Final attitude project

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research project would not have been possible without the guidance and the help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study.

First and foremost, our utmost gratitude to Mr. Karma Thinley, Programme Director of the Agriculture Machinery Centre, who have accepted our internship proposal in your organization and given us the right opportunity to flourish our knowledge in doing research and whose words of encouragement we will never forget.

Madam Sonam Pem, Deputy Agriculture Executive Engineer of AMC for her guidance and useful suggestions, which helped us in completing the project work in time. She shared their knowledge, her ideas, and numerous tips all of which culminated in the completion of our project.

We also would like to thank Mr Prabhu Nr.Pradhan, Chief Instructor of Agriculture Machinery Training Centre and all the staffs there who directly or indirectly provided all accommodation and other facilities which made us comfortable to stay.

Needless to mention, Mr. Kinzang, Regional Manager, AMC Bajo, who had been a source of inspiration and for his timely guidance for our data collection for the period of two weeks.

Mr Sonam Tashi, senior lecturer of College of Natural Resources for the insight he has shared through the mail whenever we contacted sir.

This amazing organization is comprised of individuals with amazing talents all of whom are dedicated to sharing their knowledge with others so that they too might go onto become successful in their lives. Lastly Special thanks also to all our friends, especially group members for sharing their ideas and invaluable assistance.

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ABSTRACT

As Bhutan is largely an agrarian economy where agriculture provides employment to two-third of the populace, the present study is an attempt to assess the attitude of rural youths who have farming background, partly to gauge where the future of agriculture is headed. It also seeks to study the sustainability of food sufficiency goal of nation as well as the concerns of increasing rural-urban migration. The primary data were collected from around 400 rural youths across the country using a structured questionnaire and scheduling method. Data were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. The study depicts that majority of the Bhutanese rural youth are having moderately favorable attitude with 65.46% while 19.5% and 15.04% of youth have favorable and unfavorable towards agriculture. Despite the favorable attitude, the paper argues that the youth’s vulnerability rate of leaving agriculture sector and rural area is increasing and it is time for right interventions.

Key words: Rural youth, agriculture and attitude

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................................................1

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................5

Problem Statement........................................................................................................................6

Research Questions........................................................................................................................6

Objectives.......................................................................................................................................6

Conceptual Definitions..................................................................................................................6

LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................................7

MATERIALS AND METHODS.......................................................................................................8

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS........................................................................................................9

Characteristics of the Respondents..............................................................................................9

Attitude of the Bhutanese Rural Youths towards Agriculture..................................................9

I: Attitude towards Agriculture Products............................................................................10

II: Attitude towards Farming Work....................................................................................12

III: Attitude towards Agriculture Income...........................................................................13

IV: Attitude towards Farming Career.................................................................................15

Rural-Urban Migration: Is it going to be a bigger problem?..............................................18

Overall Respondents’ Attitude towards Agriculture...............................................................18

Findings.........................................................................................................................................19

CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................20

RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................................21

REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................22

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Characteristics of Respondents..............................................................................................9

Table 2: Reasons for favorable attitude.............................................................................................10

Table 3: Reasons for unfavorable attitude.........................................................................................10

Table 4: Reasons for favorable attitude.............................................................................................12

Table 5: Reasons for unfavorable attitude.........................................................................................12

Table 6: Reasons for favorable attitude.............................................................................................14

Table 7: Reasons for unfavorable attitude.........................................................................................14

Table 8: Reasons for favorable attitude.............................................................................................16

Table 9: Reasons for unfavorable attitude.........................................................................................16

Table 10: Overall Respondents' Attitude towards Agriculture...........................................................18

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INTRODUCTION

The Bhutanese economy is dominated by Agriculture, providing livelihood to about 2/3 of the total population (Mehta, 2012). Bhutan has a large diverse biodiversity capable of producing a large variety of agricultural products across the different agro-economical zones. Like in any other developing country, agriculture for Bhutan has great implications on food security, rural employment, livelihoods, economic and political stability besides being a significant trade produce (Tobgay, 2006). Agriculture remains a large priority for Bhutan, and the government has already committed to attain national food self sufficiency since the 5th five year plan.

Approximately one-third of the world’s population is currently between the ages of 10 to 24 years (Rashid & Gao, 2012). Of the total 708,265 populations in Bhutan, approximately more than 150,506 are youth (13-24 years), which consists of more than 21.25 percent of the total population (708265). This age group will contribute substantially to population size of Bhutan in future. Therefore, in general Verma, Lal & Bhimawat (2012) believe that youth’s power has to be used properly in developmental processes for the country.

