AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE

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STRATEGIES FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT THROUGH FRUITPRODUCTION IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE

M.S. Nain* , Rashmi Singh, V. Sangeetha, S.S. Chandel1, Parveen Kumar1

and Javeed Ahmad Peer1

Division of Agril. Extension,Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 001, India

Received: 27-08-2012 Accepted: 10-05-2013

ABSTRACTThe devealopment of an efficient marketing network, organisation of fruit growers,

development of fruit mandies in main growing areas, development of entrepreneurial abilitiesto establish small fruit processing industries and the ability and adoption of bio-technological innovations favourable to poverty reduction will have the long lasting effectfor entrepreneurship development through horticulture. The study was conducted withthe objective to explore the farmers’ perceptions regarding the constraints in fruit production,their adoption of different aspects of scientific fruit production and the strategies forenterprise development. The study was conducted in Doda district of Jammu division andBaramulla district of Kashmir division. The results showed that lack of certified and improvedplanting materials, low knowledge on management procedures , poor postharvest handling,lack of processing facilities, low value addition and unstructured marketing channels werereported as major constraints . The knowledge regarding the subject matter areas withdirect bearing on the fruit yield were rated deficit. The adoption level of scientifictechnologies by majority of the respondents was medium and varied practice wise. It isadvocated that awareness, motivation, technical skill, the right assistance and support fromfamily at extension level and government and other organizational help to the horticulturalentrepreneurs at policy level can strengthen their capacities besides adding to the familyincome and national productivity.

Key words: Adoption level, Constraints, Entrepreneurship development, Perceptions, Scientific Fruit cultivation, Strategies.

INTRODUCTIONAgriculture is challenged in every capacity

needed for venture creation. Two major challengesare biological foundation of products and the needfor collective action. This does not mean thatagriculture cannot be entrepreneurial. Farmers aremostly hesitant to take up horticulture requiring highinvestments, long gestation periods and uncertainreturns whereas more than 60 per cent of existingfruit growers desires to expand the orchard sizethrough additional plantation of fruits. Thedevelopment of an efficient marketing network,organisation of fruit growers in the form of

*Corresponding author’s e-mail: msnain_extn@iari.res.in1Division of Agril. Extension, SKUAST Jammu - 180 001, India

cooperatives, development of fruit mandies in maingrowing areas accompanied by development ofentrepreneurial abilities to establish small fruitprocessing industries are some of the niche areas.The ability to put in place the necessary public andprivate institutions for the generation, transfer,delivery, regulation, and adoption of bio-technological innovations favourable to povertyreduction will have the long lasting effect forentrepreneurship development through horticulture.In J&K, area under horticultural crops has increasedfrom 12 thousand hectares in 1953-54 to 221thousand hectares in 2010-11 and overall

Agric. Sci. Digest., 33 (3) : 165 - 171, 2013DOI- 10.5958/j.0976-0547.33.3.001

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productivity of 1.2 t ha-1 during 1953-54 to around4.95 t ha-1, showing both vertical and horizontalexpansion. According to the estimate of StateHorticulture Department, J&K government, around20 lakh, persons are, in one way or the other, beingbenefited by the fruit industry of the state. The urban-rural differences are lessened due to horticulturalearnings of the farmers. As rural developmentprogrammes are mostly oriented towards creatingjob opportunities, horticulture development wouldprove to be the best investment in this direction asone-time investment made in plantation programmeshas the potential to provide job opportunities for along period. The cultivation of fruits plants per unitarea of land provides a comparatively larger volumeof employment opportunities to the local people thanthe cultivation of field crops. A significant level ofincrease in the labour absorption in fruit cultivationover the few years also reflects the importance ofhorticulture for the overall development of the area.According to Kuratko and Richard (2001) the wealthmay be created by individuals who take the majorrisks in terms of equity, time and career commitmentof providing value to some product or services. Theproduct or service itself may or may not be new orunique but value must somehow be infused by theentrepreneur by securing and allocating the necessaryskill and resources.

Apart from achievements, this sector alsofaces certain challenges like the average land holdingsize (0.76 hectare) being small for thecommercialization of the horticulture activity. Dueto low level of management mainly fertilizationpruning and disease/pest control, farmers obtain lowyields with small sized fruits and non availability ofproper packaging and processing facilities causeslosses up to 30 per cent. The uncertainty about profitcombined with the extremely long time periodbetween cash outflows and inflows in agriculturalproduction creates risk. A basic feasibility studyinvolving factors, resource constraints, marketpotential etc. having direct influence on farmenterprise may help avoid the cost associated withwrong decision and also ensure the profitability ofthe venture. As such the present study had beenconducted with the objective to explore the farmers’perceptions regarding the constraints in fruitproduction, their adoption level of differenttechnological options of fruit production and

