Farming should be made profitable to attract youth

COIMBATORE: Technology and high revenue could make agriculture attractive to the younger generation, said Ajay Parida, executive director of M S Swaminathan Foundation. He was speaking at the valedictory function of the two-day workshop on 'Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture' at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Sunday. "Unless agriculture is made remunerative and attractive, it would be difficult to retain youth in the field," he said. When even existing farmers are moving away from farming, unless agriculture is made remunerative, it is unlikely that educated youngsters would take it up. Unless productivity or income is increased, farming cannot become an attractive venture for the young, he said. One way to attract the youth is to introduce implements for small land holdings. "Especially when there is an acute shortage of labour, there is no other option but to bring in equipment which will help farmers replace or at least reduce the need for manual labour," he said.