The demographic composition and pressure on the country’s socio-economic conditions is changing. Adolescent and youth population is rising (Population Perspective Plan Bhutan, 2010) and consequently there are greater challenges facing them. As observed by Chua (2008), Bhutanese youths are generally reluctant to accept employment that is rural-based and manual-intensive. Many students leave school with aspirations of white-collar jobs, especially in the more prestigious civil service industries where there is job security, the established nine to five working culture, and flexibility at work. As a result, rural-urban migration is becoming more rampant and studies have indicated a shortage of farm labor because of which most of the land remains fallow (Tobgay, 2005). On the other hand, urban youth unemployment is rising and urban areas are facing an increasing youth problems.

Whatsoever the situations, youth is ultimately one of the greatest assets in any country and their significance cannot be further emphasized than what the His Majesty the two Kings have enunciated:

The future of the nation lies in the hands of our younger generations. It is, therefore, crucial that they live up to our high expectations and ensure the continued well-being of the people and security of the nation.

His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuk

I have always believed that a nation’s future is mirrored in the quality of her youth and that it is the government’s sacred duty to provide a good education and a conducive environment for young people to become strong, capable leaders for the future.

His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck

For the dominant agriculture sector that will remain as the nation’s greatest potential in achieving the goals of food self sufficiency, rural youths are the future. This study is an attempt to study the attitude of the Bhutanese rural youths towards Agriculture and it is

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expected that it will reveal some key underlying reasons behind their favorable or unfavorable attitude towards Agriculture, so that it can provide ways to gear the government policies and initiatives accordingly towards a desired future, simultaneously addressing the urban unemployment problem. The study is targeted at youths between the ages of 13 and 24 years.

Problem Statement

Youths are the future and their significance can never be ignored. Despite the prevalence of increasing urban youth unemployment and rural-urban migration, no studies have been conducted to assess the attitude of the rural youths towards Agriculture which provides livelihood to some 69 % of the Bhutanese populace and, which remains the core of nation’s goal of attaining food self sufficiency.

Research Questionsa. What is the attitude of rural youths towards Agriculture?b. What are the factors influencing their attitude?

Objectivesa. To determine the attitude of the rural youth towards Agriculture b. To explore the major reasons behind their favorable or unfavorable attitude

Conceptual Definitions

Attitude

The term, attitude means a set of tendencies, views, and beliefs of an individual about his/her environmental factors, and this tendencies and belief will be stabilized based on environmental effect, the gained experiences and the period of time (Rafiepour, 1993, as cited in the study of Mosaee & Ommani, 2011). One more theorists Lewiston, who approached attitude traditionally, notes that attitude is composed of three principal constituents such as perception, feelings and behaviour. Loudon and Della Bitta (1993) note that attitude is how for or against, positively or negatively, favorably or unfavorably a person regards a particular object.

For our study, attitude means an enduring perception, feelings and behavior of individual, be it is favorable or unfavorable, about the factors identified for the study.

Rural Youth

In the absence of a standard definition for rural youth, age, permanent residence and occupation of their parents were taken as the main factors to define rural youth for the purpose of the study. The age group between 13-24 years has been considered as defined by

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the Department of Youth and Sports (2010) as the official definition of Bhutanese youth. Their permanent place of residence has to be a rural area and it was made that only those youths whose both or either of the parents is/are farmer are accepted as samples for the study. This reference has been made especially in order to ensure the reliability and relevance of the research data.

LITERATURE REVIEWAccording to Mitchell (1993) as cited in the study of Alston & Crutchfield (2009) different demographic estimates indicate that ethnos populations are gradually increasing, and more of these youths will need to be recruited into agriculture-related careers in order to sustain the agricultural industry for the future. Tally (1996) believes that the lack of youth representation in the production and sale of agricultural commodities can be greatly attributed to traditional perceptions of agriculture. Thus, Alston & Crutchfield (n.d) stated that youth perceptions on agriculture may be developed from parents, educational institutions, and agencies.

People witness agriculture as significant to their daily lives with respect to what they eat and in how food is processed, but they do not see the relevance of participating in agriculture as a career, particularly minority populations (Alston & Crutchfield, n.d). Similarly, their study shows that youth do not participate in agricultural programs because of perceptual concerns regarding the industry. So, it is important to understand youth attitudes and beliefs about agriculture (Thompson & Russell, 1993).

A study conducted by Stewart and Sutphin (1994) that educational interventions are needed to encourage youths to better understand agriculture. Therefore, Burnett, Johnson, and Hebert (2000) has put forward that the mission of 4-H is to assist youth in acquiring research-based knowledge in agriculture. Youths' perceptions of agriculture in urban areas differ from those in rural areas (Alston & Crutchfield, n.d). Thompson and Russell (1993) enjoined that groups with more positive beliefs and intentions towards agriculture are persons with formal education beyond high school.

