Rural tribal youths of Meghalaya may not be farming in the future: changing occupational preferences

In Meghalaya, an agrarian state, about 58% of all workers are either cultivators or agricultural labourers. Between 1981 and 2011, the urban population increased by about two percentage points and led to de-growth in the agricultural population. This shift in population, along with other associated factors, may affect the farm sector. This study was conducted to understand how much stakeholders in Meghalaya like farming as an occupation and whether they are likely to continue farming. Primary data were collected from 100 respondents, which included adult and senior farmers (30 years and above), rural youth (15–29 years) and students in agriculture degree courses. Of the adult and senior farmers, about 58% were satisfied with the returns from farming, 52% were satisfied with farming overall and 96% were willing to continue farming. About 50% of the rural youth liked farming as a principal occupation, but only 75% of them were willing to continue farming. Only 22.28% of the agriculture students liked farming as a principal occupation, and most preferred a farm-related government job. Therefore, policies should focus on improving and stabilizing farm returns to keep them in farming.