Horticulture Based Entrepreneurial Development in Uttar Pradesh: Constraints Analysis and Strategic Suggestions

The horticulture sector has been considered as the sun rising sector of Indian agriculture because of its contribution to livelihood and nutritional security. State of Uttar Pradesh has been one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables in India. Though the state’s production potentials are in a high range, nearly 20–25 per cent of the farm produce gets destroyed due to the lack of entrepreneurial development in terms of processing and value. The present study was conducted in the purposively selected Agra and Lucknow districts of Uttar Pradesh to identify the major constraints in the entrepreneurial climate setting with a sample size of 120. The study results point that lack of awareness about various horticulture-based entrepreneurial avenues (WMS =3.78) and technical inexpertise about various aspects of processing (WMS=3.63) were the major restraining factors. The present study also suggests some strategic options to overcome the hurdles in the entrepreneurship climate setting process to enhance farmers’ income.