But Ovwigho & Ifie (2009) has concluded that the youths have negative attitude towards agricultural development interventions. Similarly, they stated that lack of basic infrastructure in rural areas, lack of modern agricultural equipment, and lack of land, lack of credit facilities or subsidies, and poor income were the problems influencing against youth participation in agriculture. Hence, they found that the much anticipated food sufficiency can only be achieved in the country if the youths are motivated to take up agriculture as a sustainable means of livelihood. This could be achieved by providing large tract of land for the youth, provision of credit facilities or subsidies and rural infrastructure.

In many parts of the world, agriculture activities and rural people can increase the income of the rural poor and provide bigger employment opportunities (Omelehin et al., 2007) (cited in

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the work of Bahaman, et al., 2010). Lenihen et al., (2009) has also commented that rural community has better level of acceptance and attitude towards agricultural activities. In a study Sedighi (2005) concluded that there is significant relation between economical situation, range of arable land, mechanization and attitude of rural youths to agricultural activities. Based on his study it is concluded that economical characteristics are necessary and critical factors, affection attitude of rural youths for working in these areas.

Vissaria (1998) believes that non-formal education and social activities played a critical role in professional activity development and preventing immigration of rural youths to other areas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data for the study was collected from rural youths, with help of structured survey schedules and questionnaires. A youth was identified as a person aged between 13 to 24 years, according to the Department of Youth and Sport’s definition (National Youth Policy, 2010).The dependent variable, attitude, was measured with help of a 5-point Likert scale (Likert, 1932, cited in the work of Abdullahi et al, 2010), a method which is now one of the dominant in measuring people’s attitudes, views and experiences (Taylor and Heath, 1996, cited in the work of Abdullahi et al, 2010). The independent variables: Gender, Age, Educational status and current status were measured by devising categorical scales. The collection of data took place during 31st December to 19th January 2012.

The population of the study was all the rural youth, which comes to an approximate figure of 153144 (Bhutan at a Glance, 2012). The Sample Calculator available online (http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm) gave a sample size of 400. Due to the limited time available for the study, convenient sampling was adopted.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Characteristics of the Respondents

Individual characteristics provided below in the table represents that majority of the respondents were from the middle aged youth whose ages range between seventeen to twenty years. Youths who are pursuing or had pursued undergraduate courses are the highest proportion of respondents while there is only one case of illiterate youth.

Table 1: Characteristics of Respondents

Variable Categories Frequency PercentageGender Male 207 50.4

Female 204 49.6

Age Younger youth (13-16) 96 23.1Youth (17-20) 175 42.2Older youth(21-24) 144 34.7

Educational status Illiterate 1 .2Non-formal Edu.(NFE) 3 .7Primary 2 .5Lower Sec (7-8) 16 3.9Middle Sec (9-10) 122 29.5Higher Sec (11-12) 116 28.1Under Graduate (>12) 153 37.0

If educated, current status Student 351 84.8Employed 26 6.3Unemployed 37 8.9

Based on these descriptive statistics, the education status of the respondents has been reformed into three categories, i.e. low: classes below eleventh standard, mid: class eleven and twelve, high: above twelfth standard, primarily for the convenience and relevance of performing cross analysis.

Attitude of the Bhutanese Rural Youths towards Agriculture

Agriculture is a broad concept that concerns so many different aspects but for the purpose of this study, it has been marginalized only to farming that also has been further narrowed solely to the production of food grains and vegetables because they necessitate a similar nature of work input and are indeed widely grown throughout the country. Agriculture product, farming work, income and career has been taken into consideration in order to study the attitude of the youths towards agriculture in a more comprehensive manner.

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I: Attitude towards Agriculture Products

Throughout this study, agriculture product refers exclusively to food grains and vegetables. A majority of 89.4% of respondents have a favorable attitude toward locally produced food grains and vegetables over the imported food grains and vegetables. A very less percentage of 5.8% of the respondents have unfavorable attitude towards the locally produced agriculture products. The study revealed that, among those respondents who have favorable attitude, though insignificant (chi2 sig. value=0.92), female respondents have higher percentage (92.9%) compared to male (85.9%). So far as the youths’ age is concerned, there is a significant difference between age and their attitude (chi2 sig. value=.044From the majority of respondents having favorable attitude, the older youths whose ages range between 21-24 years have the highest representation with 93.8% compared to 88.7% and 84% of middle aged (17-20) and younger youths (13-16) respectively . Corollary, from those having unfavorable attitude, the younger youths have the highest percentage by 10.1% compared to mid and older youths (7.3% and .8%). Thus, it is a cause of concern for the country since the youths’ attitude towards the local agriculture products is declining at a time where the government is striving so hard to enhance the local food production. ). Though there is no significant difference ( chi2.value = 0.108) between current status and youth preferring locally produced food grains and vegetables, those youth who are employed have the highest proportion of respondents with 94.4% compared to 89.1% student and 88.2% unemployed who have favorable attitude towards locally produced food grains and vegetables.

