Involvement of Rural Youth in Agriculture

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION 

LOK SABHA 
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4562 
TO BE ANSWERED ON 08/01/2019 
INVOLVEMENT OF RURAL YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE 
4562. SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT
          SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE
          SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH 
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृषि और  किसान कल्याण मंत्री 
 be pleased to state: 
  • (a) whether the Government has started schemes like Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) and Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) for attracting and engaging youth in agriculture and if so, the details thereof along with the enrolment details, State-wise; 
  • (b) whether the Government has proposed and is developing ways in the field of agriculture which will provide employment opportunities to the youth thereby adding the income of farmers and if so, the details thereof; 
  • (c) whether the Government has proposed and is taking steps for rural educated youth to remain involved in agricultural activities thereby reducing unemployment; 
  • (d) whether ICAR proposes to set up institutes across the country to attract rural youth and make them aware of the latest technology and infrastructure development in agricultural activities and if so, the details thereof; 
  • (e) whether Government has started Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) Centers in the country and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and 
  • (f) whether the Government is planning to open more ABI centers in the country including Jhunjhunu District of Rajasthan and Chatra, Latehar and Palamu District of Jharkhand and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? 
INVOLVEMENT+OF+RURAL+YOUTH+IN+AGRICULTURE
A N S W E R 
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE 
कृषि और  किसान कल्याण मंत्रालय मै राज्य मंत्री 

(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT) 
(a) to (c): Yes, Madam. Realizing the importance of rural youth in agricultural development, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has initiated a program on “Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture” (ARYA) during the XII plan. Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) project is being implemented in 25 States through KVKs, one district from each State. Depending upon the type of enterprise, individual or group-based activities/enterprises are being encouraged. In one district, about 100-200 rural youths are identified for their skill development in entrepreneurial activities and establishment of related micro-enterprise units in the different areas of enterprises. The major enterprises being considered in the project include Apiary, Mushroom, Seed Processing, Poultry, Dairy, Goatry, Carp-hatchery, Vermi-compost etc., Under this project, operational costs to support critical inputs like seeds, fertilizers, small equipment are being provided to farm youth. This provides additional opportunities to the unemployed rural youth in primary and secondary agriculture and related enterprises. 
Under the project, upto 2017-18 9595 youths in various groups have been oriented for establishing micro-entrepreneurial units. State-wise list of KVKs and the number of youth oriented/ trained are placed herewith (Annexure-I). To strengthen it further, during the year 2018-19, the ARYA project is being extended to additional 75 KVKs. 
As an initiative to empower the youth in agricultural and allied subjects the Student Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) programme was started in 2015-16. Student READY is an essential course module for the award of degree at Bachelors level to ensure hands on training and practical experience depending on the requirements of respective discipline in Agricultural Universities. This is step forward for articulating education into entrepreneurship and employability. 
A financial support @ Rs 3000/- per student per month for maximum six months is also provided to the students. 
The Student READY program includes five components viz., Experiential Learning, Rural Awareness Works Experience (RAWE), In Plant Training/ Industrial attachment, Hands-on training, and Student Project. Details of the students enrolled under ‘Student READY’ state wise is attached (Annexure II). 
(d) No such proposal as of now. 
(e) “The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started a network of 25 Agri-business Incubation (ABI) Centers in different states of the country (Annexure-III) under the National Agriculture Innovation Fund (NAIF) Scheme. These ABIs act as an effective platform for fostering the growth of sustainable business endeavour and nurturing the techno-entrepreneurs. The ABI centers provide a wide range of services such as research support; business planning; office space; access to information and communication technologies; and advice on management, marketing, technical, legal, and financial issues. 
(f) Under the NAIF Scheme ICAR is planning to establish 25 more ABI centers in different ICAR institutes, keeping in view the spectrum of technologies, available infrastructure and the core competency of the institutes. Establishment of ABI Centers at District level is beyond the scope of the NAIF Scheme. 
Annexure-I 
[Part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha USQ No.4562 for 08/01/2019] 
State-wise and year-wise training programs conducted under ARYA project 
Sr.
No.
State
Name
of KVK
2015-16 to 2017-18
No.
of Training prgrams
No.
of rural youth trained
1
2
3
4
5
I ATARI,
Ludhiana, Zone-I
1
Punjab Bathinda
10
390
2
Himachal Pradesh Hamirpur
10
292
Uttarakhand Haridwar
6
132
4
Jammu & Kashmir Kathua
29
362
II ATARI,
Jodhpur, Zone-2
5
Haryana Gurgaon
7
142
6
Rajasthan Banswara
8
180
III ATARI,
Kanpur, Zone-3

