Attitude of B.Sc. Agriculture students towards agriculture as a profession in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh

Introduction

Agriculture in India has traditionally been regarded not merely as an economic activity but as a way of life, deeply embedded in the nation's social, cultural, and economic fabric. A growing disengagement of rural youth from agriculture has emerged as a pressing developmental concern. B.Sc. Agriculture students occupy a strategically significant position among rural youth, having made a deliberate academic commitment to agricultural science. Lucknow district, as the capital of Uttar Pradesh and a hub of agricultural colleges, presents an ideal study setting. The study contributes to the growing body of research on youth engagement with agriculture in India (Maurya et al., 2021; Nandania et al., 2025) [3,6] .

Methodology:

The study adopted a descriptive research design conducted in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. Two institutions offering B.Sc. Agriculture programmes were purposively selected. Sixty respondents were drawn from each institution through random sampling, constituting a total sample of 120. Primary data were collected through a prestructured interview schedule. Attitude was measured using an 18-item three-point Likert scale (Agree = 3, Undecided = 2, Disagree = 1). Respondents were classified into high, medium, and low categories using Mean ± Standard Deviation as classificatory cut-offs. Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient (rₛ) was used to examine associations between independent profile variables and attitude.

Results and Discussion

A. Socio-Economic Profile of Respondents

The socio-economic profile of the 120 respondents is presented in Table 1. [3,9] .

B. Attitude of Rural Youth towards Agriculture as a Profession

The statement-wise distribution of respondents' attitude is presented in Table 2, followed by their overall level in Tab3. The statement-wise analysis reveals a conditionally positive attitude among rural youth. The highest agreement was recorded for willingness to expand agricultural skills if training facilities are available (St. 12: 81.67%), followed by willingness to adopt new technologies (St. 10: 80.00%), motivation to pursue agriculture with proper support (St. 16: 80.00%), and endorsement that agriculture should be promoted among youth (St. 18: 80.00%). Social and intrinsic dimensions were also positive, with 76.67% agreeing that agriculture is a respectable profession (St. 1) and 75.00% recognising its value to society (St. 14). In contrast, the weakest responses were recorded for preference of agriculture over urban migration (St. 7: 48.33%) and income stability (St. 8: 50.00%), reflecting persistent concerns around financial uncertainty and the rural-urban aspirational divide. Overall, the pattern suggests that youth are receptive and motivated, but their engagement remains conditional on institutional support, training access, and economic enabling conditions. www.extensionjournal.com (2024) [6,8] .

Distribution of Respondents According to the Level of Attitude

C. Association of Profile Variables with Attitude

To ascertain the relationship between profile characteristics of rural youth and their attitude, Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient was calculated. The results are presented in Table 4. Scientific Orientation +0.510** ** = Significant at 1% level of probability; * = Significant at 5% level; NS = Non-significant www.extensionjournal.com Correlation analysis showed that education had the strongest and most significant relationship with attitude (rs = +0.662, p<0.01). Attitude toward farming improved markedly as students advanced through their academic years, most likely because of growing exposure to scientific farming practices and agri-entrepreneurship. This finding differs from that of Nandania et al. (2025) [6] , who worked with non-student rural youth, and it points to the distinct influence that formal agricultural education has on this particular group. Scientific orientation (rs = +0.510, p<0.01) and extension contact (rs = +0.470, p<0.01) were also positively and significantly related to attitude. Youth who leaned more toward scientific thinking tended to view agriculture in a more favourable light, particularly with regard to its scope in precision farming and agri-tech (Uikey and Chinchmalatpure, 2021; Pandey et al., 2024) [10] , while those with greater exposure to extension services showed a similarly positive shift, reinforcing the role that institutional outreach plays in shaping career perceptions. Risk bearing ability, too, was positively and significantly correlated with attitude (rs = +0.449, p<0.01), a result in line with the risk-taking disposition that farming as an occupation typically demands (Nandania et al., 2025) [6] . Mass media exposure showed a weaker but still significant association (rs = +0.234, p<0.05), suggesting that mediabased agricultural information does play some role in shaping how youth evaluate farming as a career, even if its influence is modest compared to education or extension contact. On the other hand, age (rs = +0.084), along with land holding, occupation, and family size, showed no significant relationship with attitude, indicating that chronological age and inherited background factors do little to shape how favourably rural youth in this academic cohort view agriculture as a profession

Conclusion

It is concluded that the majority of the respondents belonged to the 21-23 years age group, were in their 3rd year of B.Sc. Agriculture, held marginal land holdings, belonged to nuclear families, had low to rare extension contact, possessed medium risk bearing ability, had low mass media exposure, and demonstrated a high level of scientific orientation. With regard to attitude, nearly half of the respondents (47.50%) exhibited a medium level, while 34.17% and 18.33% recorded high and low levels respectively, with an overall mean score of 46.18, reflecting a moderate-to-positive orientation of rural youth towards agriculture as a profession. Education, scientific orientation, extension contact, and risk bearing ability were found to be positively and highly significantly associated with attitude, whereas age, land holding, occupation, and family size showed no significant association. It is suggested that strengthening extension contact and providing greater practical and entrepreneurial exposure during the course of study can further enhance the positive attitude of rural youth towards agriculture as a profession.

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