Table 2: Reasons for favorable attitude

Frequency Percentage

Easily available 58 18.5

Organic and nutritious 206 65.6

Delicious and appetizing 45 14.3

Other reasons 5 1.6

Total 314 100

Table 3: Reasons for unfavorable attitude

Frequency Percentage

Expensive 4 21.1

Poor quality 3 15.8

Less availability and variety 12 63.1

Total 19 100

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Amongst those who like the local food grains and vegetables, a proportion of 67%, 27% and 6% of youths like vegetables, paddy and other food grains respectively. From the above table it is evident that a majority of 65.6% of respondents are having positive attitude towards locally produced food grains and vegetables over the imported products because it is organic and nutritious, which simply is an indication that Bhutanese youths are much concerned about health and nutrition. A majority of 63.1% of the youths have unfavorable attitude because the locally produced food grains and vegetables are less available and have lesser variety compared to the imported products (mostly Indian) that are easily available everywhere and provide a greater freedom of choice every time.

Both sexes have similar opinion regarding their reasons behind having significant favorable attitude towards our local agricultural products. For instance, it was observed that a majority of 69.7% and 62.3% of male and female respectively thinks that Bhutanese agricultural products are organic and nutritious. As far as education status is concerned, an ascending percentage of 56.1%, 66.7% and 71.4% of youths pursuing classes below eleven, between eleven and twelve and above twelve respectively were found to be positive because Bhutanese agricultural products are organic and nutritious. This shows that higher the educational status, the youth are more concerned about their health. Likewise, 88.2% of employed youths compared to unemployed and students (with 83.3% and 62.1% respectively) are concerned about their health keeping aside taste and accessibility.

The entire female respondents who expressed negative attitude towards agriculture reasoned that unavailability of Bhutanese agriculture products (i.e. supply) at their demand is the single cause. This confirms that females are ready to buy or consume the local products as long as there is a supply. However, a certain proportion of male youths are skeptical about the cost and quality of local products (26.7% and 20% of them). The younger youths constitute the highest proportion (with 37.5%) of respondents who are anxious about the price of local agricultural products compared to middle-aged and older youths having a representation of 10% and nil respectively. Controversially, they are the least concerned about quality (0%). But, though statistically insignificant, education seems to have some bearing upon the attitude of youths. For instance, from a class of three respondents categorized based on their education level, i.e. low: below eleven, mid: eleven and twelve, high: above twelve; it was found that the first category are most concerned about price, i.e. 37.5% of them compared to 16.7% and 0% of the two latter categories respectively. On the other hand, the former group constitutes the highest proportion of respondents who are least concerned about quality, i.e. 0% of them compared to 16.7% and 40% of the latter two categories respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that higher the education level, the youths are lesser concerned about price but more concerned about quality which may be certainly considered a very positive influence of education.

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II: Attitude towards Farming Work

Farming work here refers exclusively to the physical or mental effort required to produce food grains and vegetables only. So far as the youths’ attitude towards farming work is concerned, it was found that 55 % has favorable attitude while 36 % has unfavorable attitude. Out of 207 male and 204 female respondents, it was revealed that an insignificant difference with 57.5 % and 52.5 % of male and female had favorable attitude towards farm work respectively (chi2 sig. value=0.552). The study also revealed that younger the youths, their attitude towards farm work is more negative. A declining percentage of 42.7%, 38.3% and 30.6 % of younger, mid and older aged youths were observed to have an unfavorable attitude respectively, which may be an indication that youths’ interest in farm work is waning.

Amongst those who have positive attitude towards farm work, majority of 73 % prefers working in vegetable production, 20.3% in paddy and 6.8% in other food grains. Some of the major reasons behind why youths have favorable or unfavorable attitude towards farm work are as depicted in the tables below:

Table 4: Reasons for favorable attitude

Frequency Percent

Natural passion to work 47 21

Brought up in such situation 63 28

Availability of modern machines, tools and equipments 108 48

Others 7 3

Total 225 100

Table 5: Reasons for unfavorable attitude

Frequency Percent

Very tiring and backbreaking 38 26

Insufficient access to modern technologies 41 28

Requires constant laborious effort 59 41

Others 6 4

Total 144 100

The main reason behind the favorable attitude turned out to be the availability of modern machines, tools and equipments which indeed is a big compliment to the Ministry of Agriculture’s determined efforts, particularly through the Agriculture Machinery Centre (AMC). Yet, on the other hand, it was revealed that, of those having unfavorable attitude towards farm work, the reasons were directly related to drudgery, which itself is the mission of AMC. Therefore, there is a lot of scope for AMC to change the future of agriculture in terms of farm work. Indeed, the past records have proved that mechanization has brought about immense impact on alleviating drudgery.

