AGRO

TOURISM
 INDEX
 Introduction
 Why Agro Tourism?
 Why is Agro Tourism important?
 Priority Needs in Agro Tourism
 Scope for Agro Tourism
 The future and benefits of Agro Tourism
 EXAMPLE
 Introduction
Agro tourism is leisurely activities in the rural areas
that help a person understand and appreciate the land and
the people who live on it. In recent years, travel has
become much more than just ticking through the
mandatory list of local museums and sites. Travelers want
to slow down when they discover a new destination. They
want to meet locals in their natural environments and
become more involved with the land they are visiting.

With this in mind, agritourism was born. At its most basic

level, agritourism is a style of travel that takes place on a
farm or ranch and usually offers the opportunity to help
with on-site farming or ranching tasks during the visit. It
entails a meaningful visit with a producer of land-based
products and services.

Agri Tourism is however not all about staying in a village

and relishing the food, this is an opportunity to be close to
where the 75% of Indians live. One of the best things about
staying on a farm is that guests can contribute to the place
through their involvement. Our idea is to make tourists live
life like a villager, right from milking the cow, ploughing
the field, bathing in a well to climbing a tree and plucking
fruits.
 Why Agro Tourism?
Mother Nature is open door school without brick walls! If
observed carefully one can learn something or the other,
moreover India is Agriculturist’s Country, it is expected
that we should know the information related to agriculture.

Today urban children’s world has became limited in the

closed door school, classes, cartoon programs on the
television, video games, chocolates, soft drinks, spicy fast
food, computer, internet, and so on, they see mother nature
only on television screen.

Now it has become very necessary that children know the

traditional way of agricultural farming activities, and other
businesses dependant on agriculture.
Here children come very close to Mother Nature and learn
many new things in life...
 Why is Agro Tourism
important?
As commercialism and mass production become the
standards by which we live, agritourism has given people
who work in the agricultural and horticultural sectors a
chance to share their work with the masses. Some
agritourism experiences allow guests to buy food products
grown on the farm or hand-crafted products made by the
farmers’ families; purchasing these goods helps provide
ranchers who rely on their land with another source of
income.

Home and consumer education has given way to

technology courses in middle and high schools, and many
children grow up without ever really knowing what the
countryside is or what it’s like to interact with live farm
animals. Agritourism, therefore, gives parents the
opportunity to introduce their children to something other
than the city life.
 Priority Needs in Agro
Tourism
From the survey, it has been able to determine the top five
priority needs of those currently engaged in agro tourism.
They include:

• Need help in marketing and promoting their business!

(25%)
• Need expansion capital (25%)
• Need help finding qualified employees (21%)
• Insurance issues (19%)
• Difficulty obtaining financing (17%)
• Less than 2% felt competition was a problem
 Scope for Agro Tourism
Agro Tourism has great scope in the present context for
the following reasons.

