Abstract

Agricultural skill development among youth is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in ensuring sustainable growth in the agricultural sector. With an aging farming population and the urgent need for modernization, empowering young people with the necessary skills is essential for the future of agriculture. Agriculture in India plays an important role in the national as well as global economy, by providing food and employment opportunity to millions of people. It provides raw materials to different sectors. The need for skilled youth in the agricultural sector becomes immensely important. There is a greater need to empower the youth by making them aware of the right skills appropriate to them for sustainable growth of agriculture. Skills development in the agriculture sector among rural youth for its sustainable growth is indeed the need of the hour. The objective of the study is (i) to analyze the skills development in agriculture in rural areas, (ii) to find out the factors lacking in agricultural skills development in rural areas, and (iii) to suggest suitable strategies and prospects for agricultural skills development. A case study was conducted on young dynamic farmers of Bargarh district, Western Odisha. This paper reveals the problems and prospects for skills development among rural youth.