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Observing the pattern of attitude between male and female, it is notable that female are more optimistic towards farm work. 22.3% of female has natural passion towards farm work compared to 18.6% male. There is a significant difference in the attitude of younger, middle and older aged youths towards farm work (chi2 sig. value=0.016). 61.2% of younger, 50% of mid-aged and 38.4% of older youths are positive because of the availability of modern machines, tools and equipments in agriculture, implying that younger youths are more inclined towards the mechanization of agriculture. It is also a good indication of a brighter future for agriculture because mechanization efforts are very strong at the moment. But it is quite disturbing to note that the proportion of respondents who have positive attitude towards farm work because they were being brought up in such situations is declining among the younger youths, i.e. 40.7%, 21.6% and 18.4% of older, mid and younger aged youths respectively. This trend gives a vague picture that youths’ participation in farm work is declining over the years or either the younger youths are not as optimistic as the older youths towards farm work despite their participation.

Very interestingly, it was found that employed youths (60% of them) are the highest proportion of respondents who have negative attitude towards farm work for the reason because it is very tiring and backbreaking for them. This makes it clear that the employed youths have made the right choice. On the other hand, it was found out that 62.5% of unemployed youths are pessimistic because of insufficient access to modern technologies. The majority of students (representing 44.3%) are of the opinion that farm work requires constant laborious efforts. In fact, the latter two findings make it clear that there are a lot of opportunities where interventions in the form of mechanization efforts can bring massive changes.

III: Attitude towards Agriculture Income

For the purpose of the study, agriculture income refers exclusively to monetary gains that result due to production and sale of food grains and vegetables only. In general 77% of the respondents responded that they believe they can earn hugely from producing and selling agricultural products while 12.2% responded that it is not favorable to earn so. Male and female has similar attitude towards agriculture income. 75.4% of male and 78.4% of female responded positively.

From a majority of 77% who are having a constructive attitude towards income generation from local production and sale of food grains and vegetables, those youths who are pursuing or have pursued classes up to ten is the highest proportion of respondents with 84.3% compared to those who have pursued or pursuing middle secondary classes and undergraduates with 76.7% and 70.6% of them respectively. This was proved statistically significant with a chi2 value of 0.021 and it is an implication that higher the education level, the youths are more vulnerable to leave agriculture. Though the government has recognized agriculture as a profitable sector, it is unlikely that the higher educated lots would not take up agriculture business.

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Most of the respondents who have responded favorably have selected vegetables as the main source of generating income with 66.3% followed by 24.8% towards paddy and 8.9% towards other food grains.

Table 6: Reasons for favorable attitude

Frequency Percent

There is a growing demand for locally produced agriculture product 177 56.9Scope of producing more at lesser cost due to use of modern farming methods 65 20.9

I have good knowledge & skills about farming and business 61 19.6

Other 8 2.6

Total 311 100

Table 7: Reasons for unfavorable attitude

Frequency Percent

Strong competition from Indian vendors 20 41

Unpredictable outputs 10 20

Inadequate farming experience 5 10

Lack of accessible markets 7 14

Slow and unpredictable return 7 14

Total 49 100

The study revealed that majority of 56.9% are having positive attitude towards income generation from agriculture production because of a growing demand for locally produced food grains and vegetables whereas only 20.9% and 19.6% are having positive attitude because the scope of producing more at lesser cost is higher and they have good knowledge and skills about farming and business respectively. The most common factor that has instigated negative attitude of the Bhutanese youths towards earning favorable agriculture income is due to strong competition from Indian vendors. 20% are negative because of the unpredictable output that has to depend on so many factors such as weather, natural calamities, animal threats, etc. The study also depicted that market, return and experience were not very big problems for the rural youths who thinks that they cannot earn profitably from production and marketing of food grains and vegetables.

From the majority who have constructive attitude towards income generation because there is a growing demand for locally produced food items, though the chi-square test of Independence showed no significant difference (sig. value=0.92), male have the highest percentage with 59.3% compared to 54.5% of female. But on the other hand female have the highest percentage for both reasons i.e. scope of growing at lesser cost due to use of modern farm methods and possession of good knowledge and skills about farming and business with 23.1% and 20.5% compared to male with 18% and 19.3% respectively. For other two categories i.e. age and current status of youth having positive attitude because there is a growing demand for locally produced food grains and vegetables, younger youth and

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unemployed youth are having the highest proportion compared to older youth (59.2%) and youth (53.6%), student (57.3%) and employed (43.5%) respectively.

Half of the male youths (50%) feel that they cannot earn hugely from producing and selling agricultural products because of the strong competition from Indian vendors compared to female (30% of them). There is a likelihood that male would be more encouraged to take up agriculture for business if import of food grains and vegetables is banned. But, unlike male, majority with 40% of female youths are more apprehensive about the unpredictable output compared to only 7.1% of male youths. 60% of unemployed, 41% of students and 25% of employed youths feel that they cannot earn hugely from agriculture owing to the massive import of agricultural products from the neighboring countries, especially India. Half of employed youth have negative attitude towards income generation from agriculture because it have slow and unpredictable return compared to 20% unemployed and 10.3% student youth.

