 Developing climate resilient technologies in Agriculture 130 65.00 10 Regulation of prices and distribution of inputs 122 61.00 11 Strengthening of ICT in agriculture development (e-governance) 114 57.00 12 Training on current trends in agriculture 103 51.50 13 Remunerative price for farm produce 183 91.50 14 Bank loans on subsidy basis 190 95.00 * Multiple responses rural youth should be addressed through appropriate extension methods, policy, schemes and services so that rural youth can be retained in agriculture. REFERENCES Venkatesan, S. Indumathy, K. & Murugan, P.P (2018). Constaints faced by the rural youth in farm activities. Journal of Extension Education, 30(3) Journal of Extension EducationJournal of Extension Education