Multidimensional Analysis of Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centres (ACABC) for Entrepreneurship Development
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Date
2019
Authors
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Publisher
Division of Agricultural extension IARI new delhi
Abstract
Agriculture is undergoing a huge transformation in recent years. It is swiftly
transforming into technology and market-oriented ‘industry’ which is wide spread
from agricultural production, to sophisticated agri-science, food technology, and
agribusiness. The systematic initiation of agribusiness through Government of India
launched as ‘Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centers (ACABC)’. The scheme of
ACABC is being undertaken by MANAGE since 2002. This scheme is aimed to
provide gainful self-employment opportunities to the unemployed agricultural
graduates in the form agribusiness. It is also aimed to supplement the public extension
system, increase the availability of inputs and services to the farmers for the
improvement of agriculture. Considering the roles of ACABC scheme and support to
the farmers, the present investigation was carried out to determine the factors
motivating the candidates to join the scheme and start agribusiness, effectiveness of
training curriculum for entrepreneurial learning, economic viability of these
agribusiness, effects of extension support on the farmers provided by the agripreneurs,
and the different constraints faced by the stakeholders of the ACABC scheme.
The states of Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were selected purposively as both
the states had a large number of successful candidates from the North and South zone
of the country, respectively. 120 successful agripreneurs and 120 beneficiary farmers
for the extension services were randomly selected from both the states. A semistructured interview schedule as well as focus group discussion was employed to
collect data from the respondents of the study area. A pilot study was conducted to
assess the reliability of the scale used for data collection. Empirical analysis and
logical interpretations were used to analyze data thus collected.
The determinants which motivated the candidates for joining ACABC scheme
training were identified and then the Likert rating scale was used for data collection.
There were four principal components identified, viz., economic factors, farmer
support factors, marketing factors, and social factors by the use of Principal
Component Analysis (PCA). It was found that four socio-economic variables (firm
ii | Abstract
age, age, educational background, and family size of agripreneurs) had a significant
impact on the annual turnover of the agribusiness of agripreneurs.
The content analysis of the training curriculum of the ACABC scheme was
conducted and compared with the training curriculum of the RUDSETI programme
training. It was found training sessions for the entrepreneurial learning under ACABC
scheme was large which can be decreased to a suitable number of required sessions.
Similarly, the subject matter in ACABC was covering a wide range of topics in
different aspects, it can be lessened to the necessary and required subject matter for a
specific enterprise. It was also found that the overall perceived effectiveness of the
respondents for all the Kirkpatrick's levels of the evaluation was 'effective'.
The economic viability of the selected enterprises was examined by the use of
project analysis techniques. All the enterprises studied were found to be economically
viable established under ACABC scheme. The payback period (PBP) was low for
those enterprises which had low-cost involvement and the rotation factor for most of
the enterprises was 1 to 3 years. All the agripreneurs were found to be providing
extension services to the farmers in collaboration with ATMA at the district level.
The perceived effectiveness of extension services of the agripreneurs, as well
as the perceived impact on the livelihood of the farmers, was investigated in the study
area. The overall effectiveness of the extension services was perceived as 'effective'
by the farmers and the overall perceived impact of the extension services of
agripreneurs on the farmers’ livelihood was found to be 'high'. There was also a direct
and significant relationship between the farmers' perceived impact on livelihood and
the effectiveness of extension services.
The prospects of the ACABC scheme were studied through the SWOT-AHP
framework. It was favored by the respondents due to high employment generation
potential and the self-employment opportunity. There were ten constraints perceived
by the agripreneurs for the ACABC scheme. Problem tree analysis was prepared to
suggest strategies for the increase in the success rate of ACABC scheme. There is a
need for a few modifications in the scheme to improve its implementation for
development of agricultural entrepreneurship in the country.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, ACABC scheme, Factor Analysis,
Project Analysis technique, SWOT-AHP, Problem Tree Analysis
Description
T-10273
Keywords
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