Constraints perceived by UG and PG students in starting agripreneurship in Rajasthan

Introduction

India is predominantly an agrarian country where nearly 67 per cent of the population resides in more than six lakh villages. Agriculture continues to be the principal source of livelihood for a large section of the rural population and plays a vital role in ensuring food security, employment generation and socio-economic development of the country. Although the contribution of agriculture to the national GDP has gradually declined with the growth of industrial and service sectors, the sector still remains the backbone of the Indian economy. Agriculture also provides raw materials to various agro-based industries and supports the livelihood of millions of people directly and indirectly. Agripreneurship is the creation of innovative economic organizations for the purpose of growth or gain under conditions of risk and uncertainty in agriculture and allied sectors. In the present era of globalization and technological advancement, agripreneurship has emerged as an effective approach for modernizing agriculture and encouraging youth participation in agribusiness ventures. Agripreneurship is not limited only to farming activities but also includes a wide range of enterprises such as dairy farming, poultry production, fisheries, floriculture, mushroom cultivation, organic farming, seed production, agro-processing, agri-input supply, agri-clinics, agri-tourism and digital agriculture services.

Research Methodology

The present study was conducted in Rajasthan state, which consists of five agriculture universities. Out of which two agriculture universities namely, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner and Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur was selected on the basis of highest number of UG and PG students studying in these universities. One agriculture college was selected from each selected university viz., SKNCOA, Jobner from SKNAU, Jobner and RCA, Udaipur from MPUAT, Udaipur on the basis of oldest establishment of colleges in Rajasthan. A separate list of all students pursuing UG final year and PG from the selected colleges was prepared after taking data from student section of concerned college. From these selected colleges 107 UG and 133 PG students were selected for the study purpose using a simple random sampling technique with proportional allocation to the size of sample. In this way 240 students were selected for the present investigation. The data were collected by personal interview method. The data so collected were classified, tabulated and inferences were www.extensionjournal.com drawn after subjecting the data to appropriate statistical analysis.

Results and Discussion

Distribution of students according to their constraints perceived by them in starting agripreneurship

The data presented in table 1 indicated that the majority (41.67%) of students had medium level of constraints regarding starting agripreneurship, followed by high (27.50%), low (12.50%), very high (10.00%) and very low (8.33%) levels of constraints. The analysis of data given in table 1 further revealed that among UG students of SKNCOA, Jobner, the majority (41.07%) of students had medium level of constraints regarding starting agripreneurship, followed by high (28.57%), low (12.50%) and very high (10.71%) and very low (7.14%) levels of constraints. In case of PG students of SKNCOA, Jobner, the highest proportion (47.46%) of students was had medium level of constraints, followed by high (20.34%), low (13.56%), very low (10.17%) and very high (8.47%) levels of constraints. The data presented in table 1 also indicated that among UG students of RCA, Udaipur, the majority (37.25%) of students had high level of constraints regarding starting agripreneurship, followed by medium (33.33%), very high (13.73%) and low (9.80%) and very low (5.88%) levels of constraints. In case of PG students of RCA, Udaipur, the highest proportion (43.24%) of students had medium level of constraints regarding starting agripreneurship, followed by high (25.68%), low (13.51%), very low (9.46%) and very high (8.11%) levels of constraints. The results of the present investigation are in agreement with the findings of Rajneesh (2020) [5] , Vardhan et al. (2023) [8] and Tekale et al. (2024) [7] .

Financial constraints perceived by agriculture students in starting agripreneurship

A perusal of data given in table 2 indicated that among SKNCOA, Jobner most severe financial constraint perceived by UG and PG students were "Lack of initial capital to start an agribusiness venture" with (83.33 MPS in UG &78.53 MPS in PG students), which was ranked first. The least severe financial constraint perceived by UG students of SKNCOA, Jobner was "High cost of inputs and equipment required for agribusiness" (71.43 MPS), while PG students perceived "Lack of awareness about government schemes and subsidies for agripreneurship" (64.41 MPS) which was assigned the last rank i.e., fifth. A perusal of data given in table 2 further indicated that among RCA, Udaipur, most severe financial constraint perceived by UG and PG students was "High interest rates on institutional credit" (88.24 MPS in UG &79.28 MPS in PG students), which was ranked first. The least severe constraint perceived by UG and PG students was "High cost of inputs and equipment required for agribusiness" (73.86 MPS in UG &65.77 MPS in PG students), which was assigned the rank fifth.