IV: Attitude towards Farming Career

Farming career here in this study refer exclusively to career as a farmer, engaged typically in food grains and vegetables only. Primary data reveal that the rural youths’ attitude towards farming career, i.e. to become farmer in future, is quite negative. 44% of them have unfavorable attitude against 37% of them having favorable attitude. It was found that gender has a significant impact upon their attitude towards farming career (chi2 sig. value= 0.029). Majority with 51% of female has unfavorable attitude compared to 38.6% of male youths. 21.7% and 14.7% of male and female respectively are indifferent while a similar pattern with 39.6% and 34.3% of them respectively has favorable attitude, which in unison, may be an indication that there are more probabilities that interventions towards encouraging farming career may have greater impact upon the male folks. The youths having pursued or are pursuing classes up to tenth standard were found to be having lesser negative attitude towards farming career as compared to those having middle and higher education with a proportion of 36.4%, 47.4% and 51% respectively. Likewise, this response group also constitutes the highest proportion of respondents having positive attitude towards farming career with 45.7%. The relation between education status and their attitude is statistically significant with a Pearson chi2 sig. value of 0.038. This finding implies that education level has a negative impact upon the youths’ attitude towards farming career. The higher a person is educated; they are more vulnerable to leave the agriculture field. Data also indicate that the employed are more negatively inclined towards farming career (53.8% of them) which makes it imperative that the employed are not very likely to go back into agriculture. At this backdrop, it is surprising to note that the unemployed are more positive minded towards farming career compared to the students with 43.2% and 37% respectively.

There are high probabilities that farmers in the near future will opt to work in vegetables (representing 70.5%) against paddy and other food grains(21.5% and 8.1% respectively) that

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the study have taken into consideration. Other agriculture produce such as forestry, horticulture, husbandry, etc has not been taken into the present study.

Table 8: Reasons for favorable attitude

Frequency Percent

Passion to work 33 22

Parents' will 10 7

Good way of leading a self reliant life 67 44

More scope in future 38 25

No other alternatives 3 2

Other reasons 1 1

Total 152 100

Table 9: Reasons for unfavorable attitude

Frequency Percent

Low reputation of farmer in the society 46 26

Limited scope of income generation compared to other sectors 49 28

Poor physical and social amenities in rural areas 62 35

Other reasons 20 11

Total 177 100

The most common reason behind the favorable attitude of rural youths towards farming career is their belief that being a farmer is a good way of leading a self reliant life. On the other hand, the most common reason behind why the youths have a negative attitude is due to poor physical infrastructures and social amenities in the rural areas.

Both genders agree indifferently that agriculture is a good way of leading a self reliant life. Likewise, both male and female have similar level of passion to work in the agriculture field with a representation of 21.3% and 22.1% respectively. Out of a low proportion of 6.8% respondents who expressed positive attitude towards farming career because it was their parent’s will, it was found that 2.5% and 11.8% of male and female respectively fall under this spectrum. This indicates that female youths are more passionate to follow their parent’s footpath.

From those respondents who don’t want to become farmer, it was notable that 58% of them want to join in government sector, 19.3% in private and 22.2% in business sector. Despite the development of private sector in the country, it was found that this sector is the least preferred by the youths. There is a significant difference in the youths’ preference of economic sectors and their current status, viz. students, employed and unemployed with a Pearson chi2 value of 0.047. 87.5% of the unemployed chose government sector while 76.9% and 53.5% of employed and students respectively did so. 25.4%, 15.4% and 0% of students, employed and unemployed chose business. This is a clear indication that unemployed youths have been or are simply waiting for a government job and are not

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willing to take risk to start up their one’s own business. Amongst those who opts private sector, majority with 21.1% of students prevail.

Though 44% of respondents are not willing to take up farming as their first and primary occupation, 61.3% of the total is willing to take up farming as a last option if they do not get employed in any other sectors. Among those who are willing to take up agriculture as the last option, female youth are the one who are having the highest response with 70.7% while male youth have only 47.9% representation. This shows that, under extreme economic conditions, females are more likely to become farmers than men with a statistical difference of 0.002. There is a danger that agriculture sector would face shortage of men force in the future. A descending percentage of 77.5%, 59.2% and 52.5% belongs to younger youth, youth and older youth who are willing to take up the agriculture as a last option if they don’t get employed in any other sectors (chi2 sign. value of 0.038). This indicates that, there is an inverse relation between youth’s age and their willingness to take up agriculture as the last option, as youth’s age decreases, their willingness to take up agriculture as a last option increases.