7


Uttarpradesh


Muzaffarnagar

19

379
IV ATARI,
Patna, Zone-4



8




Bihar




East Champaran



4



83
9
Jharkhand Gumla
25
753
V ATARI,
Kolkatta, Zone-5




10




West Bengal


Nimpith, South 24- Parganas



13



241


11


Odisha


Nayagarh, Panipola

14

405
VI ATARI,
Guwahati, Zone-6


12


Assam


KarbiAnglong

11

347


13


Sikkim


North Sikkim

11

255
VII ATARI,
Barapani, Meghalaya, Zone-7
14 Manipur Senapati
8
290
15 Nagaland Wokha
9
220
16 Mizoram Lunglei
21
200
VIII ATARI,
Pune, Zone-8
17 Maharashtra Nagpur
27
454
18 Gujarat Rajkot
27
1073
IX ATARI,
Jabalpur, Zone-9
19 Chhattisgarh Dantewada
35
600
20 Madhya Pradesh Gwalior
39
600

Sr.
No.
State
Name
of KVK
2015-16 to 2017-18
No.
of Training prgrams
No.
of rural youth trained
X ATARI,
Hyderabad, Zone-10
21 Andhra Pradesh Nellore
7
420




22




Telengana




Nalgonda(Kampasagar)



13



604


23


Tamil Nadu


Kanyakumari

7

96
XI ATARI,
Bengaluru, Zone-11


24


Karnataka


Bengaluru-Rural

22

675
25 Kerala Kannur
12
402
Total
394
9595
Annexure-II 
[Part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha USQ No.4562 for 08/01/2019]
Number of students enrolled under Student READY Program during the years 2016-17 & 2017-18 in various states
State 2016-17 2017-18
Andhra Pradesh 813 973
Assam 233 345
Bihar 174 222
Chattishgarh 700 358
Gujarat 1434 1809
Himachal Pradesh 315 282
Haryana 375 426
Jharkhand
51
60
Jammu & Kashmir 325 310
Karnataka 1856 2221
Kerala 467 568
Maharashtra 1353 2859
Madhya Pradesh 877 971
Nagaland
57
64
Orissa 296 261
Punjab 340 264
Rajasthan 505 570
Tamil Nadu 454 956
Telangana 744 664
Uttar Pradesh 350 1032
Uttarakhand 221 180
West Bengal 256 170
Total
12196 15565
Annexure-III 
[Part (e) of Lok Sabha USQ No.4562 for 08/01/2019]

List of the Agri-Business Incubation Centre
S.No. Name

of the Institutes (Agri-Business Incubation Centre)
State
1.
ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Guwahati
Assam
2.
ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal Haryana
3.
ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla Himachal Pradesh
4.
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore Karnataka
5.
ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin

Kerala
6.
ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargod
7.
ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut
8.
ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal Madhya Pradesh
9.
ICAR-Central Institute of Research on Cotton Technology,
Mumbai


Maharashtra
10. ICAR-Central Institute on Fisheries Education, Mumbai
11. ICAR-ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani Meghalaya
12. ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi New Delhi
13. ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture,
Bhubaneswar

Orissa
14. ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
15. ICAR-Central Institute on Post-harvest Engineering and
Technology, Ludhiana
Punjab
16. ICAR-Central Institute Brackish water Aquaculture, Chennai Tamilnadu
17. ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad







Telangana
18. ICAR- Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad
19. ICAR- Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad
20. ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research &
Management, Hyderabad
21. The International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad
22. ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar



Uttar Pradesh
23. ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar
24. ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi
25. ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied
Fibre Technology, Kolkata
West Bengal
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