cognitive level constraints leading to enterprisedevelopment in fruit production.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe study was conducted in purposively

selected two districts namely Baramulla of Kashmirdivision and Doda of Jammu division of J&K state.Although the major share of area and production oftemperate fruit is contributed from Kashmir valleybut with the similar agro-climatic condition Dodadistrict holds vast potential for production of highvalue fruit crops. As such to have a representationof both the divisions of J&K state and present acomprehensive view, one district from each divisionwas selected. The data were collected on wellstructured interview schedule designed for thepurpose. The schedule consisted of an index formeasuring the perceptions of farmers towardsentrepreneurship in fruit cultivation, constraints infruit production and items to measure adoptionstatus of different recommended practices in fruitproduction. In total 220 orchardists were interviewedfrom 22 villages of J& K state for the purpose.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe results of the study have been discussed

and presented under two major heads namelyempirical substantiation of potential practicisingfarmers and the suggested strategy. Thecorroborations related to entrepreneurs are dividedinto three sub heads viz.; adoption status of scientificfruit production technology, farmers’ perceptions onfruit production as an enterprise and know howrelated constraints in adoption of fruit productionsystem as an enterprise. Finally on the basis of resultsof the study extension strategies have been advocatedfor promotion of fruit industry.Farmers’ adoption and perceptions regardingentrepreneurship in fruit cultivation

a) Adoption status of scientific fruit productiontechnology

The data in Table 1 indicate that majority ofthe respondents (65.0 %) belonged to the mediumcategory of adoption whereas 21.7 per cent and 13.3per cent of the respondents fell under low and highadoption category respectively. From Table 2 it isrevealed that practices like ‘selection of fruit plants’,and ‘intercultural operations’ were highly adopted.Farm practices like ‘water management’ and‘planting of fruit plants’ were moderately adopted

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Farm practice Adoption Quotient Category

Selection of sight 18.6 LowSoil parameter 18.3 LowLay out and land preparation 18.4 LowSelection of fruit plants 50.9 HighPlanting of fruit plants 43.0 MediumIntercultural operations 56.2 HighNutrient management 26.2 LowWater management 29.8 MediumPlant protection measures 27.4 Low

TABLE 2: Practice wise adoptioan score of scientific package in fruit crops.

whereas farm practice like ‘selection of site’, ‘layoutand land preparation’, ‘plant protection measure’and ‘nutrient management’ were adopted at low level.

Most of the respondents were undermedium level of adoption. The main reason mightbe due to the fact that farmers perceive horticulturecrop as an additional source of income and alsohelp in the control of erosion as most of the fieldsare situated on the hill slope. Their horticulturalcrops once planted manage to provide income for15-20 years. The state horticulture department hasundertaken water shed development programmeon a large scale covering a large area whereplanting material is provided to the farmers freeof cost along with barbed wires to fence theorchard which had attracted a large number offarmers to fulfill the dual purpose of additionalincome and soil conservation. The farm practiceslike ‘selection of site’, ‘soil parameters’, ‘layout oforchard’, ‘land preparation’, ‘plant protection’ and‘nutrient management’ adopted at low level maybe due to absence of resources required toperform such activity. Farmers had small size landholding where they were left with little choice ofselection of site. Laboratory for soil testing is absentin the area, more over most of the farmer knew little

about site selection, soil parameter and layout planof orchards.

b) Farmers’ perceptions on fruit production asan enterprise

Any attempt to promote the farmersperceptions towards fruit cultivation could improvetheir practice. Rural farmers and their families arein fact soldiers who implement and improvesustainable agriculture, so promoting theirknowledge, improving their perceptions and alsoincreasing their practice are all the importantprerequisite of sustainable fruit production. With thisin view farmers’ perceptions were sought on fourmajor aspects of fruit production viz; scope forcommercialization, know how, input andinfrastructure on three point scale of strongly agree,agree and disagree with 3,2 and 1 weights. It isclear from Table 3 that the respondents showed theiragreement with the commercialization andprofitability of fruit farming with weighted meanscore of 2.67.The Table further shows that thefarmers expressed high level of infrastructuralconstraints (2.47)followed by input relatedconstraints (2.24) and know how related constraints(2.01) respectively. The results were in confirmationto Bhagat et al (2002) whereas know how and inputrelated constraints were reported responsible factorsfor knowledge and adoption. Deen (1999) revealedthat better transportation and the need to lower costsper unit for increased profit margins have grown theneed and trend for the concentration of individualfarms. The farmers perceptions are sufficientindications to look into the aspects of disseminationof proper know how and creation of desired

C ategory Percen tage

Low (< 28.31AQ) 21.7 Med ium (28.31-50 .48AQ) 65.0

H igh ( > 50 .48AQ) 13.3 To tal 100

TABLE1 : Categorization of respondents on the basis of theiradoption level of scientific practices in fruit production.

