Agro-tourism: Sustainable diversification strategy for enhancing farmers income in Goa state

Introduction

Agri-tourism, a relatively new segment in the agriculture sector, connects agriculture and tourism, which open up a wide range of potential for both industries. Gannon (1994) defined Agro tourism as "A range of activities, services and amenities provided by farmers and rural people to attract tourists to their area in order to generate extra income for their business." The last few years have seen the concept of Agro tourism gaining impetus as an allied area of income generation in agriculture. "Agro-tourism has been identified as a possible crucial tool for employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. The basic principles of Agri-Tourism are; to provide something to observe for guests; provide activities for visitors to engage in; lastly have something for visitors to buy. Goa located at the southern end of the Konkan region, is a tiny state on the west coast of India and renowned worldwide as a popular tourist destination. In recent years, Goa has been emerging as a preferred destination for Agro and eco-tourism. Farmers, whose primary occupation is agriculture, are increasingly venturing into tourism-related businesses. Agrotourism in Goa is gaining momentum as the state diversifies its tourism offerings beyond beaches and nightlife. With its rich agricultural heritage and biodiversity state is encouraging sustainable tourism via introducing tourists to organic farming, rural life, and traditional customs. Last year, the Goa government passed the Amritkal Agricultural Policy 2025 as one of its agrotourism initiatives in Goa State. Present research was conducted to identify status of Agro tourism centres in study area and how this was helpful them to maximize their profitability of farm.

Material and Method

The present study was based on primary data. The primary data from 30 Agro tourism centres from Goa state was collected by Survey Method using a pre tested structured questionnaire. The data and information for the present study were collected for the financial year 2024-25. The collected data were analysed for arriving at useful and desired conclusions by using MS Excel. Simple statistical and arithmetical tools such as averages, frequency distribution and percentages were used for analysis.

Estimation on cost and returns

The standard cost concepts were used for estimating the total cost of Agro-tourism centres by using concept of fixed cost and variable cost.

Cost concepts Variable cost

Variable cost includes the Mainatenance cost, (electricity charge, landscape maintenance charges, transportation charges, advertisement charges etc), labour charges, food and non-food expenses, interest on working capital.

Fixed cost

Fixed cost include depreciation, interest on fixed capital, rental value of land and Amortisation value on fixed investment.

Depreciation: calculated by the formula; Annual depreciation = (Purchase value -Salvage value) ÷ (Useful years of life) Amortisation value on fixed investment: To estimate this amortisation cost, the following formula was used (Geetha and Umesh, 2024):

• P = Total fixed investment • n = Economic life of Agro-tourism centre (taken as 35 years)

Gross Returns, Net Return and B:C ratio

Gross return was calculated based on tourist arrivals and returns from them and other activities income like from crop production, livestock, subsidiary business. Net return is calculated by value of returns after deducting the total cost. Profitability of the business was evaluated based on B:C ratio which was calculated as gross return divided by total cost.

Result

The general information with respect to establishment of Agro tourism centre in study area was presented in Table 1.

The land use pattern of the Agro tourism centres (ATC)

The land use pattern of the Agro tourism centres in study area was shown in Table 2. The average total landholding was 15.95 ha. Out of which 12.50 percent was fallow, 13.77 percent was unirrigated, and 73.73 percent was irrigated. Farming continued to be the primary land use even after diversification into Agro tourism, with an average of 25.55 percent of the total area being used for Agro tourism activities and the remainder 74.48 percent being kept under crop cultivation.

Average tourist Arrivals in Agro tourism centres

The pattern of tourism arrivals in Agro tourism centre in the study area was presented in Table 3 and Fig. 1. The average number of visitors per Agro tourism centre each year was 6,655. May has the highest number of visitors (908), followed by December (874), April (828), and October (790). On the other hand, in monsoon months, July (86.27 tourists) and June (130.93 tourists) saw the less visitor arrivals. The majority of visitors were men, followed by women and kids. www.extensionjournal.com The findings reveal that tourist arrivals are highly seasonal, with the highest inflow during the summer (April-May) and winter (October-December) months, while the monsoon season (June-September) records comparatively fewer visitors. The peak arrivals during summer are mainly associated with school and college vacations, enabling families to undertake leisure trips. Similarly, the winter season attracts a large number of tourists due to pleasant weather, festive season holidays.

Capital investment in different infrastructure and other facilities of Agro tourism centres: Table 4. Present the capital investment in different infrastructure and other facilities of Agro tourism centres in the study area. The total investment was 45.28 lakhs excluding the value of land. Investment in plantation and landscaping constituted the largest share of total investment (47.17%), followed by investment in construction (25.04%) and irrigation structures (8.50%). So it was observed that ATC allocated the largest share of their capital investment to plantation and landscaping (47.18 %), reflecting greater emphasis on developing and enhancing the farm environment as a key tourism attraction.

Total cost of Agro tourism centres:

The total cost of Agro tourism centres was worked out by estimating the costs incurred on variable cost, fixed cost. The Table 5. Represent the total cost of Agro tourism centres.

Conclusion

Agritourism is increasingly recognized as an important strategy that can contribute to agricultural development through diversification of farming activities. Though the Agro-tourism demand was highly seasonal it generated substantial return to investment. The highest arrivals were observed during winter and summer seasons attracting the highest number of tourists, while the rainy season accounted for less number. In Agro tourism centres, Farm tours; indoor and outdoor games; stage events and trekking were the most commonly offered Agro-tourism activities. The total investment of Agro tourism was 45.28 lakhs with major share of investment was in Plantation and landscape. The total cost of running the Agro tourism centres was 66.00 lakhs, among total cost highest cost was incurred on other activity cost followed by rental value of land and labour cost. Tourism was the major source of income, contributing 51.64 per cent of total income in Agro tourism centres. Agro-tourism centres generated average net returns of ₹38.86 lakh with B:C ratio of 1.59. Overall, Agro tourism emerged as a profitable and sustainable farm diversification strategy that enhances farm income.

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