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Success Stories of All India RadioGrace Kujur, M.N. JhaB.N. Chaudhary, D.C. Kabdal, V.S. Deepkumar, R.C. Singh, P.A. Deshmukh

© Prasar Bharti, Directorate General , All India Radio, New Delhi, 2009Produced & Published by :Audience Research Unit, Directorate General ,All India Radio, New Delhi,Designed and Printed by Brijbasi Art Press Ltd., A-81, Sector-5, Noida-201301Ph. : 95-120-2423846/47/48

CONTENTSFOREWORDPREFACEiiiiCHAPTERSI. Some Musings on Development Communication 1II. Evolution of Content and Format 5III. Kisanvani Project in Execution 11IV. Success Stories : An Overview 31V. Radio Moving with Time 149AppendixList of Contributors 153Bibliography 155Kisanvani Stations where feedback study conducted 157

PREFACERadio has been a witness to the course of development of India as an institution ofcommunication given to catalyze the process of change on the one hand and as an upholderas well as preserver of a vibrant cultural heritage on the other. In the process of doing so,it has relentlessly evolved to its present state creating many a milestones of history ofachievement and accomplishment. The relevance of radio in the process of socialdevelopment and change has always been robust primarily because of its innate strengthto be in tune with time. The crafts and techniques of information dissemination havemeticulously addressed the social realities of respective time in its long course of publicservice and the impact has been discernible in different realms of life.Involvement of radio with the green revolution of seventies was so intense and extensivethat some strain of rice advocated by it in Tanjaur down south came to be called as 'radiorice'. Similarly, in other parts of the country, development support communication wasdevised and conducted through the portrayal of situations in consonance with social realities.The dynamics of change in a society so captured for information dissemination led to themaking of such programmes as 'Loha Singh' of All India Radio, Patna, among variousothers by different stations in the country, that passed into history as legends.Drawing on the strength of radio and social acceptability through time, the Ministry ofAgriculture, Govt. of India started an ambitious programme in collaboration with All IndiaRadio to reach farmers at the grass roots level with desirable messages. The idea was toempower the farmers through requisite information and to bring about necessary changein farm practices and allied activities so as to provide the necessary push to agriculture asa crucial sector of Indian economy. The length and breadth of the country was coveredthrough as many as 96 radio transmitters and production centers spread over differentparts of the country. Innovatively planned special broadcast called 'Kisanvani' went on airfrom these centers and concurrent evaluation was done by the Audience Research Unitsof All India Radio to gauge its impact on the end users. Needless to say that severalsuccess stories were documented in different parts of the country as a qualitative exercisealongside the quantitative scrutiny in order to figure out its impact on listeners. The successstories being glaring revelations of change as a consequence of communication interventionat farmer's level have been put in a perspective in order to show the relevance and strengthiii

of radio as an instrument of promoting change. The success stories reveal more than hasbeen said in them and will probably serve as a useful benchmark of development supportcommunication for agriculture in the country for further understanding. In a country likeIndia where majority of the people depend on agriculture and allied activities for sustenancedespite its dwindling share in the gross domestic product and where literacy remains yet tobe fully realized, the place of radio as an effective and cogent communicator given to theobjectives of development is safely ensure. The need is and has always been to reinventand reorient its methods of communication in accordance with the changes in social realities.Radio has been doing so all along and its undiminished relevance holds on through thevicissitudes of change.I express my sincere gratitude to Sh. B.S.Lalli, CEO Prasar Bharati who took keeninterest in Kisanvani programme by providing invaluable suggestions during the executionof this project. I am deeply indebted to Ms. Noreen Naqvi, DG, AIR who inspired meimmensely in taking up this endevour to a successful end. I owe my thanks to Smt.GraceKujur, DDG (Programme & AR) who not only provided leadership that guided and inspiredthe Programme Producers and Researchers across the country but acted as a lifeline tothe whole exercise. I sincerly acknowledge my gratitude to DDGs Ms. V. Sekhose, Sh. G.Jayalal, Sh. A.K. Padhi and Ms. T. Dolkar who took keen interest in Kisanvani Project. Myall thanks are due to Ministry of Agruculture & Co-operation, Govt. of India for providingfinancial support to this experiment.Dr.Brahmanand Chaudhary, Programme Executive, immensely contributed by givingconceptual frame work to the endeavour alongwith required editorial contributions. Withouthis painstaking effort, I would not have even dared to takeup this challenging work. Mycolleagues Dr.Deep Kumar, P.A.Deshmukh, R.C.Singh, D.C.Kabdal, S.S.Reddy,Dr.S.C.Ghosal, S.C.Panda, Ramesh Babu, R.C.Agarwal, Smt.Shobha Mittal, S.N.Mishra,V.R.Hari, being associated with this project always provided me with their invaluable cooperationand I am thankful to all of them for standing by me with critical support.Place : New DelhiM.N Jhaiv

Chapter-ISOME MUSINGS ON DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNICATIONCommunication has been central to human life. Sharing of emotions, feelings, needs,aspirations and evolution of a social order – from simple to complex – have all gone together.The process has, in fact, been complimentary. Mass society resulted in the formation ofmass aspirations and the means to approach them have been the mass media. The societypresented itself with typical diversity and uniqueness and hence the challenge before themass media over the years to continuously evolve and create a dynamic social-fit.Radio as a mass medium has had its own course of evolution and comes to be acceptedas a means to support the efforts of development in a modernizing society. The support tothe efforts of social and governmental institutions has, in turn, undergone changes and theattempt to trace the course of such changes has to be truly creative, thoughtful, imaginativeand above all reflective of reality.In keeping with the respective social objectives, the concern of radio has been to aidthe process of changing lives of those who exist on the margins of development. Differingperceptions of development potential at different times needed to be unbundled leading todevising of commensurate communication strategies within the typical developmentframework.The simplistic notion of putting technology in the driver’s seat of growth became shakywhen the planners of modernization faced the complexity of events taking place in typicalsocio-cultural contexts and found themselves woefully lacking in effecting control overthem. Obviously, some factors, such as the role of traditional as well as modern socioeconomicinstitutions along with the perceived constraints presented by given socio-politicalstructures came to be recognized as potent variables that conditioned the effectiveness of1

media strategies.In India too, as in many other developing countries of the subcontinent, the socioeconomicinequalities characterized by skewed distribution of wealth and economicresources, social status, political power, etc., the society appeared to be apparently dividedinto haves and have-nots.As a consequence, the already privileged benefited more from the new opportunitiescreated by developmental schemes and hence the content and meaning of developmentsupport communication underwent further changes. With time, participation in the processof development increased and the development communication also grew alongside onthe new foothold of participation. Democratization of communication strategies becamethe key and harnessing of human potential through access to good health, education,housing, food and creation of a culture and environment that guaranteed freedom, humanrights, personal self respect, etc. became the objectives to be pursued. By implication, thediversities needed to be addressed through participation and democratic decision makingprocess. The Dag Hammerskjold Foundation has been the pioneer of an alternativeconceptualization which they called Another Development based on social needs, selfreliance, ecology and structural transformation. It holds development as a relative termand as a process that will differ from society to society. Basically, it also boils down to grassroots participation and calls for a change in the process of communication.Daniel Learner in The Passing of Traditional Society published as far back as 1958gave an account of how the West modernized and in the process showed the directrelationship between urbanization and growth in literacy as well as mass media exposureleading to higher income and voting. Lerner’s postulates were not corroborated bysubsequent developments. It was revealed in a UNESCO study that national developmentindicators had a strong correlation with those of a truly developed media infrastructure butthe development of mass media itself was related to numerous other factors in society.Wilbur Schramm also in his book Mass Media and National Development published in1964 seemed to be influenced by Learner and held that media could prepare masses forwidespread change. But he did not factor in the presence and interplay of so many otherforces operating in a given social system and their influence on media effectiveness.During 1960s, Diffusion school of social change found that early adopters of innovationin a society constitute a minority and are invariably higher in education and socio-economic2

status. They found the mass media useful in carrying the majority laggards to awarenessto interest to trial at an increased pace.The course of events shifted towards rural development in the Third World countries inthe 1960s and advantage of radio being broad based and low cost came to be dulyrecognized. The focus shifted from content to incorporation of audience research into theframeworks and designs of communication. Further research belied the commonly heldnotion that television, empowered by visuals, as a medium of awareness creation, had anadvantage over other media of communication. Being cost effective and more accessible,the suitability of radio for ushering in the era of mass participation as a means and massparticipation as an end was deeply entrenched in this period.Realizing the contribution of radio towards reaching new agricultural technologies tofarmers of United States of America in 1966, the then Union Minister of Agriculture BharatRatna C. Subramaniam played an instrumental role in introducing Farm & Home Units atseven All India Radio (AIR) stations in the country. This marked the beginning of a new eraof farm broadcasting in India. A number of factors, however, led to this decision of creatinga specialized farm broadcasting service in AIR.The objective condition to utilize the services of All India Radio was the launch ofIntensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP), which aimed at providing a package ofscientifically evolved and proven agricultural practices to farmers in selected districts ofthe country. It became imperative that the scheme be supported by strong agricultureinformation service. Besides creating Information Centers in IADP districts, it was decidedthat seven Farm & Home Units be located near these centers. In course of time the numberof such units was increased to sixty across the country. From the day it was started, thefarm & home programmes of AIR were felt to be enormously powerful and effective torealize the objective of the betterment of farming community.AIR has played a significant part in bringing new technology in agriculture to the doorsteps of farmers by providing desirable support to various training and functional literacyprogrammes of the Ministry of Agriculture & Education.All India Radio purposefully supported the Intensive Agricultural District Programmeand advocated various improved strains of crops for the farmers of different geo-climaticconditions of the country. The advocacy, gained considerable credibility among farmers asthe broadcasts were duly supported by suitable linkages at the ground level. The magnitude3

of farmer’s response and faith in radio extension could be gauged from the fact that ADT27 variety of improved paddy grown by Tanjaur farmers came to be known as ‘Radio Rice’.A novel experiment called “Radio Rural Forum” was jointly sponsored by the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting and UNESCO. All India Radio, Pune organized some listenergroups comprising 15-20 people each in 150 villages of 5 districts of Maharashtra, viz.Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, North Satara and Kolhapur. The scheme was hailed as atremendous success and gradually extended to the whole country. Further, anotherexperiment called the “Charcha Mandal” for training the farmers was initiated and organizedby the Ministry of Agriculture and it was also found to be a wonderful success as more thannineteen thousand Mandals were organized in quick time and qualitative interactions wereenlisted.Farm School of AIR was one of the most innovative devices based on intensivetraining modules on specific agricultural and allied subjects. The listeners were registeredfor each of the specialized courses. After undergoing the listening, the participating farmerswere made to sit through an examination to ensure the extent of knowledge transfer. Thesuccessful trainees were rewarded with suitable prizes. Altogether 1,200 farmers registeredthemselves at AIR Bangalore, 950 at AIR Delhi, 30,000 at AIR Cuttack, over 54,000 atSambalpur, nearly 7,200 at Trichur, 9,529 at Rajkot and 6,682 at Madras. Farm Schools onAIR soon became very popular and studies carried out by various agencies revealed itsconsiderable impact on the cropping pattern of the area. But the effectiveness of farmprogrammes of All India Radio in the 70s and 80s, by and large, depended on the evolutionof contents and formats relating to the social reality of different cultural contours of thecountry. An attempt has been made in the following chapter to ascertain as to how thecontents and formats of farm broadcast evolved in AIR and enriched the process ofdevelopment communication in the context of India as a whole.4

Chapter-IIEVOLUTION OF CONTENTAND FORMATCommunication contents and formats for radio have evolved over the years inaccordance with the popular aspirations and felt needs of society. Rooted in typically distinctcultural settings and being influenced by the modernizing social traditions unleashed by ahost of factors, such as adoption of new techniques of development, creation andstrengthening of democratic institutions at grass roots level, provisioning of new ruralinfrastructure, increasing migration in search of new avenues of prosperity, etc., severalnew and imaginative formats of broadcast emerged. The evolution of characters in theseformats has also been in tune with respective times symbolizing social requirements andthe urge for change.Emergence of Loha Singh, the central character of a radio play of the same nameoriginated and broadcast from All India Radio, Patna has been a typical example of masssocial appeal and enormous potential for communication designed for awakening andchange. Born in the wake of Indo-Chinese war of 1962, the character of Loha Singh hasbeen a soldier speaking in Bhojpuri liberally mixed with Hindi and English words makingalchemy of the medium of communication. This perhaps is also borne out by some significantsocio-economic reasons. The migrants in the then Bihar maintained a strong link with theirhomes in villages and were looked forward to with great inquisitiveness and credibility. Thebackground of this character as an ex-serviceman bringing in new ideas of higher socialorder posed against the supporting characters from village conditions taking such contentswith sheer surprise and putting them through social scrutiny before changing their oldnotions provided enough for the programme to succeed. Incidentally, the Bhojpuri speakingareas of Bihar at that point of time probably had the largest number of out-migrants and5

