PROFILE CHARACTERISTICS DETERMINING THE ATTITUDE OF VEGETABLE GROWERS TOWARDS ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CHENGALPATTU DISTRICT OF TAMIL NADU

Abstract

While a favourable attitude is widely regarded as a precursor to entrepreneurial behaviour, the profile characteristics that shape this attitude among vegetable growers remain under-examined. This study, conducted among 80 vegetable growers of Thiruporur and Tirukazhukundram blocks in Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu, examined the association and contribution of eleven profile characteristics, namely age, gender, education, occupation, area under cultivation, annual income, credit orientation, information seeking behaviour, family support, financial support and scientific orientation, to growers' attitude towards vegetable-based entrepreneurship, and further examined the relationship between attitude and actual entrepreneurial behaviour. Data were analysed using Karl Pearson's correlation, multiple linear regression and stepwise regression. Nearly three-fourths of the respondents (72.50%) held a medium level of attitude. Among the profile variables, only credit orientation (r = 0.286) and annual income (r = 0.225) were significantly and positively associated with attitude at the five per cent level; together, all eleven variables explained only 24.30 per cent of the variation in attitude (R² = 0.243, F = 1.982, p < 0.05). When subjected to stepwise regression, credit orientation alone qualified for entry, explaining 8.20 per cent of the variance (R² = 0.082, F = 6.945, p < 0.05). Attitude was not significantly correlated with entrepreneurial behaviour (r = -0.082, R² = 0.007, NS). These findings indicate that growers' attitude towards entrepreneurship is shaped more by access to credit and income security than by socio-demographic or psychological traits, and that a favourable attitude alone does not assure a corresponding level of entrepreneurial behaviour, pointing to the need for extension strategies that combine attitude-building with concrete economic-enabling measures.