M Sc

The present scenario of agriculture demands a competent youth. On contrary,
there is decreasing participation of youth in agriculture over time due to lack of
appropriate knowledge, adequate skills, perceived low status etc. Hence, there is a need
to focus on improving the skills of rural youth involved in rice farming for enhancing the
agricultural production. The present study was conducted among 120 rural youth engaged
in rice farming from four blocks of Palakkad district viz. Kuzhalmannam, Kollengode,
Nenmara and Chittur.
Majority of the rural youth respondents were males in the age group of 30 to 35
years. Majority of the rural youth were holding less than one hectare of land with five to
ten years of experience in farming. Majority of the rural youth were graduates and were
engaged in farming as well as employed in the private sector with an income of rupees 1
to 3 lakhs per annum. Majority of the rural youth possessed a sprayer and almost all the
respondents owned a smartphone. One-third of the rural youth had received trainings on
farming and allied activities. More than half of the rural youth had medium level of social
participation, scientific orientation, information seeking behaviour, innovativeness and
market orientation. More than two-third of the respondents had medium level of
economic motivation, achievement motivation and knowledge level in rice farming.
The most preferred occupation by majority of rural youth in Palakkad district was
government service. The least preferred occupation by rural youth was taking up the
sericulture sector. Majority of the youth in Kuzhalmannam block preferred government
service. The most preferred occupation by the rural youth in Kollengode block was
farming. Most of the rural youth in Nenmara block opted for business. Majority of the
youth residing in Chittur block preferred private service. There was a high degree of
concordance among rural youth from four blocks of Palakkad district in preferring their
occupation.
The existing skill level of rural youth in rice farming was 69.73. The overall
general skill of rural youth was 73.99. The overall managerial skill of rural youth in rice
farming was 71.97. The overall communication skill of rural youth was 68.18. The
overall technical skill level of rural youth in rice farming was 64.79.
The overall skill gap among rural youth involved in rice farming was 30.27. The
highest skill gap was found among rural youth in technical skills with a mean of 35.21.
The overall gap in general skills among rural youth was 26.01. Among the general skills,
learning skills had the highest gap with a mean value of 28.63. The overall gap in
managerial skills among rural youth was 28.03. Time management had the highest skill
gap among the managerial skills with a mean value of 30.97. The overall gap in
communication skills among rural youth was 31.82 in which ICT skills topped the list
with a mean value of 48.33.
Block-wise analysis revealed that rural youth from Kollengode block had the
highest skill gap with a mean rank of 34.42 whereas rural youth from Nenmara block
showed the lowest skill gap with a mean rank of 26.53. Three-fourth of the rural youth in
the study area belonged to the category of medium level of skill gap in rice farming.
Farming experience, social participation, trainings received, extension agency
contact, economic motivation, scientific orientation, knowledge level, information
seeking behavior, achievement motivation, innovativeness and market orientation had
positive and significant relationship with the skill level of rural youth in rice farming.
Educational status had a negative association with the skill level of rural youth in rice
farming. For every one unit increase in the level of economic motivation, information
seeking behavior and achievement motivation of rural youth, the probability to acquire
above average skills in rice farming increases by 2.765, 2.462 and 2.638 units
respectively.
The strategies to bridge the skill gap among the rural youth in rice farming
includes organizing skill-oriented training programmes at regular intervals on latest
technologies. Networking and formation of rice farming youth groups would create a
sense of social security and sustain their interest in rice farming. Institutional support and
incentives for starting rice-based enterprises may be provided to enhance the incomegenerating opportunities in rice farming. Awareness about ICT initiatives in agriculture
and effective usage of social media tools would improve their skills in rice farming.
Consorted efforts may be initiated to retain youth in rice farming through effective
utilization of skill development programmes of the central and state governments.