hence the character of Loha Singh, itself an out-migrant ex-serviceman in tune with socialreality and making the communication effective. It is needless to say that the whole ofBihar paused at the time of broadcast of this serial play through which the messages ofinnovative agricultural practices were communicated.Distinct social realities in different parts of India facilitated the emergence of typicallyeffective broadcast formats giving birth to characters that had a space in such societiesand enough potential to survive through time. In the process, they establishedcommunications aimed at the requirements of the moment that transpired credibility aswell.‘Radio rice’ in Tanjaur has been a famous example of agricultural intervention in thesouthern part of India. Playing a catalytic role, radio proved tremendously helpful inpropagating new techniques in agriculture and hastening adoption by farmers. In conjunctionwith other agencies operating at the ground level and forming critical linkages in realizationof Green Revolution objectives, radio broadcast formats evolved out of social reality andunfolded characters that stirred the soul of listeners, as also of the potential adopters, somuch so that the much touted rice by AIR Tanjaur came to be called as ‘Radio Rice’. Thebackground of this success story was that agriculture Research station at Adutharai nearTiruchirapalli invented a new variety of paddy called ADT 27 which gave a yield of 40 bagsper acre as against 20 bags per acre obtained through other traditional varieties. Radioprogrammes advocated the objective purpose of adoption of this strain of paddy and helpedthe agriculture extension workers a great deal to explain to the farmers about the newlydeveloped variety in various stages of social adoption and catalyzed by radio. The strainunderwent trial by some early enthusiasts. The grain at the field level hastened the processof general adoption and in the final analysis the role of radio was prominently underlined.Farmers identified this crop as “Radio Paddy” (Radio Nel) and subsequently ADT 27 became“Radio Nel” for all practical purposes. While inaugurating DTH services of Prasar Bhartithe Prime Minister of India rightly referred to the role of AIR quoting as “I recall Indiraji’sfamous speech in which she described how some farmers had labelled a particular highyielding variety of paddy as Radio Rice. They were not aware of the name give to it by theagricultural scientists, but had identified it as “radio rice” because they adopted that varietyafter hearing about it on the radio.”The radio communication format that addressed the cause and sustained the campaign6

turned out to be a dramatized conversation for practical purposes between husband andwife which dealt with petty domestic issues and subsequent intervention of an elderly personwith appropriable solution such as identification of better cropping pattern, use of fertilizers,pesticides, etc. With these, the problems were resolved. Such messages of developmentin those days were widely debated and gradually accepted by radio listeners in Tamilnadu.The presentation and style of farm broadcasting in Orissa has been unique. It includedstock characters which developed intimacy with villagers and conveyed the messages in acaptivating way. Such stock characters like Pandya, Mania, Time, Shree Charan, etc. havebeen treasured in the hearts of rural listeners. Bhikari Bhaina, Broja Baba (Pradhan),Pyarimohan, Badri, Bhatra (Maiye), Pati and Dhal (Adhikari) have all been exceptional andhave since formed the pillars of farm broadcast in Orissa.In central India, AIR stations such as Bhopal, Indore, Raipur and Nagpur targeted thefarm communities for education in almost identical fashion. The focus of communicationwas innovation in agriculture suitable across different agro-ecological conditions of theregion. The common element in the process of communication was the local ‘dialect’. Forinstance, “Barsati Bhaiya” at AIR Raipur interacted with his farmers in Chhatisgarhi whereas“Shankar Bhaiya” of AIR Bhopal communicated in Bundeli, the local folk dialect. Thepopularity of farm programmes of AIR Indore is still alive among the elderly persons ofMalwa. People in the region recall Lachhu Kaka (the old man of the village), Master ji (thevillage school teacher) and Ramji (a farmer) for their contributions in imparting knowledgeto the farm communities of Malwa region.AIR Nagpur introduced agriculture programme in the name of “Gram Panchayat” andcreated stock characters like Daji (Kaka Kulkarni), Khandujee (Dattopant Deo), Sripat (VasantVaidya) and Masterjee (Manohar Rao Kholkante). The creation of such stock characterswas based on social facts. For instance, Khandujee, a character created in the farmprogramme is as popular as the god of agricultural activities in the Vidarbha region ofMaharashtra. Similarly ‘Daji’ denoting the elderly person of family and ‘Masterjee’ the villageschool teacher, both of them commanding the highest level of respect in those days wereused as stock characters for communicating the developmental messages effectively.Because of their celebrity values in the prevailing social system of Maharashtra, Khandujee,Daji and Masterjee remained popular idols among the farming community. In course oftime, one more stock character ‘Nana’ was introduced in the farm programme. Chandrasheker7

Varahapade in the role of ‘Nana’ is still remembered by rural folk with high respect andnostalgia. Another programme entitled ‘Maz Ghar Maz Wawar’ of AIR Nagpur farmer’sforum evoked overwhelming response of the audience. The canvas of farm programme ofAIR Nagpur was further widened with the introduction of another programme ‘Gokul’ targetingrural women. The stock characters of the programme Mhodba (Sri Baben Nakhade), Manjula(Smt. Veena Kulkarni), Baija (Smt. Anuradha Joshi), Bajba (Sri Anil Deshmukh) have allbeen so popular as to evoke frequent references in typical family and social situations.The Krishiranga of AIR Bangalore, a very popular farm-based programmecommunicating a sizeable listenership in rural areas, finds the characters of Thimmanna,Gudanna, Boranna and Rajanna. Kannadigan use suffixes like anna, ayya, appa, etc. inthe names given to individuals. These suffixes are also added with the names of deitiesand new born babies being given such names is a commonplace in rural Karnataka. Thecharacter planning of Krishiranga in accordance with such practices added easyacceptability, identification and credence to the programme. Thimanna means LordHanuman and Boranna is the name given to Lord Shiva. These are the presiding deities insubstantial parts of rural Karnataka and very popular individual names in Bangalore, Mandya,Mysore, Hassan and Kolar districts, the primary coverage zone of AIR Bangalore. SimilarlyKannadigas address the young and the intimate as Gunda or Raja. Rajanna and Gundappahave thus become common individual names in Karnataka. The characters in the programmeKrishiranga, therefore, bear close correspondence with rural social life and aid the processof communication. Cast in a dramatized form, the programme Krishiranga has addresseda wide variety of social issues in the past and it continues to attract sizeable listenersthrough innovative efforts.All India Radio Jallandhar had similarly earned a place in the hearts of Punjab, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh and Jammu peasants. A programme called ‘Unnat Kheti’ in the form ofa dialogue between the aged tradition-minded farmer father and his educated young sonchampioning new methods of cultivation touched the height of popularity creatingoverwhelming listener support in favour of the opinions of the young son. Based on theprevailing social reality of the Punjab and the adjoining regions leading the way of thecountry in adoption of new farming ideas and techniques, the communication formatsdisseminating developmental messages gave birth to characters such as Munshi - theknowledgeable, Chacha Kamedan - a humorous character, Fauji Singh - a defenceemployee, Nambardar - a village level govt. worker, etc. Communication on developmental8

issues through these characters proved effective and useful and commanded socialcredibility as well. These characters used colloquial language interspersed with local idiomsand phrases making the programme interesting, effective, and sustainable. The green andwhite revolutions in this region derived tremendous support from the relevant programmesof AIR, Jallandhar. The characters of Loha Singh, Barsati Bhaiya, Nandajee, Shree Charan,Shankar Bhaiya, Chacha Kamedan and Khandujee as created and established by AIRPatna, Raipur, Indore, Cuttack, Bhopal, Jallandhar and Nagpur respectively later foundtheir appropriate extensions from sixties through early eighties. They remained relevantfor carrying messages until the social realities in respective areas kept correspondencewith the meanings and emotions of these characters.Liberalization of Indian economy in the middle of nineties had a definite impact ofmigration from rural areas to major developing urban centres resulting in a major changein rural social structure. Joint family system received a set back and slowly began to yieldto nuclear family norm. Economic change coupled with developments in radio technologymade access to broadcast affordable to a huge middle class in rural society. Such a socioeconomictransformation had a considerable impact on radio listenership pattern in thevillages. Radio listening habits at community centres, village chaupals or village librariesalmost vanished during this period. The transformation of rural society and changes in thecomposition of economy provided further impetus to evolution taking place in the format,content and character planning of radio broadcasts. The changes in society have not beeneven and spatial distribution of the gains of liberalisation may also have been lopsided.The social characters have, therefore, presented themselves with significant diversity acrossvarious regions of the country. The rural broadcast formats and characters used todisseminate the desirable messages aimed at well directed and carefully calibratedobjectives also evolved accordingly and kept pace with the degree and tenor of socialchange. The diversity in the scheme of character planning, selection of social issues forbeing addressed and commensurate formats for content treatment may be seen acrossthe length and breadth of the country. Radio in order to sustain its listenership and tomaintain its relevance with popular needs and aspirations has been on course of continuouschange and evolution. In doing so, it has gained some new ground from other media whereasyielded some to others. It has amalgamated roles to better effect, diminished the barriersof interaction with listeners through various innovative mechanisms. Technology, by far,has been a crucial factor in the qualitative expansion of radio and at the same time9

enlightenment of listeners through recognition of their valuable feedbacks to modify theprogramming content has been another high point of its successes achieved in variousareas including development communication.Today nearly 14 crore radio sets are distributed among 20 crore households in Indiawhich clearly indicates that community radio listening at village chaupal is almost decaying.Listening has been increasingly becoming exclusive and more personal than ever before.In a scenario like this, it is really interesting as well as challenging for radio broadcasters toevolve new formats of individual listening for communicating developmental messages.The ongoing project Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension jointly launched by theMinistry of Agriculture & Co-operation, Govt. of India and Prasar Bharati is yet anothereffort to re-emphasise the relevance of radio as a medium of development communicationin the face of changing social reality of India.10

Chapter-IIIKISANVANI PROJECTIN EXCUTIONUse of mass media infrastructure and Information Communication Technology (ICT)tools are likely to be very significant and critical in successfully rendering the extensionservices to the farmers at large in order to achieve the adoption of required technology andsuitable agricultural practices.The Tenth Five Year Plan document of the Planning Commission of India recognizingthe problems of the extension sector states:"The Agriculture extension machinery and information support in most statesseem to have become outmoded. The staff created under the World Bank assistedTraining and Visits (T & V) programme do not have much mobility. The need torevamp the extension services in the country by using print and electronic media andinformation technology along with the involvement of the private sector is being feltincreasingly. The private sector, especially the input agencies and traders, are nowsome of the main sources of information for the farmers. Radio, television and theprint media have become powerful means of education and technology dissemination".Over the last few years mass media has seen a phenomenal growth in this countryboth in terms of reach and advance in technology. This medium has not been exploited toits full potential for the purpose of extension. A concerted and well coordinated effort nowneeds to be made to use the electronic media in the agricultural extension strategy. Arecent study done by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) for the Ministry ofAgriculture, Government of India has revealed that compared to departmental sources orsources like State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs), thefarmers were getting higher degree of information from the print and electronic media.According to the study, whereas about 31% farmers were getting regular information relating11

How useful these agricultural programmes are for the farming community of the countryand what are their felt needs from mass media, can be analyzed from the various kinds offeedbacks being collected from the audience on these programmes. This project aims atdoing such an analysis based on the data sourced from the Audience Research Units ofboth All India Radio and Doordarshan in Prasar Bharati, arriving at findings about the kindof role mass media can play in the field of agriculture and ascertaining ways as to how thisrole could be further strengthened and expanded.GenesisPopularity of radio and television as an effective means of communication among thefarming community formed the backdrop of the beginning of a unique collaboration betweenthe Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and Prasar Bharati, the public servicebroadcaster of the country, in the area of interactive communication aimed at ascertaining,examining and leading to solution of the issues relating to farm and allied activities at thegrass roots level. The responsibility of producing and broadcasting area specific programmeson agriculture and allied activities for this experiment was given to All India Radio andDoordarshan. Although All India Radio has been dedicated to the service of farmingcommunity since the very beginning of its 'Farm and Home Unit' in 1966, it embarked onthe new initiative to turn the hardcore agriculture programme into the voice of farmers,i.e. 'Kisanvani' from 15th February, 2004. Initially, the programme started on a trial basisfrom 12 AIR FM stations for the duration of half an hour spread over six days a week. Itspopularity led to the extension of Kisanvani Programme from 24 stations since April 2004and further from 96 stations from 3rd December, 2004. Now all the Local Radio Stations(LRS) of All India Radio along with some primary channel stations spread over the lengthand breadth of the country have been producing and broadcasting Kisanvani Programme.The thrust of Kisanvani Programme is to educate the farmers on the subjects such asdiversified cropping pattern, advance agricultural practices, animal husbandry, poultryfarming, fisheries, horticulture, rural banking & self employment schemes and other alliedactivities.Kisanvani encompasses a wide spectrum of formats having almost all the ingredientsof a good agriculture programme, like 'Aaj ki Khabrein' (news of the day), 'Aaj Ka Bazar'(today's market), 'Aaj ka Mausam' (weather information), 'Aaj Ki Batein' (special mention ofthe day), 'Aaj Ke Kisan' (the farmer of today, interview based) and 'Desh Videsh' (newsfrom the country and abroad). Moreover, it is different from the conventional Farm andHome Programme of AIR in its approach and focus; the approach being narrowcastingand need-based, covering the specific agro-climatic zone and focussed on field-based13

