I was attending an international conference at the
Institute of Rural Management on Agribusiness immediately after having visited
few villages of Madhya-Pradesh. As my
memory was fresh with varied exciting experiences of rural lives, I thought if
such experiences could be made available to urban populace it will not only be
new and charming to them but will also be quite fascinating. I decided to
attend one of sessions where an expert from Sri Lanka was to present a paper on
Agri-tourism based on his experiences across the World. The session was quite
enriching and I started wondering about its vast potential in India.
What an idea! Of Agri-tourism! Farm owners make money, non-farm owning
villagers make money, the area around villages make money, and local products
gets recognitions and new customers. Local village based economy booms. Urban
tourists get an entirely new feel and taste of rural life and culture. Tired of
the fast, glamorous, commotion filled life urban customers can experience the
serene and peaceful surrounding of rural India. There exist added benefits
which include knowing and seeing various food products which they may have
never seen in their raw form before, experience their cultivation in live field
situation and all this at a much lower cost.
Based on statistical figures it was proven than
Asian countries, particularly in the South Eastern region like India have more
to gain from such initiatives as the tourist in-flow has been continuously
increasing at higher rate than that of Europe; even the number of domestic
tourists is on the rise. The preference of urban and international tourists for
pristine, serene and scenic place is well established by now. Agri-tourism in
this context presents great opportunity for various stakeholders in tourism
industry.
Agri-tourism is more beneficial for
farmers as it helps them to increase their income sources rather than them just
being dependent on farming especially when increasing income through increased
production and better prices is not in the hands of farmer. It not only helps
in maintaining a regular cash flow for the farmers but also in selling their
products and experience. For a young city-born tourist ploughing a field with a
tractor attached to the harrower is fun but doing the same with a
bullock-pulled plough is an intriguing and memorable experience. Also listening
to the nuances of agriculture and experiencing the same in field is a valuable
learning experience which any urban tourist will cherish, therefore,
agri-tourism is a wonderful mélange of relaxation, education, distinctive
experiences and fun.
To make it more attractive, the site for agri-tourism
should have a typical rural and farming environment, something worth seeing
(eg. standing crops in the field) and something worth doing (eg. any farming
operation in which the tourist can participate). For example, if the setting is
big banana farms in banana growing village where regular operations are going
on, tourists will like to see banana plants, its flowers and various sizes of
the fruit. If they are explained about and shown vegetative reproduction system
of plant and various usages of the trunk like vegetable for rural people,
fodder for animals, rope from the trunk fiber, it will be an interesting
addition to their existing knowledge about bananas. If the tourist gets an
opportunity to help with harvesting, washing and packaging the/she will not
mind paying extra money for such experience but while returning they would
certainly like to have ripened banana for their own consumption.
Interesting examples from different parts of the
world are worth mentioning and following. At one of the agri-tourist spots in
Japan if the consumer visited a vineyard he would need to pay less to eat
grapes but when he decided to select and harvest grapes on his own he had to
pay more. The principle is admirable, it states that the more experiential
delight you indulge in, the more you have to pay. In Vietnam, when you visit
agri-tourist sites and decide to cook selected products you pay much higher
than that for just visiting seeing farming practices.
But yes, to see it turning into a functional
enterprise one needs to be as cautious as launching a new tourism venture.
Accommodation and food for tourists need not necessarily be urbane but should
be clean and hygienic. Making an attempt to provide real experience of local
culture is welcome but it should not be thrust forcefully on foreign tourists
who may not appreciate the new experiences. Planning opportunities for hand-on
experiences of farming practices is a very crucial decision as it should
neither affect crop life-cycle nor the quality of farming operations which will
otherwise negatively affect overall productivity of the crop. Holidaying in
farms, farms tours, and farm entertainment can be planned when tourists’ inflow
is known and many neighboring farmers could collaborate to practice and promote
agri-tourism.
There are several models of agri-tourism depending
upon varying levels of importance given to agri-tourism over farming. However,
in the context of emerging economies like, India, this option should always be
considered as additional source of income.
With increasing popularity and creation of better infrastructure at
village level one may consider transforming agri-tourism as the complementary
source of income to that of income from farming.
We must try and promote it. After all this option of
increasing income of farmers and improving village-based economy truly reflects
“Made in India”.
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