Entrepreneurial Attributes and Behaviour of Nursery Owners in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam, India
Laxmipriya Sonowal *
Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath, Chariali, India.
P. K. Das
Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath, Chariali, India.
Parag Jyoti Neog
Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath, Chariali, India.
Bidisha Kashyap
Department of Sericulture, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Bondita Borah
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Nabanil Talukdar
Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath, Chariali, India.
Bemcha Mongbam
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, Nagaland, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study assessed the entrepreneurial attributes and entrepreneurial behaviour of nursery owners in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam. The study was undertaken in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts, which were randomly selected from the Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone. A total of 60 nursery owners were selected using a random-cum-convenience sampling procedure. Data were collected during June–July 2022 through personal interviews conducted using a pre-tested structured research schedule. Entrepreneurial attributes were described in terms of age, educational level, family type, family size, experience in nursery business, area under nursery, net annual income from nursery, social participation, trading cosmopoliteness, decision-making ability, achievement motivation and risk orientation. Descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation. The respondents were predominantly middle-aged (43.33%), graduates/diploma holders or above (45.00%), members of nuclear families (78.33%) and were members of small families (86.67%). Most respondents had 4–14 years of nursery-business experience (78.33%), operated 0.06–0.15 ha of nursery area (70.00%) and had medium net annual income from nursery business (73.33%). Medium levels predominated for trading cosmopoliteness (65.00%), decision-making ability (45.00%), achievement motivation (53.34%) and risk orientation (63.33%). With regard to entrepreneurial behaviour, 58.33% of the nursery owners were classified as prospective entrepreneurs, while 21.67% were entrepreneurial internals and 20.00% were entrepreneurial externals. The findings provide a descriptive profile of the entrepreneurial attributes and behavioural orientation of nursery owners in the selected area.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial attributes, entrepreneurial behaviour, nursery owners, nursery enterprise, Assam, upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone