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Planning Research and Action Institute, Lucknow (1960) found that lack of initial capital considerably hindered the growth of Animal Husbandry Projects in Youth Clubs. It was also revealed that involvement of non-official agencies and training of youth organizers were very important for strengthening youth clubs.
Singh and Prasad (1963) identified that following deficiencies in the working of youth clubs.
    1.    Inadequate knowledge of youth club work on the part of members as well as on leaders
    2.    Non-availability of literature on youth clubs
    3.    Lack of active leadership‘
    4.    Rift between village youth clubs and village panchayat
    5.    Lack of proper guidance and follow up of youth club programme
Behniwal (1964) revealed the following factors as responsible for the successful working of youth clubs.
    1.    Strength of membership in a club 
    2.    Participation in project work
    3.    Participation in games
    4.    Frequency of meetings
    5.    Attendance in tours, rallies and games
    6.    Actual gains received  
Kumar (1965) found that in the successful clubs the youth had clear conception of the importance and objectives of the youth organization. 

Youth are the creative force potential and a strength symbol for every community. One of the hallmarks of the positive youth development movement is that it is built on a foundation of scientific research. In addition, youth development programs typically work through existing social organizations rather than focusing on individual counseling. The rural youth work of FAO over the years has made significant contributions to make the lives of young people from rural areas more productive and meaningful by strengthening the organizations which serve them. The needs and challenges of rural young people today are greater than they have ever been in the past. In most developing countries, youth make up well over one-half of the total rural population. Because of their number and potential impact, rural youth must be a major part of any equation dealing with immediate and long-term solutions to solving problems of food security and sustainable development. Rural youth living in rural areas get limited opportunities for educational attainment in village areas. Opportunities for vocational guidance are also limited causing them diverting towards non creative activities and for merely wastage of time. An investigation was undertaken to study the socio-economic characteristics  and leisure time activities of rural youth. The study was conducted in College Development Block comprising Hatkanangle, Radhanagari & Bhudargad Tahsils of Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. From the Tahsil, 10 villages were selected randomly.  From each village, nine rural youths were selected randomly. Thus in all 90 rural youth were finally selected for the study. 

The efforts to keep pace with the fast life are causing mental and physical tensions. Diversion and relaxation is needed for the revival of spirit and enthusiasm. Leisure is an unimposed free time, after the practical necessities of life have been attended to. It is the time spent in activities chosen by the individual rewarding for its own sake. Choice of leisure time activities may also depend on the regularity of free time. An activity performed during small amounts of free time may be different than the one planned for a large block of free time. The leisure activities have far reaching influence on the personality development of the youth. If these youngsters are trained to make use of their leisure time for productive purpose, their endless energies could be channelised into fruitful development work.

An investigation was carried out involving 120 rural youth from Kapasi and Mardasgaon villages in Gangakhed taluka of Parbhani district from marathwada region of Maharashtra state, to asses the leisure time utilization by rural youth.  The sample included 70 boys and 50 girls.

Profile of Rural Youth

Education : As regards the education of female youth is concerned, 30 percent of them were educated up to H.S.C. and S.S.C, level where as 20 percent of them were educated up to high school level and 10 percent of them were degree holders and educated up to middle school level.

Youth, as a concept, has been generally defined all over the world as a group of human beings who have reached the end of puberty but have not yet acquired the full rights and duties of adult life ( Friedman: 1971).  Undeniably, the youth constitute a vast reservoir of energy especially in underdeveloped countries including India. Out of the 120 crores population of India, those in the 15 to 30 age group constitute 50 per cent which means that 60 crore young people, men and women, are available for handling various tasks of development, local, regional and national.  Progress of the country depends on the participation and full involvement of all sections of people especially youth. Youth can make their constructive contribution to national development and through which society can benefit from the idealism and sense of dedication of youth. At the same time, they also benefit from their active participation in developmental activities. Since such participation increases their self esteem, give them a sense of identity and of being needed by society.  The human life passes through various stage such as infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, adult and old. Out of these stages the youth stage is very crucial and dynamic in the life of an individual as from this stage individual starts assuming responsibilities in the life and learns practically the social rules by coming in contact with world outside the family.  Youth is the time of life marked by growth and development. It is the period between childhood and maturity. United Nation has defined youth as those young people within the age group of 15 to 24 years both inclusive. Youth symbolizes zest, idealism, dynamism, enthusiasm and energy.

The coastal zone of Karnataka is marked by highly fragmented agriculture land with more than 70 per cent of the land holders belonging to small and marginal farmer categories. Though the average annual rainfall received in the zone is 4000mm, the kharif season crops suffer from submergence and lodging.  The rabi/summer crops fail due to low soil residual moisture because of high percolation loss and poor water holding capacity of soils. Thus, the returns from the land is very less resulting in migration of youngsters mainly to the Arab countries as well as the neighbouring states in search of a job. In this situation, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore through Extension Education Unit, Mangalore has demonstrated the Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts to show that the IFS is profitable, sustainable and can secure the livelihood. The demonstrations were taken up in each farmer’sfield continuously for three consecutive years.

To analyze the impact of these demonstrations, case studies of three IFS demonstrated farmers were done during 2007 with the objective of documenting the farming systems demonstrated and the current farming systems practiced by the farmers; to analyze the income and employment generated and their impact on their socio-economic status. The yearwise documentation of the subsystems of the farming systems practiced by each farmer and the net income, percent increase of income over benchmark year, employment generation, cropping intensity, B:C ratio were analyzed. The results of the case studies are presented below.

The backwardness and underdevelopment of our rural areas have drawn the attention of not only the planners but also those who are interested in the overall development of the India. The numerous schemes have not appreciably raised the living standard of the rural masses. Adoption of traditional agricultural technologies, lack of knowledge of improved practices, in sanitary conditions, inadequate housing and educational facilities are serious challenges faced by the rural masses. Unless we devote our efforts towards this cause, the chances of improvement of rural areas are remote in the near future.  The youth, who are the citizens of tomorrow have a vital role to play.  Youth reflect the national potentiality and represent the life blood of a nation.  Development of youth determines the future of the community and the country as a whole. As psychologists say, youth possess dynamic energy, creative activity and adventurous spirit and undergo physiological and psychological changes as they grow. In agriculture, due to small holdings, erratic rainfall, unrealistic market and price for the produce and meager income from crops, youth farmers are taking up dairying and sericulture as subsidiary enterprises which provide additional income and gainful employment to them as members of farm families throughout the year.  Young members of farm families play an important role in managing these enterprises. A study was  undertaken to know the role of youth in milk and silk farming.

Switching over to alternate production systems, or adoption of modern production practices are far beyond the scope of Scheduled Caste and other vulnerable farmers due to their poor resource base and economic conditions

The agricultural production systems are largely dependent on rainfall, vagaries of climate, and biophysical environment including market dynamics. Continuously, threatened livelihood systems lead to low income generation, insecurity in food production, and compels to live in below poverty line (BPL).
 
The basic approach of agricultural extension focuses on reach to small, marginal/rural women/rural youth. It also includes strengthening and up-scaling of on-going extension reforms, provision of quality manpower and promotion of commodity based farmers organizations and thrust on market-led extension.

The National Development Council had visualised an overall growth rate of 10 per cent for the XI Five-Year Plan for which agriculture sector has to contribute a growth rate of about 4.1 per cent as against 1.7 per cent. Hence, there is a need for vibrant, dynamic and innovative approaches to be adopted for agricultural extension in order to achieve the targeted growth rate.

India is predominately a agriculture based country, wherein 85 per cent of the land holding are small and marginal. The per capita availability of land has been decreased from 0.5 ha in 1950-51 to 0.15 ha by the turn of the century and a projected future decline to less than 0.1 ha by 2020. This decline in trend in size of land holding poses a serious challenge to sustainability and profitability of the farming. The population is steadily growing without any possibility of increase in land area. The income from cropenterprise for an a average farmer is hardly sufficient to sustain his family. But the farmer has assured of a regular income for a reasonable standard of living by including other enterprises. The integrated farming system (IFS) seems to be the solution to continue to increase the demand for food production, stability of income and improvement of nutritional status of family members.
 
Agriculture in this millennium, due to emerging production scenario, higher economic growth, population explosion and shifts in dietary pattern has changed the supply and demand profiles of food respectively. Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) seems to be the possible solution to meet the continuous increase in demand for food, stability of income and diverse requirements of food grains, vegetables, milk, egg, meat etc., thereby improving the nutrition of the small-scale farmers with limited resources.

