Awareness and Perception of Farmers towards Agri-tourism in South Gujarat

Description

Page: 554-558

Swati Sharma¹, Gautam Parmar², Ruchira Shukla³, and Alpesh Leua⁴ (ASPEE Agribusiness Management Institute, NAU, Navsari, Gujarat^1,2,3 and ASPEE College of Horticulture, NAU, Navsari, Gujarat⁴)

Agriculture is the main sector of the Indian Economy. At present Indian agriculture is facing many challenges leading to poor remuneration for farmers. So, providing additional income generating activities to the existing agriculture sector would help the farmers to fetch better remuneration and improve their standard of living. Agri-Tourism is the latest concept in the Indian Tourism industry which could serve this purpose. Gujarat is the leading state in tourism with ample opportunity for future growth. The main objective of the study was to assess the awareness and perception level of farmers on agri tourism. 100 farmers from two districts of South Gujarat were selected purposively. Data were collected with structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive analysis. Results showed that the majority of farmers were aware of the concept of agri-tourism and they got awareness through sources like newspapers, television, radio, fellow farmers and agri department officials. The respondents generally agreed that the existence of agri tourism in their area brings in many benefits to locals as a whole. However, farmers in the rural areas considered that only they experienced indirect benefits. The farmers in the study area considered having enough capital for infrastructure, operation and marketing, obtaining finance, meeting state and municipal regulations, obtaining required permits or licenses, liability issues etc. as the major constraints related to agri-tourism business in the study area. In this regard, the support of the local government and entrepreneurs is required for the development of agri-tourism businesses in the study area because the small communities need assistance in knowledge and expertise regarding aspects like financing, planning and management, marketing etc. to prosper in this business.