Employment Opportunities

Employment Opportunities in Agriculture Sector

U

nemployment is a major problem of India and presently more than 4.5 crores of youth are unemployed in this country. Agriculture sector has the major potential for providing the employment opportunities to this huge population of

unemployed people. In India, 70 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture contributing about 31.8 per cent in the Gross Domestic Product of the country. About 11,900 graduates from agriculture and allied sectors pass out from agricultural universities every year in the country. However, only 2000 are able to find employment both in the government and private sectors. Thus a reservoir of around 9,900 graduates every year is available for supporting the agricultural production process if viable business opportunities are offered to them. This reservoir of agricultural graduates should take an initiative in setting up of various smaller commercial ventures providing the required services for quality production in agricultural and later marketing and post-harvest utilization of the surplus produce.

The Central Government has launched various schemes to engage the unemployed agricultural graduates in setting up of such ventures in agriculture sector which will not only accelerate the agricultural production with the dissemination of latest technical know how to the farmers but also provide employment opportunities to lakhs of other unemployed youths of this country. In such ventures, agri-clinics and agri-business centers are the most important. The agri-clinics and agribusiness centres are envisaged to provide expert services and advice to farmers on cropping practices, technology dissemination, crop protection from pests and diseases, market trends and prices of various crops in the markets and also clinic services for animal health etc. which would enhance productivity of crops and animals. Agricultural graduates may choose from a range of high potential areas given below to set up different ventures related to agri-clinics and agri-business centers. ¾

Soil, water, quality and input testing laboratory service center.

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Plant protection service center, which can provide services like disease and pest diagnosis, and control services including integrated pest management.

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Seed processing unit.

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Micro-propagation through plant tissue culture laboratories and hardening units.

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Provision of extension consultancy services.

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Establishment of hatcheries and production of fish finger-lings for aquaculture.

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Provision of livestock health cover, setting up of veterinary dispensaries and services including frozen semen banks and liquid nitrogen supply.

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Post-harvest management centers for sorting, grading, standardization, storage and packing.

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Spawn production laboratories to produce seed for mushroom cultivation.

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Rearing of quality breed animals for milk production and meat production. Setting up of hatcheries of poultry birds and rearing of poultry birds for egg and meat production.

The above mentioned schemes are open to agriculture graduates/ graduates in subjects allied to agriculture like horticulture, animal husbandry, forestry, dairy, veterinary, poultry farming, pisciculture, apiculture, sericulture etc. Before setting up such a center, interested agricultural graduates will be provided a specialized training to inculcate in them required managerial and some technical skills for setting up and running the center/ venture. This two months training course will be provided free of cost in various State Agricultural Universities and Departments and institutes. Initiated by Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) and coordinated by National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management

(MANAGE),

Hyderabad,

the

course

comprises

entrepreneurship

development, business management as well as skill improvement modules in the chosen areas of activity

However, there are some projects/ ventures in agriculture which can be taken up by any unemployed youth with some prior training from any State Agricultural university in the country or different institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) spread over entire length and breadth of our country. Such ventures/ projects are listed below. ¾

Organic farming in vegetable and fruit production: The area under organic management in India is Estimated at 37,050 ha covered by 5247 organic farms. Since, a price premium of about 20-30 per cent over conventional produce is available for

organic

vegetables

food/

fruits/

in

markets, there is a huge

scope

for

venturing in such a project. ¾

Cultivation

of

medicinal and aromatic plants: Due to high bio-diversification, more than 15,000 medicinal plants are growing in India in which 7000 plants in Ayurveda, 700 in Unani, 600 in Siddha Medicine, 400 in Homeopathy and 30 in modern medicine are being used commercially. About 85 per cent of world’s largest pharmaceutical companies are located in developing countries. According to World Health Organization’s

estimates, the global market for herbal products is expected to be the $ five trillion by 2050. ¾

Nursery production in fruits: During the period 1991-92 to 2001-02, the area under fruit production increased by 39 per cent, thus indicating a continuous requirement for nursery saplings.

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Setting up of apiaries (bee-keeping) and honey and bee products processing units: In India, consumption of honey is very less and we have only 6 lakh colonies of honeybees. The demand of honey is increasing and thus there is huge scope to tap that market. ¾

Setting up of poultry farms: Poultry farms are also profitable ventures for egg and meat production. ¾

Feed processing and testing units: Our country has 11.5 per cent population of total domestic animal wealth of the world and with production of 8.5 crore metric tones, India is the highest milk

producer.

indicates demand animal

This the for feed

required in this country and the services for assuring the quality of the feed. ¾

Setting up of cool chain from the farm level onwards:

With an increase in

cultivation of perishable fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops and other perishable commodities, creation of cool chain facilities can provide and create jobs. ¾

Compost and mushroom production units: Mushroom production is only 50 thousand metric tonnes in India in comparison to China with production of 27 lakh metric tonnes. Keeping in view the availability of raw material, the country has huge potential for production of mushrooms.

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Setting up of vermiculture units, production of bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides and bio-control agents: Due to increased awareness about residues of pesticides in our food products, there is huge demand for vermin-compost, bio-fertilizers and other biopesticides to practice organic farming.

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Rural marketing outlets for processed agri-products: Marketing is an important component to maximize the profits and rural youth can coordinate such activities alone or by forming cooperatives to do the work.

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Maintenance, repairs and custom hiring of agricultural implements and machinery including micro-irrigation systems (sprinkler and drip).

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Cultivation of different ornamental crops: Worldwide consumption of floriculture is estimated to be $ 60 billion. Flowers of roses, orchids, anthurium, gladiolus, lilium, carnation and tuberose have more demand in domestic and international markets.

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Polyhouse cultivation of vegetables and ornamental crops: Polyhouse cultivation of fruits and vegetables also give the farmers a premium price. Various government agencies give subsidies to erect polyhouses and other inputs needed for cultivation.

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Setting up of dairy units: Increasing demand in milk production and other dairy products give

ample

opportunities to the unemployed youths to venture into such units.

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Fish production in artificial tanks and ponds: Fish production can also be taken up in artificial ponds and tanks and financial help is also provided by different government

agencies

to

start such ventures.

The

Ministry

of

Agriculture,

Government of India conducts various

training

programmes

ranging from one week to one year of duration with the help of State Agricultural Universities, State Departments of Agriculture and different institutes of ICAR to train the unemployed youths in different ventures so that they can start their work.

Financial Help: The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has launched various programmes for setting up of agri-clinics and agri-business centres. These schemes are mainly financed through NABARD and also under Horticulture Mini Mission Project being implemented in some states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states. Agricultural graduates are eligible for loan for setting up the agri-clinic and agri-business centers as per provisions of the scheme. The maximum limit for granting loan is Rs. 10 lakh per head in case individual center and Rs. 50 lakh in case of group project. Depending on type of venture, loans can be repaid in 5-10 years as per easy installment plan with the initial moratorium of up to 2 years.

Unemployed youths other than agricultural graduates can take the financial help/ loan from various other schemes being financed/ sponsored by The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, National Horticulture Board, State Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. Horticulture Mini Mission Project with a financial outlay of Rs. 1000 crores being run in some hilly states of the country as mentioned earlier is also providing financial assistance upto Rs. 20 lakhs to start various horticultural ventures. To boost the horticultural activities in the country, the Central Government has given a quantum jump in financial outlay. Thus, agriculture has the real potential to provide the jobs to the unemployed youth in this country. This will increase the agriculture production, provide sustainability to the production and will also earn the country the valuable foreign exchange.

# Dr. Harender Raj Gautam, Scientist Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Dr. Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan-173230, Himachal Pradesh