The most significant achievement in India after independence is the self-reliance in food grain production. The use of high yielding varieties, irrigation facilities, higher application of fertilizers & pesticides contributed to sufficient food grain production in the mid 60’s & 70’s of the last century. Later on development in other enterprises like dairy, poultry, piggery, fishery, sericulture etc., took place in an isolated manner. However, the productivity of these high yielding varieties and hybrids became stagnant during last decade and with limited scope for increasing the cultivable land, the country’s food security is likely to be threatened in the near future. According to a recent estimate the food grain requirement of India would be 380 and 450 million tons in the years 2025 & 2050 respectively with the present rate of population growth. On the other hand, despite significant breakthrough in food production the living standards of farmers are far from satisfaction; this situation is matter of great concern for the country. The farmers are losing confidence in farming due to declining returns; hence majority of them prefers to shift to non-agricultural vocations. If this trend continues in future, the potential to satisfy future food needs will be seriously compromised. Agriculture continues to be the pivotal sector in the Indian economy providing employment to 69 per cent of the population.

The past development efforts in India center around individual approach and these efforts did not bring about sustained development of people in the respective areas. In view of this, the development of the people could not be harnessed to the fullest potential. Realizing this lacuna, the group based development efforts have come up in a big way across the country in the recent years. The Government, private organizations and also the NGOs are giving due importance for the promotion and establishment of Self Help Groups (SHGs) for addressing all developmental issues. As on today, there are more than 3.37 million SHGs across the country, Tamil Nadu is one of the pioneering states in the formation and promotion of women SHGs and about 4.41 lakh SHGs are functioning in the state. Among the SHGs formed, some of the SHGs are functioning well and sustain for a longer period and others did not come up to the expectation and they did not sustain for longer period. Hence, it was considered opportune time to find out the sustainability level of the SHGs and isolate factors for variation since there was no research back up.
 
Therefore, the study was undertaken to analyse the sustainability of mixed enterprises  related SHGS in Tamil Nadu with an intention to find out the extent of sustainability at different levels.  The study was conducted in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu. Five blocks namely Dharmapuri, Harur, Morappur, Nallampalli, and Pennagaram were selected from the district based on maximum number of SHGs.

India is one of the countries where 90% of the small, marginal and medium land holding farm families are depending on agriculture. The average annual income of the each farm family isvery less from the agril sector. At present farmwomen play an important role in managing different kinds of farm and home activities. The entrepreneurial behaviour development among the farm family is very essential to earn the additional income to manage their family. Farmwomen not only are involved in home activities but also play a significant role in farm production. In India farmwomen take decisions in their day-to-day life in agricultural sector. However, farmwomen are greatly aided by the amount of information available to them about their felt needs.  The World Bank Report(1992) states that keeping the role of farmwomen in mind, there is a need for training of farmwomen regarding necessary dairy technologies, so that they can perform these activities with more competence.
 
The advances in information technology have brought an explosion in information flow like Radio, T.V, Internet etc in agriculture.  There is large quantity of information through various sources, channels and Website on the Internet, but the information tends to be one sided, as it is gathered from Research stations. Farmwomen seek information sources.  Therefore, a study was conducted to understand the information seeking behaviour of dairy farmwomen.
 
The study was conducted in Manvi and Deodurga taluks of Raicur district in Karnataka state to know the information seeking behaviour of farmwomen regarding dairy farming and allied sector.

A case study was made in Geemarahalli village, Nanjangud taluk of Mysore district during 2009-10 to know the performance of women SHG involved in cultivation of tuberose.  JSS Krishi Vigyan Kendra which was started during 1994 analyzed the problems of farmwomen that they were unorganized in doing the field operations and were almost isolated in nature.  KVK initiated in formation of women SHGs in many villages and one of such village is Geemarahalli.  Ms. Rajamma was selected as group leader of the group and her contact with KVK was started since 1996 and still continued.  She is an innovative woman despite being illiterate.  Earlier she was doing tailoring and wire bag making. Later, she developed an interest to take up farming. She formed a Self Help Group called Triveni in her village which consists of 15 farmwomen.  In the beginning, they were involved in farm operations as contract workers.  During 2007-08, this group had come in contact with KVK and were imparted the training programmes on vermicompost production, horticulture nursery management, production of biological agents etc.  Later, the group came forward to learn the cultivation aspects of tuberose which has got good market at Mysore city.  To start this venture, the possession of land was the constraint for them and they overcome it by taking a 10 gunta land on lease basis. They were imparted series of trainings on tuberose cultivation at KVK. 

