2021 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 51-62
This study investigates the incentives and outcomes of trainees’ selecting different careers from the fields set up by the agricultural training course in which they participated. In-depth interviews were conducted with three trainers who have close relationships with target trainees. The main conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows. (1) The most important characteristics of trainees who selected different careers from those which were set up in the joining agricultural training course could be a comparatively younger age when they joined the training course, lower education level, and higher rate of unmarried. (2) These trainees dropped out before finishing the course due to direct factors such as weaker incentives for engaging in agriculture and lack of patience. (3) Some quit farming after engaging in agriculture due to physical factors such as lack of communication with older farmers, deficient knowledge about agricultural production, labor shortage during the busy farming season, and so on. The results suggest that it is necessary to tighten acceptance policies of agricultural training courses, facilitate communication across local farmers, organize new entrants in each area, and develop support systems to distribute casual labor to make these courses more efficient.