activities. About 90% of the programmes are recorded in the field itself instead of thefarmers and experts being invited to the studios. Kisanvani Programmes are being broadcastin all the major languages and dialects spoken in the coverage area.Concurrent Evaluation: An Action ResearchStudies suggest that diffusion of knowledge, skills and innovations among the targetbeneficiaries may not be effective unless the programmes are produced according to theneeds and expectations of the farming community. In view of this, the provision of gatheringweekly feedback from the target audience was included as an essential component of theKisanvani experiment. This gigantic task of conducting weekly feedback studies in 96 AIRstations spread over 24 states and 3 Union Territories across the country was assigned tothe Audience Research Unit of All India Radio, which has a wide network of AudienceResearch Units all over the country having the expertise and experience of over five decadesof communication research. The weekly feedback study started from 12th December 2005covering 85 AIR stations, which later on increased to 92 AIR stations from January 2008.The main objective of this feedback survey is to ascertain the information requirementof the farmers and to identify the gap between the information supplied and the informationrequired. The methodology being used in this study is quite innovative and different fromthe conventional one generally followed in development communication research. Insteadof following the sample survey methodology, action research technique has been adopted.The idea behind this is to facilitate a classroom situation for beneficiaries wherein the fieldbasedresearchers duly record their difficulties and expectations and appropriate solutionsare provided through regular radio broadcasts. The radio owning farmers of the village areinformed by the interviewers one day in advance to listen to the Kisanvani programme andoffer their views on the issues dealt with. They encourage group listening of Kisanvaniprogramme followed by discussion of the problems of farmers by staying together withthem in the village during the broadcast as a participant observer. On the second day ofthe broadcast, the interviewers take the interviews of those farmers who listened to theprogramme and record their responses in the partially structured survey schedule. Besidesthe formal interviews, they also record the reactions of farmers in their field diaries whilefarmers remain busy in listening and discussing various topics related to their farmingneeds.The sample is selected randomly covering two villages per week for each radio stationand 10 farmers from every village. Thus, 1840 farmers from 184 villages located all overthe country are interviewed every week. The coverage area and households are changed14

every week. Only those farmer-households are selected randomly who are having radiosets in working condition. Persons aged 18 years and above are selected for interview.Adequate representation is given to female respondents; at least 30% respondents areselected from amongst the females.It may perhaps be one of the biggest samples ever taken up for a communicationstudy being conducted by any media research organisation in the country. Presently, thefeedback survey is being conducted at 92 AIR stations spread over 24 states and 2 UnionTerritories. In a span of two years and 4 month, (from 12th December, 2005 to 31st March,2008) about 1, 64,000 farmers were interviewed from 16,400 villages.Study findings are compiled at two stages; at individual AIR station level and atDirectorate General, AIR, Headquarters level. The data collected through survey scheduleis transferred to coding sheet which are sent to Headquarters for compilation. The datacompilation is done with the help of offline computer software developed by the RegionalMobile Unit, AIR Delhi and Online Audience Feedback System developed by the IT Divisionof DG, AIR. The data at station level is compiled on fortnightly basis by the concernedAudience Research Units being assigned the task of conducting the study and accordinglythe action based feedback reports are submitted to the concerned stations broadcastingKisanvani Programme in order to modify and improve upon the programme to suit theneeds of target audience. In turn, the stations broadcasting the Kisanvani programmeChairperson Smt. Minnie Mathew inaugurating Kisanvani workshop at AIRThiruvananthapuram15

submit action taken report after taking necessary actions in accordance with the suggestionsgiven in the feedback reports to the Directorate General, All India Radio. These ActionTaken Reports compiled at Headquarters are further submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture,Government of India. The experience shows that the mechanism is helping a lot inidentification of gaps between the requirements and supplies of information andascertainment of shortcomings of the programme in terms of formats, contents,timings, etc.Agriculture Commissioner, Andhra Pradesh, Smt. Poonam Malaknodaiahinaugurating Kisanvani workshop at AIR, HyderabadDuring the course of the study, it was felt that merely providing feedback to ProgrammeProducers in statistical terms was not adequate unless the needs and aspirations of farmersas well as the constraints faced by them were discussed face to face and some kind ofinterface was required between the Programme Producers and Researchers (feedbackprovider). With this objective in mind, a series of seven workshops was organized acrossthe country at Jaipur, Indore, Nasik, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, Shillong and Hyderabadduring September-December, 2006. Without reviewing the progress of the project at regularintervals, its continuance is not justified and moreover, there is need to modify the formatsand contents of the programme frequently to suit the requirements of farmers. In order toreview the progress of Kisanvani Programme and to evolve an efficient system of feedback,a number of three-days workshops were further organized during March-July, 2007 at fiveplaces, viz. Jalandhar, Pondicherry, Mysore, Nagpur and Guwahati.16

While interacting with the beneficiaries (farmers), programme producers, researchers,and State & District-level Agriculture Mass Media Committee members, there appeared tobe a lack of adequate coordination and synergy among them. Ministry of Agriculture,Government of India has constituted State and District level Agriculture Mass MediaCommittees to provide guidelines for the development of programming contents and toreview the broadcasts done over the last one month. But, instead of playing proactive role,these committees in most of the states and districts are either defunct or functioning justfor formality sake. Ultimately, the very purpose of forming these committees seems to havebeen defeated. As such, the need of developing coordination and synergy among thestakeholders was felt. To give shape to this thought, several two-day workshops on "Reviewof Kisanvani Programme and Developing Synergy among Stake-holders" were organizedbetween January and April, 2008 at Kolhapur, Raipur, Shantiniketan, Kochi, Aizawl andJammu. These workshops provided a platform to evolve an effective communication strategy.DDG (East) at the Kisanvani workshop at AIR, SantiniketanFurthermore, discussions with the Kisanvani programme producers during the workshoprevealed that most of the District Monitoring Committees were either defunct or functioningwithout involvement of the concerned AIR Stations. In order to sensitize the DistrictMonitoring Committees to play proactive roles in Kisanvani Programme, the audienceresearchers contacted the Nodal officer (DM/Collector) of the respective listening zoneand started making a power point presentations based on the survey findings. These effortsare attracting the attention of the district authorities towards the immediate farm relatedproblems of the farmers.17

services to promote modern agricultural practices by listening to Kisanvani programmeregularly. So far, 700 progressive farmers across the country have been given away thecertificates. This move is creating a ripple effect among the fellow farmers and encouragingthem to listen to Kisanvani programme.Further, with the objective of gauging the level of awareness and the extent oflistening to the programme among general respondents, (i.e. without pre-informing therespondents in advance to listen to the programme), the methodology of the study wasslightly modified from January, 2007 onwards. Now the survey is being conducted amongthe general respondents. But owing to the change in methodology, it may not be possibleto compare the findings of the study conducted among the pre-informed respondents withthat carried out among general respondents. However, year wise variations in the findingsof studies conducted among pre-informed respondents have been analysed in the followingsections. Study findings of general respondents have also been discussed separately.Salient Findings of the StudyPre-informed respondentsThe following are the salient findings of the study carried out among pre-informedrespondents during 2005 and 2006Weekly Reach of KisanvaniThe comparative figures of listening during 2005 and 2006 revealed that regular listening19

increased during 2006 by 5.9% over the previous year. Similarly, frequent listening alsoincreased by 4.2% over the previous year 2005. Overall, there was an increase of weeklyreach (at least once a week) of the programme by 2%. The increase in the listening toKisanvani may be attributed to the increase in the level of awareness due to regular b’castof programme from various stations for the last two and half years. Secondly, regular visitof the casual interviewers in the listening zone and interaction with the farmers has alsoconsiderable impact on the listening to the programme. State-wise, highest regular listeningto Kisanvani was found in Himachal Pradesh(64.7), Bihar(61.9), Haryana(58.6) andKarnataka(50.1) and below the national average in Kerala (9.2), Punjab(23.0)Maharastra(32.3), Uttar Pradesh (35.0) and Jharkhand(38.3) during 2006.Most listened to top five items under Kisanvani Programme20

Comparatively, a slight shift in the listening pattern of various subjects covered underKisanvani programme was observed. For example, the subject 'Loan and subsidy schemeof the Government' which was within the five most listened to topics during 2005 did notfigure in the top five listened to topics during 2006. Similarly, during 2006, highest numberof farmers listened to the topic 'Cultivation of export oriented crops/ cash crops, etc.' whereasduring the preceding year, it had no place in top five most listened to subjects. The reasonfor this shift in the listening trend may be the change in farmers' attitude and priority. Further,it also depends on the kind of programmes broadcast by AIR Stations.Opinion of the farmer on the information/subject matter provided in Kisanvaniprogramme:Majority of the respondents found that the information provided in Kisanvani could bepractised and adopted. Adoption level was found to be higher during 2006 as compared tothe previous year. A very small percentage of farmers could not comprehend the informationprovided in Kisanvani. This percentage further came down slightly during 2006.21

Reasons for adopting the technology/information provided in KisanvaniThere were various reasons for adoption of information provided in Kisanvani. Foremostamong them being that the information provided was very simple and easy to adopt. Thesecond most likely reason for adoption was that it promised to increase the yield/ productionof crops. Both these reasons were cited by the highest percentage of respondents during2005 and 2006. Very few respondents found the reduction in the cost of production as themain reason for adoption.Major bottlenecks in adoptionFarmers have to face many problems while trying to adopt new technology/innovation.The major problem faced by them was that the inputs (like seeds, pesticides, fertilizer, etc.)were not readily available in time. Incidentally, both the years 2005 and 2006 witnessedthe same trend. The other important bottleneck reported by the farmers was that they didnot wish to take risk by adopting new technology/information, particularly reported during2005. From the viewpoint of different states, the major bottlenecks could be enumeratedas inputs not being available in time, farmers not willing to take risk by adopting newpractices giving up the time-tested ones on which they subsisted, etc. during the years2005 and 2006. These being the usual hiccups in adopting new interventions and only the22

handful few being the early adopters, the communication through radio formed the potentialbackdrop in which the demonstration effects of the forerunners in adoption workedconsiderably. The farmer's inclination towards adoption grew over time and remained inpotential wait for further translation into adoption on being spurred by some other influencingfactor. The role of radio was, however, indirectly and gainfully performed in all such casesas well.Topics liked to be covered under Kisanvani ProgrammeThe topic 'loan and subsidy scheme of the government' found the favour of most of therespondents both during 2005 and 2006. In terms of percentage, however, the comparativelistening was higher during 2006. This was followed by the topic 'modern and latestagriculture implements' during 2005 while 'farm seeds and seed production of day-to-dayuse' was the second most liked topic during 2006.23

Most suitable time chunk for Kisanvani Programme:Majority of the farmers preferred to listen to Kisanvani Programme between 7-8 p.mfollowed by the time chunk of 6-7 p.m. Almost all the AIR Stations are broadcasting KisanvaniProgramme between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. This is in keeping with the likings expressed by thelisteners of the programme.24

General respondents:The findings of the study conducted among the general respondents during 2007and 2008 (without informing in advance) are shown in the following charts:Weekly Reach of Kisanvani25

Most listened to top five items under Kisanvani Programme26

Opinion of farmers on the content of Kisanvani programme:Reasons for adopting the technologies/practices advocated in Kisanvani Programme27

Major bottlenecks in adoptionSh. Anis Ahmad, Minister of Dairy Development and Animal Husbandary,Govt. of Maharashtra, addressing Kisanvani workshop at AIR Nagpur28

Topics that the farmers wanted to be covered in Kisanvani ProgrammeSumming-up:Regular listening was found to be higher among the pre-informed respondents ascompared to general respondents. However, not much variation was found in the overalllistening.There was a gap between the information provided (i.e. topics listened to) and theinformation demanded (i.e. topics intended to be listened to) among both the preinformedand general respondents. This gap is being gradually bridged throughmodification in the content and format of the programme in accordance with the needs29

and aspirations of the farmers.Majority of the farmers among both the pre-informed and general respondents felt thatthe information provided in Kisanvani could be actually practiced/ adopted. However,the degree of adoption varied from year to year.The most prominent reason for adopting the technology reported by pre-informedrespondents was that the information /technology given in the Kisnavani was verysimple and easy to adopt/practice while the most prominent reason reported by generalrespondents during 2008 was that ‘It will increase the yield / production’. Thus, theperception of the farmers has changed over the period of time.The study revealed that the Kisanvani programme was slowly but steadily spreading amongnew audience over years. Increase in the intensity of listening was another striking featureof the study as the regular listeners of Kisanvani constituted more than one-third of thetotal audience. Further, in view of the continuous feedback provided to the producers ofKisanvani based on the crucial inputs gained from the unique concurrent evaluation studiesbeing conducted through the course of the programme, discernable improvement in theprogramming quality was observed. However, sustained and continuous efforts are neededto bring about the desired and requisite changes in the knowledge and attitude of farmersleading to adoption of practices that are economically gainful, socially desirable andenvironmentally sustainable. More such collaborative works of media and developmentagencies in future would unravel new possibilities for farmers and impart new tools tomedia research organizations to better understand the dynamics of contemporary socialreality.30

Chapter-IVSUCCESS STORIES : AN OVERVIEWOne of the biggest communication supports ever planned and implemented for aqualitative change in Indian agriculture through public service broadcasters, namely AIRand Doordarshan has yielded invaluable experiences that would aid the process of objectiveanalysis and policy planning in the time to come. The statistical analysis of massiveconcurrent feedback data continuously collected from across the country for more thanthree years has clearly revealed that the target audience (farmers) in majority has beenbenefited with the information support given through both AIR and Doordarshan. Furtherprobing of farmers, over a period of time and keeping watchful eyes on some identifiedprogressive farmers, has also indicated that considerable amount of messages broadcastwere actually put into practice. Some of such cases have been carefully recorded for furtheranalysis and to understand the process of development communication in Indian context.The broad analytical parameters chosen for the purpose are:Socio-economic background(Farmer’s socio-economic background)Kisanvani broadcast content(Information gained by the farmer through Kisanvani)Information adopted/put into practice(Kisanvani information used by the farmer in agriculture)Results obtained/benefits realised/cost benefit analysis(Best results achieved for adopting Kisanvani information)Spread of information/knowledge/agriculture extension(Farmer’s role in motivating fellow farmers for desired benefit)31