Agriculture and allied service sector in Karnataka, contributes about one third to the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  This sector still continues to be the largest source of employment in the state with about 70% of the population depending on it.  Agriculture plays a key role   in the state’s economy with a net-cropped area of 107.90 lakh ha. of which 23.20 lakh ha. is irrigated and 84.79 lakh ha is rainfed.  In today’s competitive environment, one need to rethink about the sustainability of development, whether it is individual or the area and agriculture or any other field .To develop the rainfed area and the people, the World Bank assisted Sujala Watershed Project is implemented through the Karnataka Watershed Development Department (KWDD).  This has become a boon towards sustainable development of the rainfed area and the people. The first phase of KWDP focuses on poverty alleviation and improvement in agricultural productivity through its multi faceted approach.  That is, the land treatment for improving their agricultural productivity and strengthening Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the selected area to take up viable Income Generating Activities, which paves way for the overall development of the area and the people living there.  The project area covered five districts namely, Kolar, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Haveri and Dharwad in Karnataka state of India.

Agriculture is of paramount importance in most developing countries because large proportion of the population involved and the need to maintain national food production. It is generally accepted though not fully proven, that health and productivity are positively correlated. This is of particular  relevance because many agricultural tasks in developing countries demand high level of strenuous activity (Anonymous, 1987). Investment to improve agricultural worker’s health would be justified on both humanitarian and economic grounds. Nearly half of the available human resources in India are women.  It has been roughly estimated that women represent 50% of population and have contributed about 10% of income and own less than 1 % of the world’s property.  The population of farm women are involved in sowing, transplanting, weeding, winnowing, drying, bringing drinking water and firewood, cleaning and dehusking.  Most of the drudgery prone tasks for women in agriculture are cutting uprooting, transplanting, weeding and sowing and post harvest tasks like manual threshing of maize, millets and pulses, sieving and cleaning. For groundnut, after the harvesting, removal of nuts and cleaning of groundnut seeds are also performed  manually. Further, sieving, cleaning are performed by winnowing followed by traditional sieve. (Badiger et al. 2006).  Studies have pointed out that farm activities that are time and labour intensive, monotonous, repetitive and more drudgery prone are generally performed by women.

In India, for centuries women have been pushed aside from the race of development in the name of customs, traditions and religion. As a result they have been denied the opportunities for their social, economical and political development leading to the lower status in society. The present situation demands active participation of women along with men in all walks of life. Involvement of women in all development activities. Based on the recommendations of National Policy of empowerment of women, Tenth Plan suggests a three fold strategies for empowering women through social empowerment, economic empowerment and gender justice.
 
Women play a significant and crucial role in agriculture and allied fields including crop production, dairy husbandry, horticulture, post harvest operations etc. It has been estimated that about 86% of the total rural women are working for various agricultural operations. They play an important role not only in maintaining their home task but also managing their farms and animals, depending upon the situation, personal and socioeconomic characteristics of the family to which they belong.  Women are also partners in animal husbandry activities management as manager or skilled workers.

The term empowerment has different meaning in different socio-cultural and political context and does not translate easily into all languages. The term include self strength, control, self power, self reliance, own choice, life of dignity in accordance with one’s values, capable of fighting for one’s right, independence, own decision making, being free, awakening and capability of mention only a few.

The major impact of the two important components of the Karnataka Watershed Development Programme (KWDP) viz farming system intensification and watershed treatment will be on land-based enterprises and land owners, although to a certain extent landless families would also benefit from the increased labour demand through intensification of agriculture. To ensure growth with equity among all the stakeholders in the project, it is imperative to have practical, market-driven, complementary and supplementary income generating activities for weaker sections of the community, including SCs, STs, women, landless persons, families below the poverty line and other vulnerable groups in project districts.  Hence, it is imperative to raise the status of landless families above the poverty line.  The SHGs are to be encouraged to take up viable enterprise and to enhance their fund mobilization by regular savings, investment in viable income generating activities and in time repayment of the loan taken.  The IGAs are meant mostly for the landless and asset less stakeholders in the watersheds.