The rank correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58) and between RCA, Udaipur UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58), indicating a high level of similarity in the ranking of financial constraints within both institutions. In contrast, the correlation between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and RCA, Udaipur UG students (r s = 0.800, t = 2.31) and between SKNCOA, Jobner PG and RCA, Udaipur PG www.extensionjournal.com students (r s = 0.700, t = 1.70) was found to be nonsignificant, indicating moderate to low similarity in rankings between the two institutions. This clearly indicates that correlations with higher calculated t-values than the tabulated value were significant, while those with lower tvalues were non-significant. This might be due to that students within the same institution had similar perception of financial constraints, whereas variation existed between institutions due to differences in exposure, financial awareness and entrepreneurial environment. The results of the present investigation are in agreement with the findings of Bairwa et al. (2014) [1] , Rajneesh (2020) [5] , Bhaskar et al. (2023) [2] and Vardhan et al. (2023) [8] .

Technical constraints perceived by agriculture students in starting agripreneurship

The data given in table 3 indicated that among SKNCOA, Jobner most severe technical constraint perceived by UG and PG students was "Inadequate exposure to modern agricultural technologies" (75.60 MPS in UG &68.93 MPS in PG students), which was assigned the rank first. The least severe technical constraint for SKNCOA, Jobner UG students was "Limited opportunities for hands-on training in agripreneurship" (57.74 MPS), while PG students perceived "Insufficient knowledge of business planning and enterprise management" (50.85 MPS), which ranked fifth. The data given in table 3 further indicated that among RCA, Udaipur students, most severe technical constraint perceived by UG students was "Insufficient knowledge of business planning and enterprise management" (79.74 MPS), whereas PG students perceived "Difficulty in adopting modern machinery and technologies in agribusiness" (78.83 MPS), which ranked first. The least severe technical constraint by both UG and PG students was "Limited opportunities for hands-on training in agripreneurship" (75.16 MPS in UG& 66.22 MPS in PG students), which was assigned the rank fifth. The rank correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58) and between RCA, Udaipur UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58), whereas the rank correlation between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and RCA, Udaipur UG students (r s = 0.500, t = 1.0) and SKNCOA, Jobner PG and RCA, Udaipur PG students (r s = 0.400, t = 0.76) was found to be non-significant in rank order.

This showed that students within the same institution had similar perception technical constraints, whereas variation existed between institutions due to differences in exposure, technical awareness and entrepreneurial environment. These findings of the present investigation are in accordance with the findings of Rajneesh (2020) [5] , Vardhan et al. (2023) [8] and Tekale et al. (2024) [7] .

Social constraints perceived by agriculture students in starting agripreneurship

The data given in table 4 revealed that among UG and PG students of SKNCOA, Jobnerthe most severesocial constraint "Negative attitude of society towards entrepreneurship as a career option" (73.81 MPS in UG &70.06 MPS in PG students), which was secured the rank first. The least severe social constraint for UG students was "Fear of social criticism in case of business failure" (63.10 MPS), while PG students perceived "Peer pressure to prefer salaried employment over entrepreneurship" (56.50 MPS), which was ranked fifth. The rank correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58) and between RCA, Udaipur UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58), indicating similarity in perception within same institutions. Whereas, the correlation between SKNCOA UG and RCA UG students (r s = 0.800, t = 2.31) and SKNCOA PG and RCA PG students (r s = 0.800, t = 2.31) was found to be nonsignificant, indicating variation in perception between the both institutions. This clearly indicated that students within the same institution showed similar perception of social constraints, whereas differences between institutions may be attributed to variation in social environment, family support, peer influence and societal attitude towards entrepreneurship. Similar findings were also reported by Rajnessh (2020) and Vardhan et al. (2023) [8] in their respective studies.