An inexpensive gateway:- The cost of food,

1. accommodation, recreation and travel is minimum
in Agri-
Tourism. This widens the tourist base. Present
concept of travel and tourism is limited to urban and
rich class which constitute only small portion of the
population. However, the concept of Agri-tourism
takes travel and tourism to the larger population,
widening the scope of tourism due to its cost
effectiveness.
Curiosity about the farming industry and life style:-
2.
The urban population basically which has roots in
villages always has curiosity about sources of food,
plants, animals, raw materials like wood,
handicrafts, languages, culture, tradition, dresses
and lifestyle. Agri-tourism which revolves around
the farmers, villages and agriculture has the capacity
to satisfy the curiosity of this segment of population.
Agri-tourism provides scope for re-discoursing the
rural life which is rich in diversity.
3. Strong demand for wholesome family oriented
 recreational activities:– villages provide recreational
opportunities to all age groups i.e. children young,
middle and old age, male, female, in total to the
whole family at cheaper cost. Rural games,
festivals, food, dress and the nature provides variety
of entertainment to the whole family.
Health consciousness of urban population and
4.
finding solace with nature friendly means:– Modern
lifestyle has made the life stressful and average life
span has comedown. Hence, people are in constant
search of pro-nature means to make life more
peaceful. Ayerveda which is pro-nature medical
approach has roots in villages. Indigenous medical
knowledge of villagers is respected. Organic foods
are in greater demand in urban areas and foreign
countries. In total, health conscious urban
population is looking towards pro-nature villages
for solutions.
Desire for peace and tranquility:- Modern life is the
5.
product of diversified thinking and diversified
activities. Every individual attempts to work more,
in different directions to earn more money to enjoy
modern comforts. Hence, peace is always out of his
system. Tourism is the means for searching peaceful
location. Peace and tranquility are inbuilt in Agri-
tourism as it is away from urban areas and close to
nature.
6. Interest in natural environment:- Busy urban
 population is leaning towards nature. Because,
natural
environment is always away from busy life. Birds,
animals, crops, mountains, water bodies, villages
provide totally different atmosphere to urban
population in which they can forget their busy urban
life.
Disillusionment with over crowded resorts and
7. cities:- In resorts and cities, over crowded peace
seekers
disturbeach others peace. Hence, peace is beyond
cities and resorts. Even though efforts are made to
create village atmosphere in the sub urban areas
through resorts, farm houses, it looks like a donkey
painted with tiger colour. Artificiality is highlighted
and not satisfying.
Nostalgia for their roots on the farm:– Cities are
8. growing at the cost of villages. Villagers are
migrating
to cities in search of jobs and seeking comforts of
modern life. Hence, yesterday’s villagers are
today’s urbanites. Deep in the heart of urbanites lies
the love and respect for their ancestors and villages.
Hence, visit to villages satisfies their desire. This is
also expressed through the hatredness of urbanites
to flat culture and love for farmhouses located in the
outskirts of cities. Any opportunity to visit villages
and spend time with family is dream of any
 urbanite. But, minimum decent facilities are always
problem. Agri-tourism attempts to overcome this
problem.
Rural recreation:– Villages provide varieties of
9. recreation to urbanites through festivals and
handicrafts.
Villagers (farmers) lifestyle, dress, languages,
culture/traditions which always add value to the
entertainment. Agriculture environment around
farmers and the entire production process could
create curiosity among urban taught. Places of
agriculture importance like highest crop yielding
farm, highest animal yielding farm, processing
units, farms where innovations tried add attraction
to the tourists. Agriculture products like farm gate
fresh market, processed foods, organic food could
lure the urban tourists. As result of this Agri-
atmosphere in the villages, there is scope to develop
Agri-tourism products like Agri-shopping, culinary
tourism, pick and own your tree/plot, bed and
breakfast, bullock cart riding, camel riding, boating,
fishing, herbal walk, rural games and health
(Ayurvedic) tourism.
Educational value of Agri-Tourism:- Agri-tourism
10.could create awareness about rural life and
knowledge
about agriculture science among urban school
childrens. It provides a best alternative for school
picnics which are urban based. It provides
opportunity for hands on experience for urban
college students in Agriculture. It is a means for
providing training to future farmers. It would be
effectively used as educational and training tool to
train agriculture and line department officers. This
provides unique opportunity for education through
recreation where learning is fun effective and easy.
Seeing is believing, doing is learning and most
importantly experiences are USP of Agri-tourism.
 The future and benefits of
Agro Tourism
Agricultural and on-farm nature tourism can be defined as
businesses run by farmers as part of their normal
operations for the enjoyment and education of visitors.

Agricultural and nature tourism have the potential to

generate increased on-farm revenues, and, given strategic
management, could also boost farm profitability.
Additionally, since the majority of the public may have
little or no contact with agriculture, on-farm tourism is
also a way by which non-farmers can learn about
agriculture and, in turn, support farm products through
increased purchases made directly or indirectly from
family farms. This is particularly so in Malta, as the
country's small size makes farms within reach of the
public.

Agro tourism has existed in the Maltese islands for

generations. With the introduction of cars, the town folk
was able to visit the countryside over the weekends in
order to go for a stroll and, at the same time, buy fresh
produce off the farmers. It was a common thing for city
dwellers to take their children to the countryside in spring
in order to buy fresh strawberries directly from the
farmers, especially in the north or west part of Malta.

Nowadays agro tourism has changed and has developed

into an important part of the tourist sector in the
Mediterranean. This is particularly so in certain remote
areas and small islands in the region where there is little
else to see but the beautiful countryside and picturesque
views of well-kept fields and valleys lined by trees. And it
is for this reason that most agro tourists visit such areas.