Though there is less proportion of youths who want to become farmers in their life, a vast majority of 92.7% of youths said that they are willing to grow vegetables for themselves if they have gardens even if they may be a Government servant earning reasonably. This indeed is a very positive response from the youths towards moving the country closer towards the goal of national food security. Both sexes have indifferently high positive response (chi2 Sig. Value = 0.582). So far as the age group is concerned, an ascending percentage of 87.4%, 93.6% and 96.5% of younger, middle and older youth are willing to grow their own vegetables. Thus, it can be concluded that the younger youths are significantly (at a chi2.sign.value=0.022) more hesitant to work in vegetable gardens though resources are available to them.

Very interestingly, it was found that despite the rural youths not desiring to become farmer themselves, majority of them also do not want their spouses to be farmers. In general, 58.8% of the rural youths responded that they are ready to marry with a partner whose occupation is farmer. In particular, more of male youths with 68.5% of them are willing to marry with such a partner as compared to 48.30% of female youths. With regard to the age, more proportion of the older youths(70.7%) are willing to marry with a partner who is a farmer than the middle-aged and the younger youths with a representation of 57.2% and 44.2% respectively. This makes it clear that younger the youths, they are more reluctant to have a life partner who works as a farmer. Low educated youths are significantly more reluctant to have life partners as farmers with a chi2 sig. value of 0.012, i.e. 49.6%, 43.4% and 32.7% of youths who have studied classes up to eleven, eleven and twelve and above twelve respectively are not ready to marry with a farmer.

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Rural-Urban Migration: Is it going to be a bigger problem?

Though the respondents constitute of youths who are brought up in the rural areas, it was found that majority of 51.1% of them wants to settle in the urban areas. Specifically, it turned out that majority of female (59.7% of them) desires to settle in the urban in contrast to 56.4% of male desiring to settle in the rural places at a chi2 significance value of 0.001. There is a significant relationship between the age of the youths and their preference of future settlement (sig. value= 0.012). 57.6%, 47.4% and 38.3% of older, middle and younger aged youths respectively want to settle in the rural so there are high chances that the rural-urban migration would even become a greater problem in the future.

Overall Respondents’ Attitude towards Agriculture

The overall respondents’ attitude towards agriculture was determined based on their mean score and the standard deviation, as earlier used by Abdullahi et al (2010), Gidado (2003), Tafida (2007) and Uddin et al (2008). Based on the standard deviation (SD) and the Mean, a 3-point scale similar to them was used to categorize the respondents‟ attitude as follows: favorable: those whose total scores were less than the mean minus the SD (scores < (Mean -SD), moderately favourable: whose scores range from the mean minus the SD to the mean plus the SD (scores from (Mean-SD) to (Mean+SD), and unfavourable: those whose total scores were greater than the sum of the mean and SD (scores > (Mean+SD).

Table 10: Overall Respondents' Attitude towards Agriculture

Categories of attitudeBhutanese Rural youths (N=359)

Number Percent Mean SD

Unfavorable (<11.51) 54 15.04

Moderately favorable (11.51-16.98) 235 65.46 14.25 2.74

Favorable (>16.98) 70 19.50

Total 359 100

As mentioned, the attitude of Bhutanese Rural youths has been categorized into three as unfavorable, moderately favorable and favorable according to its mean attitude score with 14.25 and standard deviation with 2.74. From the above table it’s clear that a majority of 65.46% are having moderate favorable attitude while 19.5% and 15.04% rural youth are having favorable and unfavorable attitude respectively towards agriculture.

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Findings

– It was found that rural youths (89.4%) prefer locally produced food grains and vegetables over the easily available imported products, basically because the local products are organic and nutritious. This gives a clear clue that local production would find an easy market in future.

– So far as the farm work is concerned, it was found that farm mechanization has brought significant impact on the rural youth’s attitude towards farm work yet it was obvious that it has a long way to go still in order to fully realize its mission of alleviating drudgery in Bhutanese farms since around one-third of the youths feel farm work is backbreaking, laborious and manual intensive.

– Towards income generation, it was found that about three-fourth of the youths (77%) perceives agriculture as a profitable venture mainly because there is a growing demand for locally produced agricultural products.

– It was observed that 44% of rural youths don’t want to choose farming as their lifetime career mainly due to poor physical infrastructures and social amenities in the rural, limited scope of income generation as compared to other jobs and low reputation of farmer in the society. This may also be a reason behind why half of rural youths desire to settle in the urban and 41.2% of them not ready to marry with a farmer.

– Compared to male, apart from being more optimistic towards agriculture products, female youths are by and large more vulnerable to leave agriculture as well as the rural hometown. Rural female youths are more desirous of settling in the urban, and most of them don’t want to marry with a farmer. Controversially, majority of male youths desires to settle in the rural and are ready to marry with a farmer too.