Every story portrays the socio-economic background of the farmer indicating landownership, family size, levels of education and difficulties faced due to lack of communicationon relevant issues, such as scientific methods and techniques of cultivation, availability ofinputs and services required for translating the messages into reality, etc.The stories also reflect the broadcast content in respect of the local agro-ecologicalconditions which vary from one region to the other. The story of ‘The Pubcaster andPanchyat’, the experiment of AIR Chitradurga in rural development; the process ofinformation and intervention through broadcast; activation of the broadcast; the role ofbroadcaster beyond broadcast; the efforts of beneficiary at below poverty line in achievingthe desired benefits; and the role of radio at the grass roots level are some of the areasthat may be of interest to those who keep a watchful eye on the process of change in ruralsociety. The story of ‘Maha Farmer, Mahalingappa’, Durga FM’s radio serials on NaisargikaKrishi (Natural farming) aimed at educating the local farmers on no cost or low costtechniques and ‘Namma hola namma radio’ (Our farm, our radio), a live interactiveprogramme giving insight into the innovative efforts made by radio. AIR Hassan’s experiencewith a serial on Parisara Krishi (organic cultivation and natural farming) and the account ofan inspired listener cum successful farmer, Dharmalingam have been illustrated in ampledetail. The other serials of AIR Hassan ‘Krishi Diggajjaru’ (successful farmers) and ‘NirmalaKrishi’ (best farming) are elucidated in the story, ‘Hema, a Mission of Horticulture’. Thestories of the progressive youth in agriculture representing the zones of AIR Hospet andBijapur are an evidence to prove that youths in rural Karnataka go for agriculture in searchof a better life in spite of lucrative urban migration. The story of Rudrappa of Hospet is aninspiration to every farmer who has a plan to become an entrepreneur. The account ofSomasekhar filed from Karwar depicts that an ‘Indian is primarily a farmer’ even though heis on a variety of occupations. AIR Madikeri’s impact on coffee growers with two series onCoffee - one on coffee cultivation (Coffee Kampu) and the other on Coffee Berryborer (IPMin coffee) - are portrayed in the story of ‘Coffee Companions in Coorg’. The other reportfrom Madikeri illustrates as to how the radio broadcast on vanilla inspired the beneficiaryPemmaiah, a promoter of vanilla, and caused him to change his current priority. The storyfrom Mangalore on ‘high density multi species cropping in areca’ discusses about Kisanvani’s‘Adike Krishi Banuli Patha’ (farm school on air for areca cultivation) and deals with abeneficiary’s views. The efforts of AIR Raichur in educating the farmers on SRI methodand Polyculture are narrated in the relevant stories. The empowerment of rural womenthrough co-operation has been illustrated in the stories of Suma and Nalinakhi filed from32

Karwar and Mangalore respectively. Each story is different from the other in many respects.The successes have been largely viewed as being impacted by interventions made byprogramming contents of Kisanvani.Rajendra Ranware of Akola district of Maharashtra avails the benefits of Kisanvanibroadcast following a piece of advice from Prof. Patil, an agriculture scientist, on the waysto save cotton crop when torrential rains affected it badly. The story of Manmat Gawalireveals that special episode on floriculture broadcast from AIR Nanded brought aboutgreater transformation in his life when he adopted new cropping pattern to his advantage.Vithoba Balaji Tidke, a grape grower from Nasik made his 50 acre of land unproductivedue to excess use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides. Mali Guruji, an expert and theDirector of Grape Growers Association of Maharashtra in a phone-in-programme from AIRNasik gave a piece of advice. The expert advice helped him save his land by using locallyavailable organic manure.A programme on improved variety of Awla cultivation broadcast from AIR, Yavatmalinspired Ganesh Mhatre to undertake plantation of Awla after consulting other agricultureexperts from the government department. Within a short span of time Mhatre started hisown Awla processing unit for producing jam, jelly, etc.Madhukar Bhalme, a family from Chanderpur, Maharashtra has received ‘Krishi BhushanPuraskar’ from the government of Maharashtra for his outstanding performance in thearea of Soya bean cultivation which he adopted after listening to Kisanvani programmefrom AIR Chandrapur.Being inspired by AIR, Osmanabad’s Kisanvani programme on papaya cultivation,Rajsekar Patil has become a role model for other farmers by adopting large scale papayacultivation and showing the way to those who wanted to replicate this experience. The followingpages portray a vivid description of the success stories collected from across the country.AIR, BIJAPUR (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Ashok Havannavar2. Address of the farmer - Village: ManaguliTehsil: Basavan BagewadiDist.: Bijapur (Karnataka)33

3. Age of the farmer - 30 Yrs.4. Education - Matriculation5. Family composition - Small Family of 6 members6. Land holding - 9 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Honey Bee Cultivationb.Secondary - Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Cow9. Agricultural implements - 500 Honey Boxes and other common tools10. Main crops cultivated - Sunflower, Paddy, Cotton, Cereals andpulses.Amrut Madhuvan is a common sight for those who travel via Managoli by-pass nearBijapur through NH-13. It is a beekeeping centre on the highway. The Amrut Honey is awell known brand in the region known for its quality. The beekeeper is Ashok Havannavarwho considers the bee queen as the heroine of his enterprise. He is a well determinedyouth, prepared to face any contingency for betterment. Locals refer him as Hatavadhi(arrogant) for his uncompromising personality. People from far-flung areas of NorthKarnataka visit Madhuvan for pure Honey. He lives on his brand and the heroine. Havannavarcomes from a small agricultural family. Having been a considerably good student in SSLC,he couldn’t pass through PUC due to reasons beyond his control. In order to overcome theshortcomings of his life and creatively channelize his ambitions, he planned for selfemploymentto gain economic independence. Initially, his father offered him three acre ofdry land to start agricultural activity. He incurred losses in this activity as the nature didn’tfavour him to obtain the desired yield. Ashok did not come up to the expectations of hisparents either in education or in agriculture. As a consequence, he faced a lot of oppositionat home for all his ideas and endeavours.Havannavar has been an avid radio listener. Being reasonably educated and intelligent, heunderstands the scientific implications of agriculture. His inquisitive and uncompromisingpersonality helped him not to give up and stay on course. Being exposed to requisiteinputs for his endeavours from Kisanvani of AIR Bijapur, he gained in confidence and34

perfected the skill of beekeeping. Havannavar has learnt almost all the required techniquesand skills related to beekeeping. He collects and preserves the materials relevant forbeekeeping, keeps in touch with the concerned agricultural scientists and other experts inthe field. Now, a good number of youth from all parts of the state visit Madhuvan for trainingunder the supervision of Kisanvani, AIR Bijapur.Havannavar remains busy throughout the year with regular income. His activity shiftsfrom one place to another in accordance with the seasonal requirements. When sunflowerblooms he moves his activity to such areas where bees can perch on flowers and collectenough necter. In summer, he moves to Muduhol, Bilagi and Jamakhandi taluks of Bagalkotdistrict adjacent to Ghattaprabha Left Bank Canal (GLBC) searching for flowering crops.He has smoothly adjusted his trade to seasons for continuous production of honey andregular income throughout the year.The five comb boxes he began with have multiplied to 500 in the last four years. Hisloyal bees give him 1000 kgs. of honey resulting in the earning of about Rs.20,000/- permonth. Now he gives employment to a dozen unemployed persons all through the year.Havannavar could be able to repay a portion of the bank loan obtained for the purposebesides buying six acre of agricultural land. His ambition is to have 5000 comb boxes and35

to earn a big name in the area of quality honey production. He and his family are fullysatisfied with the income and the progress being made. He enjoys his activities and declaresproudly that he is not only earning but also giving the best from the nature to the humanbeing which in turn gives him immense satisfaction. He is one of the progressive ruralyouths of the area who inspires and assumes the responsibility of change.AIR, BIJAPUR (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Ramu Bandiwadder2. Address of the farmer - Village: AlakopparaTehsil: MuddebehalDist.: Bijapur (Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 35 Yrs.4. Education - Non-Matric5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - NIL7. Occupationa. Main - Mushroom Cultivationb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - Autoclave and other scientific equipment10. Main crops cultivated - Mushroom productionRamu Bandiwadder hails form a poor landless agricultural labour family working aswaterman for the village panchayat of Alakoppara. He has studied up to school level andhas faced unbearable hardships in life. Ramu found it difficult to lead his family with themeagre income of Rs.600/- per month that he managed through hard work. Neither he gota better job with his poor educational background nor could he engage in farming as hewas a landless labourer. He did not have anything even to start a petty business. Ramuwas restless, looking for some kind of self-employment for a modest living. But the zeal ofdoing something different always existed in him and kept him on the look out for some wisecounsel to begin a venture that could fulfil his wishes. This has been the story of Ramu five36

years ago. He has been an ardent listener of Kisanvani of AIR Bijapur. One day, Ramulistened to Krishiranga of AIR Bijapur on Mushroom cultivation. He knew something aboutMushroom cultivation beforehand through different sources. But it was not enough to embarkon a new adventure. Information from Krishiranga persuaded him to gather additionalknowkedge so as to help him decide on choosing this occupation. He felt it to be suitablefor him as it might not require any land. Ramu acknowledges that the broadcast of Bijapurhelped him a great deal in making up of his mind to go ahead with mushroom cultivation.He absorbed the content of the broadcast, rushed to the University of AgriculturalSciences (UAS) Bijapur and joined the training programme on Mushroom Cultivationorganized by the UAS. Ramu started the Mushroom cultivation on a small scale in a smallhut at Alakoppara village with the help of UAS. Now he faced the problems of marketing hisproduce; he personally carried the produce to the local market, sold both raw and drymushrooms, and soon began to make mushroom pickle as well. However, he was nothappy with this arrangement of marketing of the produce. He gained enough experience intwo years. Marketing small quantity of mushroom proved to be difficult as against biggerquantity. Moreover, being the producer and the seller both by himself did not seem promisingfor him. Having learnt the hard way, Ramu decided to concentrate on production leaving37

the marketing to other agencies. He planned for a larger production with the help of bankloans, scientific techniques and advanced training by private companies and scientificcentres. He received advanced training in the trade at the Department of Horticulture,Belgaum and some private companies at Bangalore. Ramu obtained a loan of Rs.2.5 lakhfrom the State Bank of India and started mushroom production at a larger scale. Earlier hepurchsed seeds from a private firm, Motherspan Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore but now he hasstarted the production of seeds himself in order to cut on the expenditure and time inprocuring the seeds. He has ordered for an autoclave and other instruments for seedproduction. In addition, he is also training other youth of the area interested in mushroomcultivation and guiding the unemployed to become economically independent. He is therole model for the youth in surrounding villages.Ramu is a member of the Mushroom Growers Association of Karnataka and has goneon to claim the No.1 position in producing Mushroom in Karnataka. Being a self-employed,Ramu has created 365 days of employment for 12 villagers in his enterprise. He producesabout 30 quintal of Mushroom in a month and earns not less than Rs.20,000/- per month.His trade is not affected by seasons. It remains gainful and substantial throughout the year.He sells the produce to Mrs.Vasudha Jain of Muneerabad who exports it with some value38

additions. Ramu feels that there are many difficulties in Mushroom cultivation that need tobe carefully overcome. Experience and perseverance made him succeed in this trade.He adopted scientific techniques to get a better yield. Radio provided him with criticalinformation inputs to launch a venture and enlarge the scope of his thinking. Ramu startedmushroom cultivation with an investment of Rs.3000/-. The landless labourer turned intoa landowner of three acreof land besides being able to wipe out a portion of his bankloan. Now he owns a bore well too. He would like to expand his trade to some other partsof Bijapur and train some youth in the art and science of mushroom cultivation. Ramuacknowledges the contribution of Akashvani for enriching him with timely information onvarious aspects of rural development. He reckons AIR as one of the factors responsiblefor his success. He tells everybody to listen to Kisanvani for necessary guidance in theirendeavours. The success of Ramu coming from a backward community of anunderdeveloped region is a story of success to be narrated to others for inspiration andfurther replication.AIR, Chitradurga (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Smt. H. Gangamma2. Address of the farmer - Village: HirekandavadiTehsil: HolalakereDist.: Chitradurga (Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 32 Yrs.4. Education - Middle School5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 Members6. Land holding - 2 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Dairyb. Secondary - Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - Two Jercy Cows9. Agricultural implements - Traditional Agricultural Implements10. Main crops cultivated - Maize, Tur, Ragi etc.39

