International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Gayathri GN, Gopal Sankhala, Yankam Shivkumar Ramrao, AK Singh and Sendhil Ramadas

abstract
India is the leading milk producer in the world with sustained growth. The dairy sector involves more than 30 million small producers owning 1 – 2 animals forming an essential part of the rural economy and serving as an important source of employment and income. The dairy sector offers profitable business opportunities to farmers who are aspiring to become dairy preneurs in the era of entrepreneurship. Dairy Business School can help dairy farmers to start entrepreneurial ventures through capacity building. The Dairy Business School model is a school for dairy farmers to develop their capabilities and entrepreneurial skills. It was organized at Expert Institute i.e., NDRI, Karnal for aspiring dairy preneurs with an aim to develop their capabilities, entrepreneurial and management skills in dairy. The Dairy Business School was conducted by selecting the farmers from 6 peripheral districts of Expert Institute comprising 180 farmers. From 180, 30 were selected as participants for school based on Entrepreneurial Behaviour Index developed for the study. After completion of the Dairy Business School, the attitude of the emerging dairy preneurs was measured using a developed scale for the study. Around 67.86 per cent of farmer participants had favourable attitude towards the Dairy Business School model followed by more favourable (25.00%) and less favourable (7.14%) attitude. The independent variables of participant dairy preneurs like Annual Income, Group Orientation, Motivational Factors, Market Intelligence, Mass media exposure and Information seeking behaviour were positively correlated with attitude towards DBS.