– It is alarming to note that the younger youths are more negative towards agriculture product as well as work. Younger the youths (i.e. out of the three sub-categorized groups), it was notable that they are more reluctant to remain back in rural, marry with a farmer or grow vegetables for themselves. This is a great cause of concern for Bhutan because it is likely that we will lose the strength of agriculture sector one day if proper measures are not in place at the very earliest.

– Education seems to have certain impact on the youths’ dietary habit. Higher the education level, they are more concerned about their health and the quality of food. But it was found that the higher educated youths are less interested to go back into farms as educated farmers nor do they see agriculture as a profitable venture that can provide gainful returns. Therefore, it is probable that there would be lesser proportion of farmers from college, high school, and the rest lower school graduates respectively.

– As current status of youth is concerned, more of employed youths compared to unemployed and students are concerned about their health. 60% of unemployed youth’s feel that they cannot earn hugely from agriculture owing to the massive import of

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agricultural products from the neighboring countries but on the other hand they are more positive minded towards farming career compared to the students.

– 61.3% of youths are willing to take up farming as a last option if they do not get employed in any other sectors. Among those who are willing to take up agriculture as the last option, female youth are the one who are having the highest response with 70.7% while male youth have only 47.9% representation. There is an inverse relation between youth’s age and their willingness to take up agriculture as the last option.

CONCLUSION

The fate of agriculture depends upon how youths view agriculture. As Bhutan is largely an agrarian economy, it is only natural that agriculture sector has a great role to play. Through this study, it was found in general that rural Bhutanese youths have favorable attitude towards agriculture which indeed is a mark of good future for the agriculture sector.

The study in brief showed that majority of youths like the local agricultural products (89%); they do not feel that farm work is not a very difficult job (55%); they think that they can earn profitably from agriculture (77%); yet it was found that a large proportion of them (44%) doesn’t want to work as a farmer in future. This all figures give a vague picture that it is not the quality of local production, nature of farm work and low scope of income generation from agriculture that de-motivate youths from aspiring to be farmers. As it was pointed out, it may be due to poor physical and social facilities in rural, low reputation of farmer in the society, etc. which need a greater attention if agriculture sector wishes to retain the rural youths back in agriculture.Agriculture sector, mainly its local production, is likely to attract huge demand in future if it succeeds to maintain its “organic” brand. At the same time, this may make agriculture a lucrative business. Continued mechanization efforts will make farming a not-so-difficult task anymore yet, it is a fact that farming isn’t a fancy dream for the youths presently. And it is likely that rural-urban migration is still to continue further in future because around half (51%) of the rural youths wants to settle in the urban. The agriculture sector can expect greater enthusiasm, demand and production for vegetables as compared to food grains in future. Likewise, 92.7% of youths are willing to grow vegetables for themselves provided right conditions are met favorably. There is a danger that Bhutanese farmers in future will concentrate largely on vegetable and not take up the production of other food grains as much as paddy.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

1. As the country’s goal is, we suggest MoA and authorities concerned, farmers and other stakeholders involved to focus more on organic farming. Bhutanese youths are cautious about quality above all factors.

2. We suggest MoA in general and AMC in particular to continue with the mechanization efforts. Many youths agreed that farm mechanization has effectively made farming an easy job yet there are around one-third of rural youths who still feel farming is a difficult task.

3. We suggest interested individuals or groups to take up agriculture business since there is a growing demand for local products. It is also suggested that import ban on food items can boost local business.

4. To reduce youth unemployment and rural-urban migration, we suggest the ministries and other bodies concerned to prioritize rural development since the lack of physical and social amenities in rural is the major reason behind why youths don’t want to choose farming career.

5. Since it was found that youth’s attitude towards agriculture is worsening (by age), we suggest that it’s high time that right interventions be made, especially through schools, to improve the youths’ attitude towards agriculture, to enhance self employment, self sufficiency and the self-esteem of being a farmer.

6. We suggest the ministries and authorities concerned begin considering employing college graduates in the farming sector taking into account the increasing population of college graduates entering the job market every year and it was found that they are the highest proportion of respondents who neither see agriculture as a profitable venture nor do they want to be farmers.

7. Since it was found that 92.7% of rural youths are willing to grow vegetables for themselves irrespective of their occupation, we suggest that, recommending houses with kitchen gardens [for instance like, by making some kind of obligations whereby new houses must have an attached kitchen garden, etc.] would be very useful, not only to the occupant but also to the nation as a whole in achieving the goals of food security, import reduction and enabling a greener environment, etc.

Suggestions for further research

– There is need for a deeper and sounder research to explore it on a wider scale on why female youth are more keen to leave agriculture as well as the rural hometown

– A comprehensive research on what aspects of physical and social amenities that youths find lacking in the rural areas is recommended.

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