6274 1. PG Scholar and 2. Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Kerala Agriculture University, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala- 695522. Received : 21-08-2019; Accepted : 24-10-2019 Research Article Journal of Extension Education Vol. 31 No. 2, 2019 DOI:https://doi.org/10.26725/JEE.2019.2.31.6274-6279 Comparative Analysis of Attitude of Agripreneurs towards Agri-clinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) Scheme in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh Dumpala Santhosh Reddy1 and Allan Thomas2 AbstRACt Agri-clinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) scheme is a credit linked subsidy based scheme for setting up ‘agriventure’ by trained agricultural graduates launched by Government of India to strengthen public extension system, technology transfer and to augment employment in rural areas. The present study was conducted during the year 2017-19 in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh (AP) among the agripreneurs trained under ACABC scheme. The sample comprised 30 agripreneurs from each nodal training institute (NTI) in Kerala and AP.The purpose of the study was to assess the attitude of agripreneurs towards ACABC scheme. Majority of the agripreneurs from both Kerala and AP had medium level of attitude towards ACABC scheme. Keywords : Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centres; Attitude; Agripreneurs; Kerala; Andhra Pradesh INTRoDUCTIoN India is basically an agriculture based economy. Agriculture sector is the single largest employment provider in the country. In India the key to poverty alleviation and overall economic development is still rapid agricultural growth. However the rate of growth in agriculture sector is declining. In addition to these, increasing unemployment is a major concern in the country. To improve the agriculture sector and to tackle the unemployment problem, Government of India in association with NABARD ( National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development) has launched Agri-clinics and Agri-business Centres (ACABC) Scheme on 9th April, 2002. The scheme was intended to supplement the public agricultural extension service and to accelerate the technology transfer process as well as to provide self-employment openings to technically qualified personnel. However, the scheme has not gained the required momentum. The present study aimed to analyse the attitude of agripreneurs towards ACABC scheme in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. METhoDoLoGY The study was conducted in two Nodal Training Institutes (NTIs) in Kerala and Andhra 6275 Pradesh. In Kerala there is only one NTI i.e., Training Service Scheme (TSS) Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) and it was selected for the study. Among 9 NTIs in Andhra Pradesh the leading institute is BojjaVenkata Reddy Agricultural Foundation, Nandyal. A sample of 30 agripreneurs from each NTI in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh was selected thus making a total sample of 60 agripreneurs. Data were collected by using an interview schedule. To measure the attitude of agripreneurs towards ACABC scheme, scale developed by Chargotra (2007) was used with slight modifications. Scale consists of seventeen statements, out of which ten were positive and seven were negative. The response for each statement was collected on a five point continuum as strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagreewith scores as 5,4,3,2 and 1 respectively for positive statements. While for negative statements reverse scoring was followed. The probable range of scores was 17 to 85. Based on mean score and standard deviation the respondents were classified into three categories i.e. low, medium and high. Statistical tools used for the analysis were mean, standard deviation and Pearson’ Correlation Coefficient. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIoN Socio-economic Profile of Agripreneurs trained under ACABC Scheme The study revealed that fifty per cent of the agripreneurs of Kerala were old aged while majority (53.33%) were middle aged in Andhra Pradesh (Table 1). Majority of agripreneurs were male from both Kerala (86.67%) and AP (93.33%). High proportion of male agripreneurs may be primarily attributed to risk taking capacity of male agripreneurs than female agripreneurs. Majority of agripreneurs hailed from agriculture stream in both Kerala (83.33%) and AP (76.67%). More than three fourths (76.67%) of agripreneurs belonged to general category in Kerala whereas more than half (53.33%) belonged to OBC in AP. Majority of agripreneurs were graduates in both Kerala (70.00%) and AP (63.33%). Majority of agripreneurs were married in both Kerala (93.33%) and AP (83.33%).73.33 per cent of Kerala agripreneurs belonged to 4 member family, while in case of agripreneurs of AP majority (46.67%) belonged to 6 member family. It is inferred that agripreneurs of Kerala belonged to nuclear families whereas agripreneurs of AP belonged to medium size families. More than half (53.33%) of the agripreneurs from Kerala had other occupation in addition to agripreneurship, while 66.67 per cent of the agripreneurs from AP had only agripreneurship as the sole occupation. Majority of the agripreneurs of Kerala (73.33%) and AP (56.67%) had medium level of experience.83.33 per cent of agripreneurs of Kerala had less than 2 acres of landholding while 80.00 per cent of agripreneurs of AP had