All India Radio, Chitradurga broadcast a 26 episode innovative serial (Oct.’05-Apr.’06)entitled Radio Panchayat, a developmental action radio broadcast adopting a backward B.Durga panchayat of the drought hit district Chitradurga in Karnataka. The adopted panchayatcomprises four villages, viz. B. Durga, Hirekandavadi, Kallavvanagati Halli and TanigeHalli. This Kisanvani serial was an experiment in narrowcasting for the developmentalprocess of the earmarked audience area. A comprehensive information package was offeredto the listeners of Radio Panchayat in order to enable them to participate in the developmentprocess with greater say and dicision making abilities.The serial touched diverse dimensions of rural development influencing sizeable ruralpopulation and government agencies and worked as a catalyst in bridging the communicationgap between target rural people and developmental agencies in order to fulfil popularaspirations and the objectives of the government. Radio Panchayat brought considerablylarge number of homes to the fold of FM Radio listener households. Although the broadcastof the serial has ended sometime back, people remember the programme even today.Having found a place in the memory of listeners, the serial Radio Panchayat may be one ofthe significant examples of the success of Kisanvani in Karnataka. H. Gangamma ofHirekandavadi village is one of the beneficiaries of the seriel Radio Panchayat who40

acknowledges its contribution in bringing about a qualitative change in her life. Her familymigrated six years ago to Davanagere from Hirekandavadi expecting a better livelihood.She and her husband lived there on uncertain wages of daily labour with three children.Their hopes received further beatings at the urban centre where they had mitgrated. Theycouldn’t get enough to meet two square meals for their children with the little means theyhad. This agonizing condition forced the return migration of his family to Hirekandavadibeing contented with the available means of living in the village. Eagerly looking for someprogress, she joined the ‘Sridevi Srisakthi Sangha’ of Hirekandavadi, a self-help group(SHG). Her habit of radio listening eventually came to her help to improve her condition.Incidently, AIR Chitradurga had adopted Hirekandavadi for ‘Radio Panchayat’ serial whereGangamma lived. She became a keen listener of various interactive broadcasts of ‘RadioPanchayat’ and chose ‘Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)’as recourse. She contactedthe officials of Durga FM for more information and rushed to RUDSET a nearby trainingcenter to have one week training in dairy development as advised by the officials. Shefollowed the information flow from Radio Panchayat, approached the local Canara Bankfor a loan under PMRY and showed her doggedness of purpose. Kisanvani helped herwith timely information and direction. Her untiring efforts yielded her first instalment of bankloan of Rs.15,000/- to buy a HF Jersy breed cow. Gangamma has started repaying theloan sincerely for the last six months, expecting the second instalment very soon. A newcow and a calf joined her family later. Now, she supplies six litres of milk everyday toKarnataka Milk Federation (KMF) at the rate of Rs.10/- per litre. She treats her cow andcalf as a skilled vet and helps other villagers also to keep the milch animals disease free.The training received from the RUDSET came handy for her. She has also joined as acook in the ‘mid-day meal scheme’ and attends school along with her children. She couldadd one more acre of land to the already existing one acre with her meagre income in thelast one year. Her family has started cultivating maize, tur dal and ragi in the two acre ofrainfed land which they own. She carefully plans her life with regular income. Her husbandtakes part in all her economic activities besides working as a village barber. Her childrengo to school. Now, she is expecting another cow with the second instalment of loan fromthe bank. Gangamma feels proud. She lives happily with her family along with the cow andthe calf. Even the local Canara Bank branch is happy with the discipline and sincerity of thevillagers of Hirekandavdi in loan repayment. The bank has lent a variety of loans to thevillagers and remains ever ready to support the Hirekandavadis with financial assistance.The bank manager acknowledges that it is all because of the ‘Radio Panchayat’ that hasbrought about a remarkable change in the rural life of Hirekandavdis. He has advised All41

India Radio to adopt some more Panchayats of the region to carry out extension work andmake them catalyst in rural development. There are many more villagers in the broadcastzone of Durga FM who have benefitted like Gangamma through Kisanvani. Gangammanarrates her story with gratitude for Kisanvani and Radio Panchayat. The programmeshave succeeded in enriching her with information and have also brought her pleasure andconfidence in life.AIR, Chitradurga (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. H. V. Mahalingappa2. Address of the farmer - Village: HampyanamaligiTehsil: DhyamavyarahalliDist.: Chitradurga (Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 31 Yrs.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Large family of more than 10 members6. Land holding - 26 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farming (Natural Farming)b. Secondary - Floriculture8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cows, Buffaloes, Pair of Bullocks9. Agricultural implements - Common tools, tubewell, farm tank andbullock driven Agricultural implements.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Maize, Urad (Black Gram), DifferentVegetable, Onion, Chilly, Coriander.Chitradurga, a drought prone district of Karnataka, has attracted limelight due to frequentsuicide by farmers in distress. Long spell of drought coupled with high input costs and lowprices of farm produce make agriculture uneconomical in the area and the farmers, unableto repay the loans raised from institutional and parallel sources, are driven to suicide.Keeping this in view, Chitradurga broadcast a serial on Naisargika Krishi (Natural farming)in order to educate and train the local farmers in low cost farm practices.42

The serial addressed the issues in all its dimensions and through its linkages with thefarm research institutions and service delievery agencies helped inculcate farming practicesbased on the typical needs and prevailing situation of the area in 2007. This Kisanvaniserial attracted considerable number of farmers of the region and influenced them to adoptnew techniques for their betterment. Many farmers succeeded with the natural farming asadvocated in the serial and have now become role models in the area for others to follow.An interesting feature of Durga FM is ‘Namma Hola Namma Radio’ (our farm our radio), alive interactive programme. The programme is organized at a village where the farmers ofthe nearby villages assemble and interact with experts for solutions to their problemswhereas farmers from far flung areas phone-in ‘Namma Hola Namma Radio’ for suggestions.It is a village show of Durga FM. The studio of the station virtually moves to villages tosuitably identify and address the farmer’s problems. It is a novel method of agriculturalextension initiated by radio in recent times. ‘Namma hola namma radio’ has been gainingpopularity week after week, the number of farmers visiting the shows and phone callsreceived are all swelling up by leaps and bounds. Farmers duly acknowledge Kisanvaniand Durga FM for their success. Mahalingappa is one among the many successful farmerswho have adopted the methods and techniques of natural farming as broadcast in Kisanvani.His father H. Veeraiah is a retired Headmaster of a remote village school having sevendaughters and two sons.43

Mahalingappa is the youngest in the family, yet to marry. He couldn’t complete hisPUC for various reasons and took up agriculture along with his brother. He has six acre ofirrigated, 10 acre of rainfed and around 10 acre of waste land. He owns a pair of bullocksand three bore wells. His family depends on the milk of his own dairy with a couple of cows.He has been using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides for ages. The familylanded in complete distress as it could not be able to recover even the input cost from theproduce. The progressive farmer Mahalingappa religiously maintained the accounts andcritically analyzed the economics of his farm activities. He found that high input cost waseating into his economy and leaving him with zero balance at the end. So, he adoptednatural farming which hardly requires any input cost and attended the workshop onNaisargika Krishi held at Mysore in December 2006. Mahalingappa and some other organicfarmers developed a rain harvesting tank to store rainwater since it was rainfed dry landagriculture in the drought hit zone. He changed to multiple cropping accepting naturalfarming methods after listening to Kisanvani. His main crop is onion and the bonus cropsare chilli, coriander and vegetables like brinjal, beet root, lady finger, carrot, cluster beansand a variety of leafy vegetables. Mahalingappa’s food crops are paddy and maize. Thebonus crops along with them are urad (black gram), tur and bengal gram. He grows someflowers too, like jasmine, chrysanthemum, kakda etc. He is practicing crop rotation -sunflower and chilli after onion along with some bonus crops. He is fully dependent onnatural farming techniques for the last nine months. Interestingly enough, he has prepareda Kisanvani diary and has experimented with every bit of information collected. Heparticipates in the interactive programmes of Kisanvani and finds himself greatly satisfiedwith the quality of the produce and income. He is experimenting natural farming with adozen diversified crops in his farm. Mahalingappa’s produce has a great demand in themarket because it is chemical-free and of very high quality. He feels that natural farmingreally improved the quality of the onion, chilli, vegetables etc., and enhanced the size offlowers grown. The flowers have more and better aroma as well. The input cost has beenminimal; the profit obtained pleased him very much. He has plans to certify his farm as‘Natural Farm’ through some authorised agencies in Bangalore and Chitradurga, such asFARMER (Foundation for agriculture, Resource Management, Education, Research andRehabilitation). His results and accounts are amazing. He could get Rs.70,000/- from halfan acre of Kakda, Rs.1,50,000/- from four acre of onion, Rs.20,000/- from bonus leafyvegetables alone in the last four months. Earlier he used to lose around one and a half lakhrupees for inputs and labour per annum from the total of three and a half lakh rupeesincome. Of course, his aggregate income per annum remained almost the same but the44

huge savings on input costs gave him substantial gains. He is able to increase the demandfor his produce and profit through Naisargika krishi inspired by Kisanvani of Durga FM. Headvocates natural farming to others and acknowledges Kisanvani and its experts for hissuccess.AIR, Hassan (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. H. N. Dharmalingam2. Address of the farmer - Village: HasaganurPost: Kadabagala, Taluka : AlurDist.: Hasan (Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 47 Yrs.4. Education - Undergraduate5. Family composition - Small family of 6 members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Manufacturer of Vermi Compost8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Buffalo9. Agricultural implements - All Modern Equipment and Agricultural toolsincluding Sprayer. Electric Motor Pump,Power tiller etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Coffee Garden, Cardamom, Pepper, Ginger,Areca, Guava, Sapota, Sweet Lime andTimber tree like Teak wood, Silver oak,Coconut and seasonal Crop like Paddy, RagiMaize etc.Dharmalingam is an undergraduate with interest in science. His father initiated him inagriculture three decades ago. Then he was dependent only on potato and maize cultivationusing chemical fertilizers and mono cropping method in the inherited four acre of land.45

The improper farm management dragged Dharmalingam into debts. He raised loansfrom banks and money lenders to get relief from his financial problems but rather thanproviding him relief the loans made his life all the more difficult. Disappointed Dharmalingamdesperately looked for help so as to be bailed out of the trouble. His village, Hasaganurisan inaccessible remote village of Hassan district. The residents of the village are deprivedof even daily newspaper. The services of various government departments are scarce forthe village. Akashvani Hassan remains the only source of information for them. People ofHasaganur village are keen listeners of Kisanvani. Radio listening, especially Kisanvani isone of the essential duties of Dharmalingam. He probes the reasons for failure and putsthe information gathered from radio to scrutiny. He analyses all the different dimensions ofhis problems and correlates with the knowledge gained through Kisanvani. Dharmalingamdecided to be different from other farmers of Hasaganur. He deserted the traditional farmmethods and adopted sustainable agricultural practices aired by Akashvani Hassan.Dharmalingam was very much delighted with the Parisara Krishi programmes broadcastover radio. Inspired by the Parisara Priya Sangatane of Hassan he joined the ‘ParisaraKrishi Workshop’ held at Hassan for intensive training in organic cultivation and naturalfarming. He turned to eco-friendly tree-based organic cultivation with an integrated approach.Dharmalingam developed a strategic approach in farm activities and extended his landresource to become an owner of 10 acre of land. He is now a known coffee grower of46

Hassan district. He owns ‘Vijayashree Estate’ on the banks of the backwaters of riverHemavati. He planted teak and silver oak around the ten acre coffee estate ten years ago.The trees have now fully grown, standing as fierce fence and making him rich in resourceas well. He has developed indigenous solutions to enrich the soil fertility and augmentwater conservation. Nothing goes waste in his estate. Every bio-waste including weedsturn into manure in the farm.Dharmalingam has not brought any chemical agent in his farm for the last ten years.He says, ‘Vijayashree Estate is fully organic’, with pride. Now, Dharmalingam is primarily acoffee grower although he grows alongside a variety of other plants and trees. Along withcoffee, he grows cardamom, pepper, ginger, areca, lime, sweet lime, guava, sapota, etc. Inthree acre of land, he grows paddy, ragi and maize using crop rotation method. The treesof his farm include 800 teak, 300 coconut, 1500 areca, 2000 silver oak and 10 varieties ofmango, sapota, improved varieties of lime such as Italian and Australian, bamboo includingnative and exotic varieties, etc. Dharmalingam as a farmer understood the laws of nature,studied the soil which he tills, shifted to multi cropping system and practised organiccultivation using organic manure and vermi compost. He sprays neem extract and cowurine as insecticide. Now the Vijayashree Estate has turned into a dense evergreen naturalforest. Many natural creatures like rabbit, snake, peacock and a variety of birds have madeVijayashree Estate their home. The crop of coffee alone yields him a gross income ofRs.5,00,000/- per year while the food crops fetch him about Rs.1,00,000/- and the fruitsand spices provide roughly Rs.1,00,000/- per annum. Dharmalingam’s net annual incomeis around Rs.5,00,000/-. He is expecting a huge amount from the teak and silver oak thathe has grown alongside. Dharmalingam is a farmer with a difference. He looks at thethings differently. He not only listens to Kisanvani but also participates in various interactivebroadcasts of AIR and attends the functions and demonstrations of radio listener’s forum,Punya Bhoomi. Every crop in Vijayashree Estate is healthy and provides better yield withhigh quality. Some of the villagers have grown envious of his progress and they try toprobe the secrets behind the success of this dynamic farmer. Many farmers visit VijayashreeEstate for a real time experience. He advises everyone visiting his estate to listen toKisanvani and to adopt multi-storeyed silviculture and organic cultivation to be a naturefriendlyfarmer. Dharmalingam is a role model of farmers in the area and radio listening foradaptation of suitable farm practices in the wake of interactive communications is acommonplace here.47