To get away from it all and to spend time close to nature

in a relaxed environment. And where better to do this than
on a farm, with the farmers, eating fresh produce at the
same time, which has just been brought from the field.

This has particularly been the case in Malta where,

especially on Sundays, the countryside is flooded with
people trying to get away from the built-up areas. Given
our mild weather, the countryside is frequented for a good
eight months of the year, from October to May. Some
farmers have seen an economic opportunity through this
weekly exodus from urban areas, selling their produce
directly to the consumer, thus bypassing the middleman.
Some have even further developed the idea and have set
up a restaurant close to the farm. Fresh vegetables, say
lettuce, served at such eating places would have been cut
literally minutes earlier.
The added advantage of agro tourism in the Maltese
islands is that since the country is small, the tourist is able
to link a visit to a farm with a cultural visit to a historical
or archaeological site.

Malta's entry into the European Union has given us greater

opportunities to advance this sector, both through existing
legislation and through financial aid to farmers.

Although there is no legislation governing agro tourism in

Malta, yet, several preliminary steps have been taken in
laying the foundations for a sound agro tourism sector.

Firstly, through the first Rural Development Plan, a

serious attempt was made at restructuring the agricultural
sector. This has been done through the agro environment
scheme, the rubble walls initiative and the organic
farming project.

EU funds were made available to farmers to restore

collapsed rubble walls and, thus, enhance the landscape.
The organic farming project rewarded farmers for
adopting environment-friendly practices.

In fact, out of the six farms certified in 2005, four are in

various stages of launching agro tourism ventures.
Moreover, through Investments in Agricultural Holdings
(this is technically referred to as measure 3.1 of the Rural
Development Plan), farmers were given the opportunity to
restructure and upgrade their equipment and
establishments.

An organic farmer in the area of Fawwara, Siggiewi, has

made use of this scheme. He has not only managed,
within a year, to produce high quality extra virgin organic
olive oil that is fully certified but has also attracted a lot
of interest to his farm, that happens to be located in a
protected area next to the coast. As a result, he receives
close to 50 visitors a week to his farm. Through this
venture, the farmer is not only promoting an environment-
friendly agricultural practice in an environmentally-
sensitive area but he is also attracting a lot of visitors to
this remote part of the Maltese countryside. Thanks to his
example, several other farmers have shown interest in
converting to organic farming and engage in agro tourism
as they can see it is a profitable proposition.

In this new age facing Maltese agriculture sector, farmers

such as the Fawwara one act as a beacon to the rest of the
farming community.

EU membership has brought with it an open market,

where the best way to thrive in agriculture is to innovate
and exploit one's knowledge and the natural heritage in a
sustainable way which can also be done by making the
best of new agro business opportunities such as those
emanating from agro tourism.
 EXAMPLE
Baramati Agro Tourism
Baramati | Maharashtra
Baramati Agro Tourism is categorised as Experiential
Rural Stay

BaramatiAgri Tourism is an experiential Rural

exploration option that allows guests to experience
lifestyle of villages around Baramati as guests participate
in wide ranging activities and festivities of the area
 REASONS TO VISIT
 Experiential rural stay located in Baramati.
 Baramati is part of Agri Tourism in Maharashtra part
which has 500 trained farmers and 152 agri-tourism
locations across the state of Maharashtra.
 Activities at Agri Tourism includes Animal Feeding;
Guided Crop /Vegetables / Fruits farms visits and tours,
Watching domestic animals and How to care for cattle,
Harvest festivals, Rural Festivals, visit Farmers' markets,
Visit Taluka Milk Collection centers, Milking the Cow,
Temples Visits, Agricultural education programs etc.
 Guests get to play rural style games and rides such as
Bullock card and tractor Rides, Vittidandu, Gotya,
Surparanbhya, Kabaddi, Langadi, Kho-Kho, Bullock
Ploughing, Lagore&Gallori.
 Homemade meals served to guests to get a feel of
authentic cuisine in rural Maharashtra.
 Recommended for day picnics ex-Pune and experiential
overnight getaways ex-Mumbai / pune.