Context: The massive reverse migration of people from urban areas to villages ever since lockdown was imposed due to COVID-19 has put focus on the Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) scheme of the Centre with several experts suggesting that time is now ideal to go for full-fledged implementation of the ambitious scheme.
Key Points

• ARYA scheme is presently being implemented in 100 districts in the country on an experimental basis. 
• Such a scheme had been taken up particularly in the wake of a majority of rural youth shunning agriculture and migrating to cities in search of menial jobs.
• The main intention of the scheme was to turn agriculture and allied sectors into attractive and profit-making proposition for the rural youth.
• The benefits of the scheme are not confined to rural youth alone as the country’s food and nutritional security would be taken care of if vibrancy of farming sector is ensured by attracting youth and pressure on urban areas is reduced by checking migration.
• The scheme is being implemented through Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which will in turn involve several scientific institutions as technology partners.

The objectives of ARYA Scheme are

• To increase the profitability of Agriculture.
• To improve the quality of life in Rural Areas.
• To transform Youths especially Rural into Agricultural Entrepreneurs.
• To implement scientific methods of farming in Agriculture.
• To increase production in Agriculture allied activities.

Implementation: ARYA is to be implemented by Krishi Vigyan Kendras which each would train around 200-300 youths. These youths will be trained in Farming, Bee Keeping, Dairy & Poultry Farming, Cattle rearing etc. and will be helped in getting Loans from Banks.
Negative impacts of the Scheme

• It will train youth for Agriculture while the Manufacturing sector requires more young workers.
• It’s prime focus is on Rural youths. Giving vocational training to them may result in a dropout in Higher Education by them.
• The Attraction and Retention of Youth in Agriculture is though launched with good intention, It may result in keeping the Rural youth backward and away from the Mainstream. 
• Therefore, an equal emphasis should be given on training the Urban Youths who, with their deep pockets and better learning abilities can not only increase the land holding size but can also increase the share of agriculture in the overall GDP.