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infrastructural facilities including transport, storagemarketing and credit facility.

c) Know how related constraints in adoptionof fruit production system as an enterprise

Brown (1999) asserted that increasingawareness is only our defense to events of crises.Proper planning, through effect i ve cri siscommunication efforts has the capability ofreducing individual stress or public chaos byproviding information and guidelines to befollowed or replicated by any person or group.Humans naturally seek explanation andpredictabili ty with the world, and do so byattempting to reduce uncertainty throughinformation (Bradac, 2001). Table 4 showing theconstraints related to know how indicates that thesub area intercultural operation for horticulturalcrop topped the ranking followed by selection offruit plants. The sub area lay out plan forhorticultural crops has been found to be at the

bottom of constraint index. Knowledge constraintsin inter cultural operation like training andpruning of horticultural crop was high and rankedfirst. This might be due to the fact that most ofthe temperate and semi temperate fruits requireregular pruning and the fruit is formed on previousyear’s growth. Training of fruit trees also lead tothe attainment of favorable structure which is veryessential for the proper circulation of air andample supply of solar rays to each of the leavesfor favourable fruit colour development.

The respondents considered the lay out planof horticultural crop as least important constraintrelated to knowledge .This may be due to limitedchoice left with the farmer as far as size of landholding is concerned. Other sub areas such asselection of fruit plants, disease management,selection of site for plantation, water management,selection of crops, sowing methods, nutrientmanagement, harvesting and storage and soil

TABLE 3. Farmers perceptions on different aspects of fruit farming

Aspects of perception Weighted mean score

Perceptions on Commercial Scope of fruit farming 2.67

Fruit farming i s a profitable business 3.00 Fruit farming helps to raise standard of living 3.00 Fruit has a nutritional and medicinal value 3.00 We should bring more land under Fruit farming due to its profitability 3.00 Fruit tree acts as a wind break 2.87 Fruit cultivation requi re minimum input 2.78

1.08 The progress in your village is due to Fruit farming Perceptions on Know how 2.01

Traditional methods of fruit farming are easy to adopt 2.86 The skill in grading and packing the produce have di rect bearing on rates 2.83 Scientific methods of frui t farming is complicated to learn 2.74 Radio and television programmes provide very minimal information on fruit farming 2.61 Change agents are unaware of farmers’ problems 1.31 Agricultural University (SKUASTK and SKUAST J) are not paying any attention to fruit farming

2.93

Perceptions on Input 2.24 Scientific fruit production is expensive 1.36 Non availability of skilled labour effects harvesting time and packing quality 2.72 Fruit farming require more labour 1.20 Perceptions on Infrastructure 2.47

Improper storage facility causes lose of produce 2.98 Bank loan facility is very complicated for fruit farming 2.97 The improper transportation and long distances causes injury to the frui t 1.42 State government aids are inadequate for fruit farming 2.00 Marketing faciliti es for frui t are improper 3.00

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suitability for horticultural crop were ranked atmedium level in respect of perceived constraints.

Strategies to promote entrepreneurshipStrategy refers to long-term decision making

with regard to the future of the farm. Strategies forkeeping up with business demands is related to theentrepreneur’s focus on commercial relations, thebranch and direct business relations (customers andsuppliers) and on informal contacts with fellow-entrepreneurs. These contacts are important inretrieving relevant information that will help to keep upwith business demands (Bosma et al., 2000). Properuse of the knowledge infrastructure helps theentrepreneur to react effectively to any newdevelopments (Schilden Van der and Verhaar, 2000).Researcher need to be avtive participant in the earlyadoption process to narture the technology until marketselection begins to work (Nain et al. 2012)Strategies

are affected by the farm feature, by the environmentalfeature, region and by the personal feature of theentrepreneur. As such indicative measures can beenlisted for the policy makers, how, and if, agriculturalentrepreneurs must be dealt in the era of the radicalchanges in agriculture. Strategies at policy level and atfield extension level can bring measurable improvementin entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, abilities andaspirations of farmers. As such, farmers’ perceptionand strength of the constraint were used to chalk outthe strategies at policy level and extension level. Thestrategies suggested are as follows:

Policy Strategies:1. Most of the fruit crops are rain-fed, needdevelopment of irrigation facility in the form of dripirrigation system as suggested by over three forth ofthe respondents.

