Agri-tourism is an emerging niche that is taking off in India

18th February 2022
Agri-tourism is an emerging niche that is taking off in India

February 18 2022:  A new niche in tourism --agritourism -- has now been gaining huge popularity among common people and farmers alike.
According to Allied Market Research, the global agritourism market is projected to showcase a considerable CAGR from 2021 to 2027. In the last few years, there’s been a steep incline in demand for farm stays across the world along with growing curiosity about rural activities, especially among the young generation, writes Koyel Ghosh in Travel Daily News.
Agritourism is now gaining huge traction in the farmer community too since it not only offers a scope for them to procure additional income, but also assuages the path for better sustainability. Pandurang Taware, aged 52, a farmer’s son from Maharashtr’s Baramati district, proclaims that the initiation of agritourism has helped more than six-hundred earn around  Rs 580 million in the last financial year before Covid-19, says TDN.
Maharashtra leads
Indeed, Maharashtra has been a pioneer in agri tourism subce 2005, when the Agri Tourism Development Corporation(ATDC) piloted a project of 28 acres in Palshiwadi taluk of Baramati district, 70 kms from Pune. ATDC is now the Agri Tourism Development Company Pvt Ltd, with headquarters in Pune.
The concept of Agri tourism is very simple, whereby the urban tourists go the farmers home; stay like a farmer, engage in farming activities, experience the bullock cart, tractor ride, fly kites, eat authentic food, wear traditional clothes, understand the local culture, enjoy the folk songs and dance, buy fresh farm produce and in turn the farmer maintains home and farm hygiene, greets new tourists, sells his farm produce at a better price, earns a livelihood all year round.
For students
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has joined the Association of Indian Universities to sponsor agro-tourism for students. The students will visit ten agricultural universities across the country in groups of 25.
KrishiJagran reports that  farmers in Kerala’s Munnar hill station are promoting the area as an agri tourism destination. The Marayoor and Kanthalloor regions of Kerala's Idukki district are set to emerge as important agritourism destinations. â€¯One of the region's major assets is the variety of crops grown organically by farmers. Marayoor jaggery is a famous local product. "The more we show people how Marayur jaggery is prepared without preservatives or how vegetables are grown organically in the village, the more popular the food becomes," Sivakumar, a farmer is quoted as saying. Also a big attraction are the local strawberry farms.
NE states
Agri tourism has become become a  new way to fulfil the desire a  segment of population in he . North east  states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. These regions have  hills, wetlands, rivers, river islands and also diverse culture from different tribes and communities. Therefore, it will be easier for attracting tourists to agri-tourism spots here says  The Sangai Express, a leading Manipur newspaper.
Tea tourism
A growing number of Indians are now heading to tea  estates spread across the country for vacations, reports the
Times of India, from Kolkata.
Earlier tea tourism would mostly interest only foreign tourists. “But now, we have mostly Indian tourists tasting and learning . about different types of tea”, said Dhrubajyoti Dowerah, president, tea division of BNA Ltd . Out of their nine tea gardens, two are used for tourism and are fully booked through February.
A similar rush has been seen by Glenburn Tea Estate in Darjeeling.
People want to stay close to nature and away from the crowd. These tea gardens provide them the perfect escape.Most of these tea estates are home to century-old heritage bungalows and living there is a unique experience.No reason why this should not work in the southern states as well, for places like Munnar 
Useful links:
10 agri destinations in  India you should not miss
18 Farmstays in India to Get Back to Nature