Relevance of Gender Mainstreaming  in Agriculture

Indian agriculture is characterized by farming systems wherein men and women perform mutually interdependent as well as independent roles right from production, processing, marketing, and decision making as farmer, labourers and entrepreneurs. The extensive contribution by women in wide ranging tasks in production and processing in agriculture, influences household food security and determines national competitiveness in agro industry at large. Even though women make substantial economic contribution towards the sustenance of the farming systems and livelihood security, most often women’s roles remain invisible and their problems and needs are unaccounted and unattended. Historically dictated by social norms, family traditions and economic factors, participation of women and men in various farming contexts in India still remain gender specific and highly women discriminating. Women’s work is considered as unskilled and remains undervalued and underpaid. It is to be appreciated that at international and national level efforts of women empowerment and gender perspectives are being brought in development approaches and the situation during the past few decades is slowly changing as policies, efforts and budget are being specially allocated for the upliftment of rural farm women. But it is to be noticed that most of the programmes are of short term, narrow focussed and without continuity.

ICT refers to tools that facilitate production, transmission and processing of information. It includes the gadgets and processes to access, retrieve, store, organize, manipulate, produce, present and exchange information by electronic and automated means. According to UNESCO (2004), Information Communication Technology includes a range of technologies starting from radio, television, up to modern technologies like mobile phone, multimedia, internet, and satellite based communication systems. Modern information and communication technologies that have resulted from a breakthrough in information technology, when applied to conditions in rural areas, can help to disseminate information, improve farmers’ knowledge, increase their participation and share knowledge with others. Information Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the yardsticks to measure socio-economic development of the country and hence effective usage and management of ICTs tools is the pre-requisite for any development. Telephone is a powerful electronic device. The number of rural telephones was increased by approximately 35 per cent per annum (Jhunjhunwala and Ashok, 2005). This impressive growth in telecommunication sector is being utilized to provide information on demand to the farming community with the establishment of “Kissan Call Centers” (KCCs).  Kissan Call Centres were launched in January 2004 across the country to provide information services to the needy farmers and answer the queries made by them through telephone. In this context, a study was conducted to find out the profile of Kissan Call Centre users.

Involvement of Farm Youth in the developmental sector of Agriculture is emerging as a crucial area for the water management sector. Initiative of Farm Youth is essential for accelerating modern Agricultural technologies to be adopted by the large number of farmers in the rural area. Being an educated, effective use of the information & communication   technology (ICT) is possible. The recent developments in the field of Agriculture like, green-house technology, exporting vegetables and fruits to outside country, formation of agricultural producer’s company etc. are the challenging areas where the Farm Youth can develop a leading role for the farming community.
 
Maharashtra, being a progressive State, encourages Farm -Youth activities in various fields to boost-up the younger generation to participate in the information and communication technology (ICT) areas. As a result of Govt. initiative, in the field of Participatory Irrigation Management, the Water Users Association, namely, ‘Mahatma Phule Water Users Association’ At Post: Ozar (Mig), Taluka: Niphad, Dist: Nasik was successfully run by a Farm Youth namely, Mr. Govardhan Rajabhau Kulkarni who is an idol for the Farm Youths to participate in the irrigation water management field. The use of internet, e-mail, agriculture related web sites and developing software programmes for irrigation management is highly appreciated by the Govt. of Maharashtra.

Agricultural research in India has contributed new varieties of crops and production technologies for increased production at the national level. These modern technologies benefited only a particular section but farm youth in rainfed areas are facing many problems. One of the problems identified in the diffusion of technologies to farm youth in sustainable agriculture was the lack of appropriate technologies suitable to the farm and social situations. When farmers in rain fed areas are exposed to innovations, they react to the practices/innovations from different viewpoints. A practice appropriate to farm youth in rain fed areas must be less in cost, high in profits, less risky,  highly compatible with socio-cultural values and beliefs, less in complexity, highly trialable on a small scale and the results of the same should be easily observed and communicated. These dimensions are perceived by farmers differently and the degree to which they perceive them favourably are likely to adopt the same in rain fed areas. Many a time, several past investigations have only indicated whether the recommended package of technologies has been adopted or not by farm youth. This gives percentage of farm youth adopting the practices but not the percentage of recommended technologies adopted by them and the problems encountered by them in adopting the recommended technologies in rain fed areas.