AIR, Hassan (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mrs. Hema Ananth2. Address of the farmer - HIG- 59, Red RoseIII Cross Kuvempu NagarHasan, Karnataka3. Age of the farmer - 43 Yrs.4. Education - Undergraduate5. Family composition - Small Faimily6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Flower Cultivationb. Secondary - Rearing Animals and Dairy Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 15 Cows of local breed, Piggs and200 Local Birds.9. Agricultural implements - All Modern equipment including automaticand power tiller.10. Main crops cultivated - Flower like Rose, Horticultural crops likeGuava, Sapota, Mango, Lime, Banana,Areca, Coconut etc., Cash Crop like Ginger,Turmeric, Pepper, Cardamom. Cereals &Pulses, Paddy, Jawar, Maize, Ragi etc.Hema, an undergraduate, spent her childhood at Ooty and developed a specialfascination towards plants, trees, flowers, fruits and the greenery of nature. She moved toHassan after marriage desperately looking for a lovely piece of land there. Hema likesevery thing to be as natural as possible. She is determined to convert the 10 acre ofwasteland which she inherited into a piece of nature’s beauty. She accepted Kisanvani asa guru to pursue her plans and gradually she became an avid listener of Akashvani, Hassan.Hema has been impressed with the programmes ‘Krishi Diggajjaru’ and ‘Nirmala Krishi’48

of AIR Hassan which broadcasts the invaluable experiences of the progressive farmersand a variety of other programmes on organic cultivation, natural cropping, etc. Theprogramme has inspired her to act with proper planning and caution. She writes Kisanvanidiary, meticulously records every bit of precious information from the programme and takeslead for interaction with the experts in the field. Hema has learnt almost all the skills ofminimum tillage, water harvesting, soil and water conservation, vermicompost preparation,poultry, piggery, animal husbandry, horticulture, floriculture and so on required for integratedcultivation. She is well versed in Rose cultivation, marketing and value addition. TheDepartment of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka provided her financial assistance ofRs.18,000/- in 2004 for promoting organic cultivation. The National Horticulture missionprovided a financial support of Rs.37,000/- to continue her mission in 2007. The KrishiVijnana Kendra of Hassan provided 200 Giriraj poultry birds including Turkey birds and agood number of animals for promotion of piggery and animal husbandry. The Departmentof Watershed Development constructed a pond in the farm for water conservation. Being alover of fruits and flowers, Hema has taken up horticulture and floriculture with completededication following all methods of organic cultivation with integrated approach. She visitsregularly to the farm at Gowripura, a village 12 km. away from Hassan to take care of theplants and animals personally. Her farm looks gorgeous with more than 10,000 rose plants,a good number of guava, sapota, mango, lime, sweet lime, banana, areca plants, etc. The49

ig trees of her farm are coconut, teak, silver oak etc. The spices on the farm includepepper, cardamom, etc. The cash crops are ginger and turmeric while the food crops arebasmati paddy, jowar, maize and ragi in the list of Hema’s produce. The farm is dense, wildin nature with abundance of all kinds of plants. The farm rears a dozen native varieties ofcattle for organic manure and milk. It gives shelter to many bubbly creatures like birdsincluding peacock, rabbit, snake and so on. Hema’s farm having never experiencedchemicals and fertilizers in the last 10 years appears evergreen all through the year. Thefarm is purely organic and chemical free, natural with a variety of crops. Hema neverbothered much for the input costs and market fluctuations as her multi-cropping methodprovides regular income from one crop or the other and offsets the possible disadvantages.The organic cultivation not only cut down the input costs but also generated a great demandfor the produce in the local market because of its high quality and freshness.Hema meets the daily demand of 5000 rose flowers in Hassan and supplies theremaining rose petals to the perfume factories of Mysore on regular basis besides reachingorganic fruits to the people of Hassan. She has created full employment for more than 20agriculture labour. Hema’s net daily income from rose flowers is about Rs.2000/-. In addition,she gets good return on weekly basis through various fruits grown. Hema acknowledgesKisanvani for her rich information and success. She recommends Kisanvani as the dailysource of information for the farmers on modern methods of agriculture to improve the50

yield, quality and income. She attends all the farmer meetings being organised by differentagencies. She advocates organic farming to all the farmers who visit her farm to gain onfield experience. Hema has been awarded the ‘Best Farm Woman’ award by the Universityof Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore for 2005. Now, Hema has been enjoying the Ooty-likebeauty at her own small farm, delighted with a decade long struggle. She is continuing hermission with extra vigour to promote horticulture and floriculture at Hassan expanding therose trade with value additions.AIR, Hospet (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. H. Mallesh2. Address of the farmer - Village: HampiTehsil: HospetDist.: Bellary (Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 28 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Family of 6 Members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - -b. Secondary - Horticulture & Banana Cultivation8. Cattle (bovine population) - 4 Milk Animals of Local Breed.9. Agricultural implements - Power tiller, Power Spray, Motor Pump, AllMechanical Garden Tools and Tools requiredfor Village.10. Main crops cultivated - Banana, Coconut and Paddy.Mallesh is a commerce graduate, from a traditional agriculture family. He is one amongthe enthusiastic young farmers of Hampi, a well known historical place of India. He inherited10 acre of land four years ago from his father who is a paddy and banana cultivator. Hisland is on the bank of Tungabhadra River with irrigation facility. Since childhood Mallesh isinterested in modern scientific methods of farming.51

One day he happened to listen to abroadcast on banana cultivation from AIRHospet. The programme gave him insight to gofor more economical varieties of bananaadopting some scientific methods. Heapproached Krishi Vijnana Kendra, Departmentof Horticulture, Raita Samparga Kendra andsome experts in banana cultivation for moreinformation on plantation of Banana in all histen acre of land. He was prompted to becomea regular listener of Kisanvani. Now he feelsenriched with information on various aspectsof crops being grown in the region. Mallesh isnow growing two varieties of banana, viz.Sugandhi (tall variety) and Yelakki (dwarfvariety). He planted these varieties three yearsago and became skilled in banana cultivation.Now, he advises others too on the subject. Theseeds of Sugandhi are locally available whilethe Yelakki are brought from Chitradurga, Davanagere and Bukkasagara. The tall varietyis being grown in eight acre of land while the remaining land is left with the dwarf variety.He has been applying chemical fertilizers to the crop thrice a year in addition to the organicmanure once in a year. Mallesh personally maintains all the accounts being a commercegraduate himself. He has taken a crop loan of Rs.2,50,000/- from Syndicate Bank. He hasplanted 900 trees per acre with an initial cost of Rs.30,000/-. On an average, he gets theyield of 2.7 tonnes of Sugandhi and around 1.5 tonne of Yelakki banana. Sugandhi is soldat the rate of Rs.5/- and Yelakki at Rs.15/- per Kg. Although the demand for the Yelakki ismore, the farmers do not go for it with larger area as the input costs are higher andmaintenance of Yelakki is comparatively more expensive than Sugandhi. So, they confineYelakki to a limited area as Mallesh too did in his farm land. Most of the traditional paddycultivators on the banks of Tungabhadra at Hampi are shifting to banana cultivation forvarious reasons. The main reason being that banana once planted gives yield continuouslyfor five years. Mallesh adds that banana cultivation is not as easy as others feel. He incurredsome losses two years ago because of a banana disease called ‘nusi roga’. On the adviceof the experts he sprayed the mix of Apsa80 and Stamperd to get rid of the pests and he52

found good results as well. He has a live fence of 200 coconut trees around his 10 acre ofland. He gets around Rs.20,000/- through coconut annually. Even the coconut sufferedwith Nusi rog along with the banana two years ago which placed him under great duress.Almost every farmer in the zone suffered with it during the period. The pest has now beencontrolled effectively and expert advises on radio have been a major source of informationto come to terms with it. Mallesh regularly visits his farm, carefully observes the crop forany attack of pests and keeps in touch with the experts in the field. There is a shortage ofagriculture labour in the zone due to huge mining activity. Substantial number of agriculturelabour has shifted to mining as it provides better income even though it involves risk.Therefore the farm mechanization is building-up in the region. Majority of the farmers aregoing in for power tillers. Mallesh is happy with his farm activity and holds no other jobequivalent to farming. Kisanvan inspired him for banana cultivation. Now, he advises othersto join agriculture instead of migrating to urban centres.AIR, Hospet (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. Javali Rudrappa2. Address of the farmer - Village: ChittwadiTehsil: HospetDist.: Bellary(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 50 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Family of 4 Members6. Land holding - 6 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Dairy farmingb. Secondary - Manufacturing of Vermi Compost andHorticulture – Banana Cultivation8. Cattle (bovine population) - 30 Milk Cows and 20 Cross breed calves.9. Agricultural implements - Garden tools, Farm tank, Power spray,Machinical tiller ad other Moder equipment.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Sugarcane, Banana, Coconut etc.53

Rudrappa is from a traditional family of agriculturists. He graduated in Commerce fromKarnataka University, Dharwad. Since student days, Rudrappa engaged in social workand bagged best youth award from Government of Karnataka 25 years ago at Belgaum.AIR Dharwad also interviewed him on the occasion. After completion of his graduation, hetook up social work and agriculture as full time jobs and became an active Rotarian inHospet. His community service mainly involved health, education, agriculture, socio-culturalactivities and so on. He is not only a social activist but also a philanthropist and an avidlistener of radio as well. He is good in scientific methods of agriculture and managingindividual agricultural economy. Once the undivided family of Rudrappa had 45 acre ofland and after the division among heirs, he got six acre’s share in 1980. Eventually, he tookup agriculture, invested good amount in sericulture as he had enough fascination for silkand silk worm and incurred a huge loss of about Rs.50,000/- because of silk worm diseasesand unorganized market. He deserted sericulture and moved to paddy and bananacultivations but nature didn’t favour him again. He failed in paddy due to excess usage ofchemical fertilizers. The yield was not up to the expectation. Of course, he was considerablysuccessful in banana cultivation. He then shifted to sugarcane seed cultivation and begansupplying the seed to the local farmers on reaching some agreement with a sugar factory.But some jealous farmers complained against him in the factory on his seed cultivation.The factory didn’t pay him for his services. Thus his experiments with sugarcane alsodidn’t yield much. He incurred losses in sugarcane too. However, Rudrappa never lost thehope. He tried all the major crops of the region but failed in one way or the other. However,Rudrappa continued banana cultivation with two varieties, viz. Sugandhi (tall variety) andPutta bale (dwarf variety) being able to get good return, roughly Rs.7000/- per week. Hedug a farm tank to store the canal water for usage during dry season as he is one of thetail-end farmers of the Thungabhadra canal. The farm tank is of great help to him duringdry season. Rudrappa was restless and looked for improved scientific method for sustainableagriculture. In 1993, he read an article in Deccan Herald on organic cultivation. Subsequently,he listened to the broadcasts of AIR on organic farming. Rudrappa was greately inspiredfor organic farming and finally switched over to it. In order to aid and sutain organic farming,Rudrappa started dairy and transformed into a dairy farmer. After listening to a variety ofbroadcasts of AIR Hospet on animal husbandry and consultations with the experts in thefield, he took up Heifer development project. He was successful in cross breeding of highyielding varieties of cow such as Jurcy, Swiss brown, HF, etc. with the local disease resistantvarieties like Devani (North Karnataka). He developed a new breed of high yielding cow,namely Jaya. Jaya bagged the first place in Krishi mela held at Hospet two years ago. The54

average yield of Jaya is 25 litre per day. At present his ‘Om Dairy’ has more than 30 cattleand 20 cross- bred calves. Average milk production in his dairy is around 150 litre per day.Rudrappa’s experiments in animal husbandry are outstanding. A Heifer of Om Dairyhas a good demand in the market; the cash cows are the mainstay of his flourishing trade.The non-stop Rudrappa has now moved to commercial preparation of vermicompost as hegets enough cow dung from his cattle to sutain the trade. The Nisarga organic manure andOm vermicompost are in high demand in the local market. One ton of Organic manurefetches not less than Rs.4000/- in the market. The Om agri-vermicompost supplies about10 tons of organic manure per month. Last year Rudrappa exported organic manure toUSA and Sri Lanka as well. In three acre of land, he has developed fodder cultivation. Hehas successfully cross-bred Heifers with other varities of N.B. 21, Kovan, Theosant andNapier to provide chemical free fodder to his cattle. His OM agro cow milk is the purest milkavailable in Hospet. He supplies milk only to the people of higher strata of the society likedoctors, government officials, etc. He does a lot of experiments in every aspect of dairy. Hesupplies vermicompost blended with required bacteria and other nutrients as per therequirement of the crop. The blend of Vermicompost differs from paddy to sugarcane or ahorticulture crop. He checks the NPK levels in the vermicompost and prepares customized55

organic manure suitable for the crop. Now he is planning to raise horticulture on the tankbeds and to increase the number of medicinal plants in his land. He is also planing toproduce vermicompost on a larger scale and to carry heifer development further. Rudrappais a successful farmer with a potential to influence others in the area.AIR, Karwar (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr.V.S. Somasekhar2. Address of the farmer - Village: Panchagiri EstateKaiga Road, KarwarDist.: Uttar Kannada(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 46 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Family of 4 Members6. Land holding - 4 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Dairy farmingb. Secondary - Mfg. Organic Manure8. Cattle (bovine population) - 60 Milk Animals inclusive of 20 HF Jercy Cow,15 Murha Buffaloe and Local breed animals.9. Agricultural implements - Common tools and modern dairy equipment.10. Main crops cultivated - All tradition crops like Paddy, Cereals,Jwar, Maize etc.Panchagiri estate on the Kaiga road near Karwar is well known for pure milk. The fouracre estate is in the dense forest surrounded by five hillocks (Panchagiri) of western ghats.The dairy-man is Mr.Somasekhar, a man of determination and hope with a lot of compassion.He is a good social worker and an active member of the Red Cross who rushed to Sunamiaffected areas of Cuddalore, Velankanni, MGR Thittu, etc. immediately after the catastropheto serve the hapless victims. Somasekhar is known for social service in Karwar andneighouring places. He spent his childhood at Mayasmudram of Turvekere taluk in Tumkur56