great than 1 acre of landholding.80.00 per cent of agripreneurs of Kerala had annual income less than 4 lakhs while 77.77 per cent of agripreneurs of AP had income greater than 2 lakhs. Attitude of Agripreneurs towards ACABC Scheme The distribution of agripreneurs in Kerala and AP based on attitude towards Comparative Analysis of Attitude of Agripreneurs towards Agri-clinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) scheme in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh 6276 Table 1 Socio-economic Profile of Agripreneurs Trained under ACABC Scheme (n=60) Sl. No. Characteristics Category Kerala (n=30) AP (n=30) F % F % 1 Age Young age (<35 years) 4 13.33 13 43.33 Middle age (35-55 years) 11 36.67 16 53.33 Old age (>55 years) 15 50.00 1 3.33 2 Sex Male 26 86.67 28 93.33 Female 4 13.33 2 6.67 3 Stream Agriculture 25 83.33 23 76.67 Horticulture 2 6.67 4 13.33 Agril. Engineering 0 0 1 3.33 Veterinary 0 3.33 1 3.33 Fisheries 2 6.67 1 3.33 MBA/Agribusiness 1 3.33 0 0 4 Community Schedule Caste (SC) 1 3.33 2 6.67 Schedule Tribe (ST) 1 3.33 1 3.33 Other Backward Classes (OBC) 5 16.67 16 53.33 General (Gen) 23 76.67 11 36.67 5 Educational status Diploma/VHSE (Vocational Hr. Secondary) 2 6.67 4 13.33 B.Sc. 21 70.00 19 63.33 M.Sc. 5 16.67 7 23.33 Ph.D. 2 6.67 0 0 6 Marital status Unmarried 2 6.67 5 16.67 Married 28 93.33 25 83.33 7 Family size 4 member family 22 73.33 5 16.67 5 member family 7 23.33 11 36.67 6 member family 1 3.33 14 46.67 8 Means of livelihood Agripreneurship + other 16 53.33 11 33.33 Agripreneurship alone 14 46.66 19 66.67 9 Experience Low 4 13.33 6 20.00 Medium 22 73.33 17 56.67 High 4 13.33 7 23.33 Journal of Extension Education 6277 ACABC scheme is presented in Table 2. It revealed that majority (60.00%) of agripreneurs of Kerala had medium level of attitude followed by 26.66 and 13.33 per cent who had low and high level of attitude towards ACABC scheme. However in case of agripreneurs of AP, 70.00 per cent had medium level of attitude and 16.66 per cent who had high level of attitude towards ACABC scheme. Only 13.33 per cent had low level of attitude towards ACABC scheme. From the results, it can be inferred that agripreneurs of AP had better attitude towards ACABC scheme than agripreneurs of Kerala. Relationship between Agripreneurs’ Characteristics and their Attitude towards ACABC Scheme The results of correlation analysis were taken into consideration for analysing the influence of characteristics of agripreneurs’ on their attitude towards ACABC scheme. It revealed that out of 15 independent variables, four variables namely landholding, information 10 Landholding <1 acre 18 40.00 2 6.67 ≥1-2 acres 10 33.33 14 46.67 ≥2-4 acres 0 0 10 33.33 ≥4 acres 2 6.66 4 13.33 11 Annual Income < 2 lakhs 9 30.00 7 23.33 ≥2-4 lakhs 15 50.00 12 40.00 ≥4-6 lakhs 1 3.33 2 6.66 ≥6-8 lakhs 3 10.00 5 16.66 >8 lakhs 2 6.66 4 13.33 Table 2 Distribution of Agripreneurs based on Attitude towards ACABC Scheme (n=60) Sl. No Category Kerala (n=30) Andhra Pradesh (n=30) F % F % 1 Low 8 26.66 4 13.33 2 Medium 18 60.00 21 70.00 3 High 4 13.33 5 16.66 Total 30 100 30 100 Mean=61.63 S.D.=2.999 SE=0.548 Mean=66.83 S.D.=3.76 SE=0.687 Comparative Analysis of Attitude of Agripreneurs towards Agri-clinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) scheme in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh 6278 source and motivation were positively and significantly correlated with attitude towards ACABC scheme. With respect to agripreneurs of AP, out of 15 independent variables, five variables namely age, education, experience, landholding, annual Income and seriousness were positively and significantly correlated with attitude towards ACABC scheme. However, a detailed analysis showed that out of 15 independent variables only one variable i.e., annual income was positively Table 3 Correlation of Characteristics of Agripreneurs with Attitude towards ACABC Scheme (n=60) Sl. No. Variables Kerala (n=30) Andhra Pradesh (n=30) 1 Age -0.09 0.48** 2 Sex -0.12 0.28 3 Stream -0.02 0.25 4 Caste -0.08 0.13 5 Education 0.09 0.44* 6 Marital status -0.21 0.20 7 Family Size -0.16 0.28 8 Means of livelihood 0.03 0.34 9 Experience 0.01 0.52** 10 Landholding 0.38* 0.28 11 Annual Income 0.45* 0.63** 12 Information source 0.43* 0.26 13 Motivation 0.37* 0.12 14 Seriousness 0.16 0.41* 15 Feedback 0.18 0.27 ** Significant at 1% level of significance; * Significant at 5% level of significance and significantly correlated with attitude of agripreneurs towards ACABC scheme. CoNCLUSIoN Majority of the agripreneurs had medium level of attitude towards ACABC scheme in both Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Annual income of agripreneurs was positively and significantly correlated with their attitude towards ACABC Scheme in both the states of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The study suggests Journal of Extension Education 6279 that State Governments of both Kerala and Andhra Pradesh need to take efforts to create awareness about the scheme, to identify the lacunae in the implementation of the scheme and foster the scheme among the graduates. REFERENCES Chargotra, M. (2007). Evaluation Study of Agri- Clinic and Agri-Business Centres in Rajasthan. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, 171p. Comparative Analysis of Attitude of Agripreneurs towards Agri-clinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) scheme in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh