Antecedents of Agricultural Entrepreneurial Competencies in Mixed Cropping Zone of Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Agricultural entrepreneurship stands as a transformative force in rural economies, particularly in regions like Punjab Pakistan where mixed cropping system dominate agricultural practices. The present study investigates the socio-economic, educational and resource-based factors that shape the agricultural entrepreneurial competencies addressing a critical gap in the context specific research on agricultural entrepreneurship. The present study was designed to find quantitative association and correlation of factors that has either positive or negative relationship with agricultural entrepreneurial competencies. For data collection one of district from mixed cropping zone was selected randomly. The selected District (Sahiwal) was comprises of two tehsils. A list of registered growers was obtained from the office of Deputy District Officer Agriculture (Ext.) Using online available software (surveysystems.com) a sample size of 382 was obtained by maintain confidence level of 95% and confidence interval at 5. A valid and reliable interview schedule was developed for data collection. Data was collected by face-to-face interview technique. The results revealed that among socioeconomic factors age was the only factor that has non-significant relationship with the entrepreneurial competencies. Factors like annual income (r= 0.48) and educational level (r= 0.407) have positive linear relationship with entrepreneurial competencies. Among hindering factors that have negative linear relationship, personal factors (r=-0.412) and financial factors have strong negative correlation with agricultural entrepreneurial competencies.  The results obtained by Multiple Linear regression model also confirm the multiple effect of personal factors with entrepreneurial competencies. The beta value (B = -0.363) indicates that for every one-unit increase in personal factors, entrepreneurial competencies decrease by 0.363 units. The results of present study draw the attention of policy makers towards the need of personal development of farmers and provide interest free loans to small farming communities.