Relationship between profile of youngsters and their attitude towards millet consumption in Parbhani district

This study was conducted in Parbhani district of Maharashtra with the aim to study the attitude of youngsters (15-29 years) towards millet consumption. Three tehsils, Parbhani, Manwat, and Gangakhed, were chosen randomly. A total of twelve villages were chosen, and from each village, ten participants were purposively chosen, constituting a sample size of 120 participants. The research design adopted was ex post facto. Statistical tools like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation were used for data analysis.

Most of the participants (57.50%) belonged to the young teenage group (21-25 years), followed by 25% in the young adult group (26 and above), and (17.50%) were aged upto 20 years. Most of the participants (59.16%) were graduates, followed by 33.33% with high school education and (7.5%) with middle-level education. A larger proportion of participants were male (70.83%), while 29.16% were female. 55.83% of participants belonged to nuclear families, while (21.66%) with large families. Most of the participants (59.16%) had medium annual income (Rs. 1,53,043-4,82,957), followed by (22.50%) in the high-income category and (18.33%) in the low-income group. In terms of media exposure, (58.33%) had medium exposure, (40.83%) had high exposure, and only (1.2%) had low exposure. 28.33% of participants’ parents were engaged in farming, followed by farming + business (21.66%) and private jobs (18.33%). About social participation, 25% were members of single organisation, 30% were members of more than one organisation, and 45% were office holders.

As for their attitude towards millet consumption, the majority (57.50%) of the participants showed a moderately favourable attitude, (25.83%) had a less favourable attitude, and (16.66%) had a highly favourable attitude. A positive and significant relationship was found between age, mass media exposure, and social participation with the attitude of youngsters. Other variables such as education, gender, family type, family size, parental occupation, and annual income exhibited a positive but non-significant relationship.

The major constraints reported in millet consumption were the high cost of millets compared to cereals (100%), cultural preferences (95.83%), unappealing taste and texture (81.66%), limited recipes and cooking methods (80.83%), lack of marketing (30.83%), and poor availability in local markets (13.33%).