Institutional constraints perceived by agriculture students in starting agripreneurship

The data given in table 5 revealed that among SKNCOA, Jobner the most severe institutional constraint perceived by UG and PG students was "Complicated procedure to avail benefits of government schemes" (70.24 MPS in UG &61.02 MPS in PG), which was assigned rank first. The least severe institutional constraint for SKNCOA, Jobner UG students was "Lack of incubation, mentorship and startup support facilities" (54.76 MPS), while PG students perceived "Limited networking opportunities with agribusiness experts and entrepreneurs" (48.02 MPS), which was ranked fifth. The data given in table 5 further revealed that among RCA, Udaipur, the most severe institutional constraint perceived by UG and PG students was "Lack of incubation, mentorship and startup support facilities" (79.74 MPS in UG &68.47 MPS in PG), which was ranked first. The least severe institutional constraint for both UG and PG students was "Limited networking opportunities with agribusiness experts and entrepreneurs" (69.28 MPS in UG& 59.91 MPS in PG students), which was ranked fifth. The rank correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58) and RCA, Udaipur UG and PG students (r s = 0.900*, t = 3.58), indicating similarity in perception within institutions. Whereas, the correlation between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and RCA, Udaipur UG students (r s = 0.700, t = 1.70) and SKNCOA, Jobner PG and RCA, Udaipur PG students (r s = 0.300, t = 0.54) was found to be non-significant, indicating variation in perception between the both institutions. This clearly indicated that students within the same institution showed similar perception of institutional constraints, whereas differences between institutions may be attributed to variation in administrative support, extension services, incubation facilities and institutional environment. The results obtained in the present study are similar to the findings reported by Zakaria (2013) and Rajneesh (2020) [5] . 6. Overall constraints perceived by agriculture students in starting agripreneurship A perusal of data presented in table 6 revealed that among the four categories of constraints, the most perceived overall constraints was "Financial constraints" (76.24 MPS), which was ranked first followed by "Technical constraints" (66.22 MPS) and "Institutional constraints (62.28 MPS), which was secured second and third rank respectively. The least perceived constraint was social constraints (61.45 MPS), which was assigned fourth rank. Regarding RCA, Udaipur students, the most perceived "Financial constraints" by both UG (80.65 MPS) and PG students (74.23 MPS), which was ranked first followed by "Technical constraints" (74.25 MPS in UG and 67.12 MPS in PG students) and "Institutional constraints" (71.63 MPS in UG and 63.24 MPS in PG students), which were secured second and third rank, respectively. The least perceived overall constraint by both UG and PG students was "Social constraints" (60.13 MPS in UG and 53.33 MPS in PG students), which was assigned fourth rank. The probable reason for financial constraints being perceived as the most severe constraint might be due to lack of initial capital, difficulty in accessing institutional credit, high interest rates and inadequate financial support for starting agribusiness ventures. Technical and institutional constraints were also perceived considerably because students may face limitations related to practical exposure, technical guidance and entrepreneurial support facilities. However, students of SKNCOA, Jobner might have perceived comparatively lower technical and institutional constraints due to the availability of Agribusiness Incubator Centre, entrepreneurship-oriented trainings, seminars and exposure activities in the college. Although social acceptance towards agripreneurship is still limited in many cases, students perceived financial, technical and institutional problems as more serious barriers in starting agribusiness ventures. The rank correlation analysis revealed a positive and highly significant relationship between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and PG students (r s = 0.998**, t = 23.57) and between RCA, Udaipur UG and PG students (r s = 0.995**, t = 14.45), indicating a very high similarity in perception of overall constraints within the same institution. The rank correlation between SKNCOA, Jobner UG and RCA, Udaipur UG students (r s = 0.195, t = 0.28) and between SKNCOA, Jobner PG and RCA, Udaipur PG students (r s = 0.400, t = 0.62) was found to be non-significant, indicating variation in perception of overall constraints between the both institutions. This clearly indicated that students within the same institution had similar perception regarding overall constraints, whereas differences existed between institutions due to variation in educational environment, institutional support and entrepreneurial exposure. The results of the present investigation are in agreement with the findings of Shivacharan et al. (2017) [6] , Rajneesh (2020) [5] , Vardhan et al. (2023) [8] and Choudhary et al. (2026) [3] .

Conclusion

It was concluded that most perceived overall constraints by agriculture students was "Financial constraints" (76.24 MPS), which was ranked first followed by "Technical constraints" (66.22 MPS) and "Institutional constraints (62.28 MPS), which was secured second and third rank respectively. The least perceived constraint was social constraints (61.45 MPS), which was assigned fourth rank. Majority of the students had medium level of constraints perceived in starting agripreneurship. Among SKNCOA, Jobner majority of under graduate students and post graduate students had medium level of constraints perceived in starting agripreneurship. Whereas, RCA, Udaipur, majority of under graduate students had high and post graduate students had medium level of constraints perceived in starting agripreneurship.

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