ENHANCING RURAL LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH AND WOMEN OF SOUTH TAMIL NADU THROUGH PALMYRA PALM AND GUM ARABIC TREE

Rural was the backbone of our motherland. Agriculture and allied sectors are absolutely the largest livelihood source in the rural areas of India. Tamil Nadu has traditionally been an agricultural state, while its advances in other fields launched the state into competition with other areas. Nearly 70 percent of the country's population lives in rural areas report from the latest census. Unemployment and poverty are inextricably linked in that one can't be decoupled from the other. Unemployment is the major cause of poverty. The current situation in rural areas monsoon failure, mechanization, agriculture diversification, increased urbanization, decrease in the agricultural land and some other facts to create a large number of landless and unemployment youth and women in the rural areas of south Tamil Nadu. It is a complex issue, about which there are increasing concerns and arguments but based on the research very little. In this scenario, this paper mainly focuses on the usage of Palmyra palm and Gum Arabic tree and to create livelihood opportunities for landless and also securing farming opportunities in Tamil Nadu. It will shed light on how the increase employment and reducing poverty and also livelihood opportunities for landless people, especially youth and women and its implication on rural livelihood in the near future.