district and later moved to Bhadravati as his father was working as safety engineer atVisveswaraiah Steel Factory. Somasekhar spent his college days at Bhadravati andcompleted his graduation in Arts. Since childhood Somasekhar is interested in fine arts,especially in theatre. He formed cultural groups, viz. Nataraja Kalamandali and Voice ofMusic at Bhadravati and took up film distribution as main occupation. He also acted inKannada films with minor roles. However, he couldn’t succeed economically in his area ofinterest. He decided to take a detour and plunged in business. Bore well business ransuccessfully in the drought-hit areas he came from. He joined an already functioningbusiness firm of bore well as a partner, made some money but was cheated by his businesspartners and lost everything he had. Suddenly he came on the footpath along with hisbetter half. However, he never lost hope and continued his adventures with life. Fortunately,his wife could get a State Government Job in the Department of Adult Education at Karwarand the shattered Somasekhar moved to Karwar along with her. He started looking forsome self-employment to eke out livelihood. Sometimes his wife couldn’t get salary and heremained suffocated in a small rented room with a poor life full of financial troubles comingone after the other. The husband and wife together prepared a sofa with their artistic skillwhich was sold for a higher price and they earned a profit of Rs. 2000/-. Somasekhar tookup contracts of interior decoration at Goa and Karwar with his little knowledge in the area.It gave him a good boost and confidence and he gradually developed a furniture industry57

making name and fame in the Karawali part of Karnataka. Now his outlets are availabe atdifferent towns of the entire Karawali region.As he belonged to a farmer family he never left farming and looked after his father’ssmall piece of land at Mayasamudram. He is an ardent listener of Kisanvani very muchinterested in dairy and animal husbandry. In 1995, Somasekhar purchased three acre ofland on Kaiga road which is wild in nature. It took him four years to repay the loan he hadtaken to purchase the land. One of his well wishers at Karwar offered him a cow and a calf.Sri H.G.Sivananda Murthy, a member of Indian Administration Service and the then DFO,had inspired him to start dairy. His interest in the area, well wishers’ support and the insightgained through listening of Farm and Home programmes of All India Radio finally preparedhim to build up dairy. It was by 2003 that the small beginning of Somasekahar in dairy grewbig. He started adding one animal after the other in his dairy farm the cows and calvesreceived from his friends. Somasekahar learned all the requisite skills of the trade, rearingcattle, milking the cows, heifer development, marketing milk and products. He workedeven as a vet as he learned some tips from some expert veterinary doctors in Karnatakaand Maharastra. He brought HF and Jurcy breeds (12 animals) to his dairy from Mysoreand Ooty. Afterwards he went to Haryana and brought 15 Murra buffaloes and one Reda(Male) buffalo. Later he went to Kolar, Mysore and Ooty and brought 20 cattle of HF andJurcy breed and a bull to promote natural animal husbandry. At present, his dairy has morethan 60 cattle of local and hybrid varieties. He is promoting local breeds as they are diseaseresistant and the dung has higher value for composting. As his dairy gives good amount ofcow dung, he has started vermicompost preparation on commercial basis, making 100beds of vermicompost as it has a good demand in the local marketMr.Somasekahar is good in dairy economics. He gets about 500 liters of milk everyday. Each liter is sold for Rs. 16/- and his income works out to about eight lakh rupees perannum. The brand name of the milk of Panchagiri estate is ‘Samruddhi’ (complete wealth),well known for its high quality. In retail, the vermicompost is sold at Rs.5/- per Kg and ityields him more than Rs.1.5 lakh per year. Each basket of cow dung is sold at the rate ofRs.10/- and provides him three lakh rupees per year. Even cow urine is sold at Rs 5/- to 10/- per liter. In addition, he gets nearly Rs.2/- to 3/- lakh per annum through heifer sale. Onehybrid heifer of one year age costs Rs.40,000/- in the local market. He has plans to startvalue additions to the produces. He says that keeping trust in cattle is better as he wascheated by his friends and partners whereas the cows provided him a decent living.58

AIR, Karwar (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mrs. Sushma Santosh Vernekar2. Address of the farmer - Kattnakon, SunkeriKarwar(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 37 Yrs.4. Education - Matriculation5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - NIL7. Occupationa. Main - Cottage unit of Manufacturing Pickles,b. Secondary - Papad and other allied products.8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - NIL10. Main crops cultivated - NILSushma is a strong-minded woman who studied up to SSLC and remained a housewife after marriage. Being bored with household chores, she looked for some other activitiesthat could give her economic independence. She has been an avid listener of Akashvani,regularly listening to a variety of programmes over radio including Kisanvani of AIR Karwar.One day, she listened to the broadcast of AIR Karwar on self-help groups. The programmemotivated her to form such a group. Sushma contacted some of the successful self-helpgroups of the neighbourhood. She was greatly inspired by the activities of women associatedwith the self-help groups. She observed wonderful co-operation among the members ofthe self-help groups. It prompted her to build her own group involving women of similarbackground and needs.She collected all the relevant information related to form self-help group from differentsources including printed literature and personal contacts and rushed to Canara bank andSyndicated bank with her members for financial support. She named the group as ‘YektaMahila Swasahaya Sangha’ having ten members. The group got Rs.10, 000/- loan from59

Canara bank and each one shared the amount equally. Sushma served the group assecretary. Each member of the group took up a different type of economic activity in orderto contribute to family income. Sushma started pickle preparation and marketing of thesame independently with the money received. Her produce has great market in Mangaloreand Karwar. Some others in the group took up marketing of tea and coffee powder besidesplaying a very active role in national literacy mission and giving tuitions to school childrenas well. All the members of the self-help group not only purchase tea powder for individualneeds from her but also help her in marketing. Some members took up hosiery businesswhile some others purchased sewing machines to practice tailoring. They are all fromdifferent parts of Karnataka having come to Karwar after marriage. They have self-confidenceto do any job through the self-help group. Members of the group come from poor economicbackground very badly in need of money as they want to provide good education to theirchildren besides meeting petty needs. The Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency(MYRADA), an NGO trained the group in making pickle, juice, jam and bakery items. TheMYRADA have taken the group on tour to H. D. Kote to watch the activities of self-helpgroups in Mysore district and to learn from them. The group could clear off the loan takenwithin a year and obtained a fresh loan. They were given the loan of one and a half lakhrupees again and it was also cleared by them in two years with interest. Now the group islooking for some more money to expand its business and searching for a stall to displaythe products so as to gain a brand image. Sushma adopted various ways to market theproducts. She says production is easy but marketing is difficult as big companies havecaptured the market. Hope is not lost, they are living together, co-operating each other withconfidence. Each member of the group earns about five thousand rupees per month andgiving time to families as well. They attend to the household chores and group activitiestogether. The members of the group visit government offices and banks independently andattend to the jobs without any fear or shyness with which they were suffering earlier. Nowthe group has started catering services too. Sushma has become one of the representativesof Navodaya Sampanmoola Kendra which has been formed for the benefit of all the selfhelpgroups of Karwar. Sushma is happy with her friends and partners. She is scared ofremembering her past days of loneliness and financial problems.60

AIR, Madikeri (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Parimanda Dinamani Poovaiah2. Address of the farmer - Village : Divine Spark EratePost : ChettaliDist.: Kodaggu(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 54 Yrs.4. Education - Matriculation5. Family composition - Family of Members including Chidren6. Land holding - 8 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Coffee Growing and Banana Cultivationb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Cow9. Agricultural implements - All modern equipment required for coffeecultivation.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Banana, Coffee, Pepper, Areca andHorticultural fruits.Coorg is also called Kodagu in Karnataka, a land of warriors and plantations. Of late,it is coming up as a place for eco-tourism because of its rich greenery. Tourist resorts havemushroomed in Kodagu to meet the rising demand of visitors. Coorg has carved a niche inthe field of coffee. But the cultivation of coffee is not always so encouraging due to theonset of pests and diseases coupled with fluctuating market prices. Further, the labourcrunch in Coorg has added to the distress of the coffee growers, more so in case of smalland marginal farmers. The concepts of world trading, organic farming, value addition andexport orientation are yet to percolate down to Coorg.Problems are nothing for the progressive farmer Poovaiah who believes in integratedcultivation. Dinamani Poovaiah, a traditional coffee grower is a keen listener of Kisanvanifrom AIR Medikeri. He does a lot of innovations in agriculture drawing on information collected61

through different sources. His prime source of information is radio which updates himregularly with latest methods and techniques in cultivating a variety of crops. AIR Madikeriregularly broadcasts a variety of programmes to educate the coffee growers on mixed andinter-cropping methods to enhance their income with one or other kind of crops dependingon the season. The local station broadcast two serial programmes on coffee, one on coffeecultivation (Coffee Kampu) and the other on Coffee Berryborer (IPM in coffee). Many farmershave taken advantage of the series. The beneficiaries of the programme demand informationon various issues related to coffee. Poovaiah is one of the beneficiaries of Kisanvani. Heavailed financial assistance from Spices Board and National Horticulture Mission. He isexperimenting with a variety of companion crops in coffee including pepper, vanilla, areca,exotic varieties of fruit crops such as passion fruit and butter fruit along with the regularcrops, such as guava, sapota, papaya, banana, etc. to compensate for the losses in coffee.Dinamani anticipated the likely fall in coffee prices in advance and planted silver oak sixyears ago as shade plant and as live fence supportive to pepper. There are around 3000tall silver oak in his estate; they are not only guarding the estate as live fence but alsoready to provide him huge money at any time. His approach is to have a multistoried,integrated, inter-mixed cropping system. He has planted banana both as a sole crop andalso as the crop mixed in coffee. He experimented with banana as an intensive crop in twoacre of land following scientific methods of cultivation such as spacing, manuring, staking,pest management, irrigation, and harvesting. He says that the economics of banana suitsthe farmers well. Dinamani is very happy with the supportive companion crop of banana incoffee as it gave him good returns. Dinamani was inspired by the 13 episode radio serialon cardamom ‘Sambara sanchaya’, and attempted cardamom as a companion in coffee ina more scientific way. He was rewarded with a better yield. He has been growing yellowbamboo (supplement crop) in his waste and marginal land to supplement his annual income.In addition, the bamboo cultivation helps in soil and water conservation. He developedindigenous water conservation methods, diverted the rivulets passing through the farm tothe farm ponds constructed at different levels. The water thus stored is used in dry seasonsfor pre-blossom and post-blossom watering of coffee. He used the information of Kisanvaniand produced vermicompost in his own farm recycling the organic wastes. Since the landis of marginal fertility, he uses inorganic fertilizers in banana but all other crops are grownorganically. As the availability of labour is scarce, he has mechanized farm operations,such as paddy transplanting, pepper winnowing, coffee pulping, etc. He never convertedhis five acre of paddy field into commercial crops growing area even though paddy (BKB,Intana, Jeerigesanna) is found to be not so economical. He continues with the food crop as62

it has more sentimental value being followed through many generations in Coorg. He hasstarted fish rearing in the ponds developed for water conservation, begun cultivation ofRambooton, an exotic fruit variety which is in great demand and started cultivation of thefamed Coorg orange (Coorg mandrin) which is on the verge of extinction due to viral disease.Kisanvani has been trying to motivate the farmers to continue with the native Coorgmandarin. Dinamani is in continuous touch with the scientists of Central HorticultureExperiment Station at Chettalli and planning to plant resistant variety of Coorg mandarinas a sole crop. Dinamani has shown the way for innovation and improvement in farmpractices in the Coorg area. Radio has been his consistent source of information andencouragement.AIR, MadiKeri (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr.P.G. Pammaiah2. Address of the farmer - Village & Post: KedakalDist.: Kodagu(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 57 Yrs.4. Education - Middle School5. Family composition - Family of 8 Members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Coffee Growing, Vanila Cultivation, Oil Palmand other Horticultural Procuctsb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Animals like Cow9. Agricultural implements - All modern equipment required for coffeecultivation.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Coconut, Coffee, Vanilla and differentfruits including Banana.‘I was tuning in to AIR Madikeri. I was amazed to hear that vanilla (dollar crop) can be63

grown successfully in Kodagu....’ Pemmaiah recollects even after his noteworthy successin vanilla cultivation. The broadcast on vanilla farming haunted him to go for it. Eventually,he happened to undertake a study tour conducted by the Spices Board. The study teamvisited the successful vanilla growers of Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Dakshina Kannadadistricts. It gave him ample opportunity to interact with other farmers and experts in thefield. He was inspired by others’ experiences with vanilla and also by regular broadcasts ofAIR, Madikeri. He approached Spices Board for planting material and made a humblebeginning in vanilla cultivation. Gradually, he undertook various experiments in cultivation,pollination, processing (curing) and marketing. Pemmaiah was in constant touch with thescientists of Spices Board, Sakaleshpur to keep himself abreast with the knowledge in thefield of vanilla besides regularly monitoring Kisanvani. He got financial assistance fromvarious schemes of Spices Board and National Horticulture Mission. Pemmaiah is thelargest producer of vanilla in Kodagu district of Karnataka. The Cauvery Vanilla Farmdeveloped a nursery supplying saplings to other farmers to promote vanilla in Kodagu. Inthe last five years, Pemmaiah has transformed into a farmer scientist for vanilla, well versedin every facet of vanilla cultivation. Coffee is the main crop in the Pallavi estate of Pemmaiah.The large farmers started vanilla as intercrop in coffee along with other supportive crops,such as pepper, cardamom, banana, areca, ginger, etc. He is a successful farmer cautiouslyanticipating the market trends and developments in the area. Since the vanilla prices areruling at the bottom level, the farmers have almost left it but Pemmaiah still continues withvanilla. He is optimistic. He experienced the same with cardamom, pepper and coffee.Fortunately, his patience brought him gains earlier. The experienced farmer says that vanillacan be cultivated economically in coffee without much difficulty. Sensing the shift in priority,Pemmaiah planted oil palm in five acre of land as directed by the Palm Tec. India Ltd., themajor promoter of oil palm in Kodagu, The agency supplied the saplings, fertilizer andother inputs at subsidized rates with an assurance to buy the produce. He is planning to gofor agriwood, an exotic variety of medicinal plant promoted by Malayan Company in Kodagu.Agriwood matures for harvesting in 8 years of plantation. Entire plantation is used formedicinal purposes. He is also experimenting with passion fruit, butter fruit, etc. which aregaining potential market. Pemmaiah formed Kodagu Vanilla Grower’s Association to promoteand safeguard the interests of vanilla growers. Subsequently, he became the member ofvanilla grower’s associations at State and National levels. At present he is the Joint Secretaryof Vanilla Grower’s Association of India, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Governmentof India; Governing Body member of Vanilla Grower’s Association of Karnataka; andPresident of Vanilla Grower’s Association of Kodagu. He bagged ‘Progressive Farmer Award’64

