At a time when the changing scenario in agriculture sector requires training, education and maximum use of technology, farmers feel that the proposed Kisan TV channel should focus on these issues.

The Union Budget for 2014-15 has earmarked ₹100 crore for setting up a television channel dedicated to farm and allied sector.

P Anantharamakrishna, a young farmer from Peruvai village of Dakshina Kannada district, told BusinessLine that every farmer can’t go and visit the good farms and agri enterprises that he/she is interested to see.

“The proposed channel can be a good medium in this regard. It should include various agricultural practices and modern techniques and mechanisation. This will save valuable time, effort and money of the farmer,” he said.

Pest information

Prabhakar Mayya, a progressive farmer from Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, said that one of the major problems being faced by the farmers is the attack of diseases and pests on crops in their field. The programmes should focus on identifying such problems and controlling them. This should be done at the farmers’ field rather than recording at studio-level, he said. Marketing the produce is a major problem several times. The lack of information on the market conditions such as price, availability/lack of stock, etc is a reason for this. The channel should focus on providing information of a particular crop from local level to the national and to international level, he said.

Anantharamakrishna said that it would be better if the channel shows hourly update of all agriculture commodity prices.

Shyam Bhat, an expert in farm broadcasting, said that the content should focus more of marketing, processing and modern technologies.

Multilingual

However, a survey needs to be done first as the number of viewers of Doordarshan may differ from State to State, he said.

Mayya said that the channel should give importance for telecasting programmes in regional languages, rather than Hindi or English. This will help reach people faster.

The regional language content should focus more on the region-specific crops in different climatic zones. He said that separate channels for different languages may yield results.

Bhat suggested that there be advisory committees at local levels as a link between those involved in content creation and farmers. Such committees should review the contents at least once in a month.

24-hr channel

Mahesh K, a farmer from Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, said that the channel should plan programmes in such a manner that programmes suit the farmers’ schedule. Farmers can’t sit and watch TV like a reality show or ‘saas bahu’ serial viewer does, he said. Mayya also expressed such a view.

New thinking

Dhandayudapani, who looks after his father’s land in Coimbatore after a stint abroad in a software company, said that one should not wait for a TV channel to address their issues, but get connected on social media for better understanding.

Mayya said that there should be a sort of ‘kisan paatshala’ or a classroom kind of a programme. It should focus on the practices to be followed for a crop. It will also help initiate those interested to venture into this area.

Anantharamakrishna said that the presence of an exclusive agriculture channel will help those without agricultural background to learn how food is grown and marketed, and its positive and negative aspects. This will also help promote agriculture as a good career option, he said.

Sources in TNAU in Coimbatore said that they have a ready list of successful stories, which they have uploaded on their ePortal. This would come in handy for use, should such a channel come live.

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