The study was conducted in five tribal dominated hill districts of Manipur to study the major problems encountered by agripreneurs among the tribes. A sample size of 250 tribal entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture and allied activities were selected as respondent for the study. Data were obtained through personal interview by a well-structured interview questionnaire using five-point Likert scale. The collected data were analyzed and tabulated using percentage. The problems considered for the study were classified as marketing, financial, raw materials, labour and infrastructural problems. The results of the study revealed that the main marketing problem encountered by agripreneurs is competition from other small businesses, with competition from larger enterprises being a secondary concern. With regards to finance, lack of own funds and resources is the main financial problem, followed by a shortage of capital in starting the business. High price of raw materials is the key problem of raw material, followed by its scarcity, transport, and low quality. Scarcity or non-availability of skilled labour is found to be the key labour problem while irregularity of power supply, shortage of machines and equipment and inadequate space and building are the main infrastructural problems faced by tribal agripreneurs.
Research Article | Published online : 16-Nov-2023