An ideal platform to educate farmers

Punganuru: Karshaka Vani, a novel broadcasting service launched by a civil society organisation- Dhaan Foundation- a year ago is proving to be a hit among the farming community. The NGO is capitalizing on the potential of communication technology to reach out to the farmers and clearing their doubts on farming. The farmers can communicate their doubts through their mobile phones and the responses to their questions are aired by Karshak Vani on 90.4 FM radio station. As a result, the farmers are now able to get advice while working in their fields.

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for many people in Punganuru mandal of Chittoor district. The land is suitable for raising commercial crops. The farmers of the area have seen hay days as well as crop failures. Therefore, the NGO contacted experts on dissemination of agriculture information via mobiles, which every farmer owns nowadays, and submitted a proposal to the World Bank. The World Bank cleared their proposal and sanctioned funds for the project. The 90.4 FM radio station has also become an ideal platform for officials to clear farmers' doubts.

In fact, the farmers are getting instantaneous responses to their questions. In addition to agriculture programmes, Karshak Vani also airs spiritual and cultural programmes in tune with the tastes of the farmers. Besides question and answer session, the programme also airs information on subsidies, amenities and government schemes available to farmers.

T Jagadish Kumar