TABLE 4: Perceived knowledge related constraints in adoption of fruit production enterprise

Farm activity Mean Constraint score Rank

Soil suitability for horticultural crop 1.24 XISelection of site for plantation 1.63 IVSelection of crop 1.53 VISelection of Horticultural crop & its variety 1.66Selection of field crop& its variety 1.40Layout plan of horticultural crop 0.86 XIISelection of fruit plant to be planted 1.81 IISowing/planting 1.50 VIIMethod of sowing /planting 1.34Seed rate/ Number of plants 1.52Seed treatment/ drenching of pits 1.64Intercultural operation 1.84 ITraining and pruning 2.01Field sanitation 1.95Whitewashing of plants 1.49Thatching 1.55Hoeing 1.05Weed management 1.80Earthing 1.21Nutrients management 1.47 VIIIDoses of nutrient/ fertilizer 1.87Time of nutrient/ fertilizer application 1.58Method of application 0.96Water management 1.54 VNumber and time of irrigation 1.60Method of irrigation 1.48Pest management 1.26 XIdentification of insects 0.92Control of insects 1.60Disease management 1.73 IIIIdentification of diseases 1.50Control of diseases 1.96Harvesting , Packaging and Storage 1.29 IX

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2. Degraded soils of the fruit crops where crops aregrowing for decades suffered to soil erosion or insoil chemical change, need to be given attention toameliorate it.

3. Establishment of modernized fruits processing/preservation units as the farmers viewed that thequantity of fruit wasted during glut period is veryhigh.

4. Allocation of funds for development of costeffective, eco-friendly crop production and plantprotection technologies free from all hazardouschemicals with minimal damage to soil, water , air,plants and animals.

5. Promotion and popularization of hybridtechnology. Majority of the farmers were convincedwith the potential of new cultivars and ready to acceptif the they are cost effective.

6. Establishment of tissue culture laboratories andgreen houses for mass multiplication of disease freeplanting material.

7. Rejuvenation of sick and unproductive horticultureunits such as orchards, fruit nurseries and processingunits etc.

8. Site specific nutrient management technique needto be developed to improve and economize fertilizeruse in fruit.

9. Diversification of fruit cultivation, cultivation ofdry fruits in rain fed areas and use of local genotypesof wild fruits like nuts, berries etc.

10. Production of fruits in off-season and creationof in situ facilities for making off-season products.a) Extension strategies1. Awakening of rural masses to the possibilities ofthe easily accessible micro-enterprises among thefarmers of most productive age group. Thecommunication media like well printed material onentrepreneurial technical information packages(ETIPs) can be effectively put to use for the purpose.

2. The economic, social, health and other benefitsof various possible enterprises should be highlightedto motivate the potential orchardists for putting anyidea virtually into action. The use of interpersonalsources of information like group meeting, farmvisits, demonstration, and visit to any successfulenterprise can be utilized as advocated by Sidhuand Kaur (2006).

3. Imparting of expert knowledge, skill up-gradationand polishing of existing knowledge and skills inproduction processing, packaging and marketingtechniques. Similar results were being reported byAshlock, (2006).

4. Up gradation of knowledge regarding accessibilityto loans, various funding agencies, proceduresregarding certification etc.

5. Education in direct and indirect marketing of theproduce and finance management should be in-builtcomponent of future entrepreneurial trainingprogrammes.

6. Constant follow- up should be ensured for thesustainability of a micro-enterprises and variousconstraints such as personal, social, economic,marketing etc. faced by entrepreneurs should beaddressed.

7. Use of participatory rural assessment to determineaccomplishments and impacts of extension effortsat the local level and to determine critical points inthe logic model of entrepreneurship development.

8. Assistance in establishment of strong stakeholders’organizations that support young agriculturists at thelocal, state and national levels.

9. Fine tuning of farm innovations before bringingthem into extension system of the target area.

10. Development of farm Science Managers by train-ing a couple of women and men members of everypanchayat/ local body in the management of newinformation and communication technology.

CONCLUSIONWith the abundance of information

available in the digital age, the uncertainty lies withinthe challenge of determining which sources ofinformation are providing a correct account of theday’s information and what portion of theinformation to believe. Future stress should be ondisseminating information regarding income andemployment opportunities in horticulture and relatedissues at a pre-college age through the use of thehigh school agriculture classroom. The know howrelated constraints were reported in some of thecrucial subject matter areas like interculturaloperations and training and pruning of fruit trees ,as such, use of social media in agriculture andamong farmers can provide more opportunities than

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checking the weather and knowing when to sellgrain. As advocated by Rodriguez( 2009) thatgrowing number of farmers and others in agricultureare using social media tools to communicate witheach other, send out information and educate thepublic about agriculture. Hoffman (2009) concludedthat farmers and ranchers are using social media tobuild bridges of understanding with consumers.Hence the scope of use of modern interactiveinformation technology for the task cannot be

ignored. The farmers’ perceptions that change agentsare unaware of their problems clearly indicate thelacunae on the part of extension services. As suchawareness, motivation, technical skill, the rightassistance from development department canstrengthen the capacities. The support fromgovernment and other organization may keep themorale of the horticultural entrepreneurs high besidesadding to the fami ly income and nationalproductivity.

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