for the year 2006-07 in the ‘Krishi Mela’ conducted by the University of Agricultural Sciences,Bangalore for his remarkable achievements in the field of Agriculture. He is an avid listenerof Kisanvani and participates in phone-in progrmmes, attends the farmers’ meets, seminars,workshops, Krishi Melas, etc. and shares his experiences with other farmers. Heacknowledges Kisanvani of AIR Madikeri for updating and enriching his knowledge inagriculture.AIR, Mangalore (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Kum. Harinakshi2. Address of the farmer - Village & Post: PanjakalluTehsil : BantwalDist.: Dakshina Kannada(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 22 Yrs.4. Education - 7th Standard5. Family composition - Family of 2 Members6. Land holding - 2 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Vegetable Cultivation and its Marketing onCooperative farming.b. Secondary - Marketing of Vegetables through retail outlet.8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - Some Common Garden Tools10. Main crops cultivated - All type of vegetables.Harinakshi hails from a remote village, Panjikallu of Bantwal taluk, Dakshina KannadaDistrict. The villagers mostly depend on the nearby towns B.C. Road, Vamanpada andMangalore to sell farm produce and for other economic pursuits.A good number of families of Panjikally live on beedi rolling. Harinakshi is one of thepoor girls of Panjikallu who lost her father at a tender age and studied up to 7th Standard65

with great difficulty. Her mother is illiterate and works as agriculture labour in the villageand the elder brother is a daily wage labourer in the nearby towns. She did beedi rollingalong with her mother since childhood. The rain-fed two acre of upland which they possesseddid not fetch anything for their livelihood. The family was not in a position to get evensufficient daily food stuff with the small earning they had. The little girl was determined tolearn some skills to contribute to the family income for a better living. She joined tailoringclasses and learnt the skills but this also did not bring her enough relief. The young Harinakshidesperately looked around for help. Her principal source of information and entertainmentis Akashvani Mangalore. Harinakshi has been listening to Radio since her childhood; herexposure to TV is very limited as she does not possess a TV set even today. She wasinfluenced by the radio serial ‘Navodaya-Subhodaya’ broadcast by AIR Mangalore underKisanvani programmes. The 120 episode programme was on air everyday for five minutesin morning and in evening in the year 2006-07. The programme was sponsored by theDistrict Central Co-operative Bank (DCCB), Mangalore primarily to motivate the rural peoplefor self-reliance and forming of self-help groups to improve the co-operative movement inDakshina Kannada district. The programme not only highlighted the merits of self-helpgroup but also the various issues related to the structure and functions of the group besidesprojecting the success of various self-help groups in the region through interactiveprogrammes. Harinakshi listened to many episodes of ‘Navodaya-Subhodaya’ and alsoparticipated in the interactive programmes of AIR Mangalore. She contacted the officials ofAkashvani for details and sought guidance. As guided by the ‘Navodaya-Subhodaya’,Harnakshi formed an eight member self-help group, namely ‘Asare Navodaya SwasahayaSnagha’ in Panjikallu. The members of the group were almost similar to each other insocio-economic status. The ‘Asare Navodaya Swasahaya Snagha’ contacted the Motivatorof the self-help group at the Agriculture Service Co-operative Society (ASCS), Panjikallu, abranch of DCCB. The group raised Rs.4000/- with great difficulty to start its economicventure. Every one in the group is a marginal farmer with unirrigated upland. The groupmembers ventured into vegetable cultivation and marketing using the land they possessedfor a double benefit. The ASCS provided financial assistance of Rs.30000/- to the groupand provided an abandoned HOPCOMS vegetable retail stall at B.C.Road for marketingthe produce. They have paid a deposit of Rs.3000/- to acquire the retail outlet. The groupearns Rs.2500/- per day, pays Rs.250/- as rent per month to HOPCOMS and each memberrepays the loan amount Rs.500/- per month regularly. The group has developed an excellentdivision of labour, two of the members attend to the marketing needs from 8.00 am to 7.00pm and others attend to cultivation, plucking and transportation of vegetables. The ASCS66

has provided the group with a second loan of Rs.32000/- to promote the activity. Everymember of the group understands and shares the problems of other members moving withutmost co-operation. The self-help group grows all common varieties of vegetables likebende, brinjal, green chilli, sweet potato, yam, variety of guards, bamboo shoot, bananashoot, cassava, etc. and fruits like banana, pineapple, sapota, etc. In addition, they buysome of the vegetables which are not grown by them, such as tomato, beans, etc. from thelocal wholesale market for their retail outlet. In the last one year, Harinakshi and her grouphave learnt the skills of vegetable cultivation and marketing, have studied the market demandat festive seasons and prepared in advance to meet it. Now, the big traders in the vegetablemarket are approaching the group for supply of vegetables in large quantities. The ‘AsareNavodaya Swasahaya Snagha’ and Hrinakshi have become role models in Panjikallu forself-help. Harinakshi says that ‘Navodaya-Subhodaya’ of Kisanvani from AIR Mangaloremotivated her and the programme content brought her all the happiness that she is enjoyingnow with the co-operation of her group members.AIR, Mangalore (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. P. Shankar Bhat2. Address of the farmer - Village: Badananje, Post : VittalTQ : BantwalDist.: Dakshina Kannada(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 64 Yrs.4. Education - Post Graduate, M.A., L.L.B.5. Family composition - Large family of more than 10 members6. Land holding - 45 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farming (Areca & Rubber)b. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Cows.9. Agricultural implements - Modern equipment of Rreca & RubberCultivation.10. Main crops cultivated - Areca, Rubber, Banana, Pepper and Cocoa.67

Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka is known for arecanut cultivation in India andelsewhere. A majority of the farmers in the district are areca growers for many generations,mostly following the native methods from planting to harvesting. Many are unaware of thescientific methods associated with areca cultivation. The Central Plantation Crops ResearchInstitute (CPCRI) of Indian Agricultural Research Instutute located at Vittal has contributedremarkably to the arecanut cultivation through its 25 years of need-based research. Thereis a need to educate the local areca growers in the scientific methods and to take the lab tothe land. The Kisanvani of AIR Mangalore made an important attempt in this regard. Agood number of programmes for areca growers were broadcast depending on their typicalrequirements in different seasons. During 2006-07, AIR Mangalore broadcast a 10 episodeserial ‘Adike Krishi Banuli Patha’ (Farm school on air about areca cultivation) for 10 monthswith a frequency of once in a month (May 2006 to Feb. 2007) primarily to inform andeducate the farmers about the scientific methods of cultivating areca, its different varieties,planting time, spacing and alignment, fertilizer application, recycling of organic matter,mixed cropping, merits of high density multispecies cropping system, protection from pestsand diseases, harvesting and processing, tender nut processing, value addition and so on.Most of the areca growers made use of the farm school on air and also put the methodsbroadcast into practice. Shankar Bhat is one of the beneficiaries of ‘Adike Krishi BanuliPatha’. He is a large farmer belonging to a traditional areca grower family. He owns 15acre of areca and 30 acre of rubber plantation. Although he is a lawyer by profession, hehas dedicated most of his time for research in arecanut cultivation and value additions toareca. He is also involved in propagating the use of herbal medicines and growing medicinalplants at larger scale. He is well versed in ancient Indian medical literature. He conductstraining classes every year in the month of September for students in identifying andcultivation of medicinal plants, and their usage as well. The Catalyst Health Association ofIndia (CHAI), Hyderabad recommends batches of students from all over India to ShankarBhat for training in Poogavana Farms. He is a member of the ‘Advisory Board on MedicinalPlants’ of M.S.Swaminathan Foundation, Chennai. Shankar Bhat, being a farmer scientist,has been greatly impressed with the Farm School on Air. He has also contacted Kisanvaniof AIR Mangalore for many details incorporated in the broadcast and has further consultedthe areca researchers at CPCRI to cross-check his experiments in mixed cropping andhigh density multispecies cropping system (HDMSCS). The areca growers are advised totake up inter/mixed cropping in the plantations to have better returns on the investmentsmade as it takes longer period to yield fruits initially. Because of the excessive surplusproduction of areca coupled with some constrains in marketing, the prices have fallendrastically in the last five years. The areca growers in the region have started mixed croppingto come out this problem without disturbing the plantation. Shankar Bhat is one among68

such farmers who has taken a lead in HDMSCS. Mr. Bhat experimented the mixed croppingin areca plantation with more than 300 varieties of medicinal plants in addition to thesuggested intercrops such as banana, pepper and cocoa. His plantation is wild with highdensity of plant species. He is getting good returns from all the intercrops as well as fromthe areca. He moved a step further to do many value additions to areca which wouldincrease its demand internationally. He supplies herbs to the local ayurveda pharmacies.The formulae and products of Shankar Bhat are very cost effective. He has a number ofvalue additions to areca which are to be patented and planned for industrial production.This may generate a higher demand for areca in the country. There are many awards to hiscredit at local, regional and national level. The farmer scientist, Mr. Bhat advocates HDMSCSfor the areca growers borne out of his own experience in the area. He not only listens toKisanvani for the latest information in the field of agriculture but also contributes greatlyfrom his knowledge and experiences.AIR, Mysore (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. K.C. Sivarame2. Address of the farmer - VPO: KeelaraTaluka : Keregowdu Hobli MandyaDist.: Mandya(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 54 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate (B.Sc.)5. Family composition - Medium family of 7 members6. Land holding - 3 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Cow.9. Agricultural implements - Common bullock driven implements andPower spray, Motor pump.10. Main crops cultivated - Sugarcane as main crop and Onion, Garlic,Chilly, Cucumber, Potato, Water melone asmix crop.69

The Cauvery delta of Karnataka, the Mysore and Mandya districts are known for paddy,sugarcane and sericulture. Recently, the farmers of the districts have been feeling distresseddue to increase in the cost of cultivation, outbreak of pests and diseases coupled withuncertain market prices and increasing labour costs. Excessive usage of chemical fertilizers,weedicides and pesticides has reduced the soil fertility. The yield of sugarcane has reduceddrastically. No sugarcane grower in the zone is happy with the traditional cultivation practicesas they are not sustainable and consequently sugarcane no more remains an attractivecommercial crop. Low fertility of soil, lack of disease resistant variety and unpredictableprices of jaggery have made the farmers think twice before going for it. This promptedKisanvani of AIR Mysore to play a role in educating the farmers in inter/mixed croppingmethods in sugarcane in order to provide a relief to the distressed farmers. Kisanvani ofAIR Mysore broadcast a series of programmes on low cost cultivation practices, measuresto improve soil fertility, organic farming and mixed cropping in sugarcane, resistant varietiesof sugarcane, balanced use of nutrients, marketing aspects of sugarcane and jaggery aswell as the techniques of jaggery preparation and many more aspects of sugarcane indetail. In addition, the station broadcast a 40 episode serial, Hasirusiri on Green wealth in2005-06 and Krishikanaja, a Banuli Krishi Belagu held at Keelara village on 26.08.2007. A52 episode serial on integrated farming was broadcast in 2006 with the support of theDepartment of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka. Further, Kisanvani also educatedthe farmers in the System of Rice Intensification through a variety of programmes. Besidesthe regular agriculture broadcasts, AIR Mysore made a step forward in agriculture extensionthrough ‘Radio Agricultural Information Perception Building Programme’ (RAIPBP). Now,the RAIPBP is as popular as Banuli Krishi Belagu (Agriculture Radio Enlightenment). It hasbeen sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka andcoordinated by the Vijaya Bank, Self-employment Training Institute, Mandya, Krishi VijnanaKedra and Zonal Agriculture Research Institute, Mandya. The Banuli Krishi Belagu is a liveradio bridge programme conducted in one of the progressive farmer’s field on the lastSunday of every month. It is a radio motivated farmer knowledge exchange programme forpromoting agriculture in the region. It is a village show and can also be called as a FarmerKnowledge Meet wherein knowledge about farm produce and inputs are exchanged andagricultural technologies are practically demonstrated. The self-motivated farmers inviteKisanvani to conduct the enlightenment programme in their fields and bear the expensesinvolved in the show. In every programme, hundreds of farmers participate to gain practicalknowledge. One of the success stories of AIR Mysore is K.C.Sivarame Gowda of Keelaravillage who started integrated farming in sugarcane and the System of Rice Intensification70

(SRI) in paddy. Sivarame Gowda is a science graduate taking up agriculture as full time jobin his three acre of land. Inspired by the broadcasts of AIR Mysore, he shifted to mixedfarming in order to supplement his income. He is growing pumpkin and chilly along withsugarcane. As advised in Kisanvani, Gowda is using balanced fertilizers in sugarcane toget maximum yield. He controlled sugarcane wooly aphid by planting it in wide rows andallowing its natural feeder dipha to grow in sugarcane field. He didn’t use chemical pesticidesto control the aphids and followed the methods broadcast in the phone-in programme onrelated subject. Sivarame Gowda is well known in his area as he participates regularly inalmost all the phone-in programmes of Kisanvani. He is spreading the knowledge ofintegrated cultivation of sugarcane to the fellow farmers. He is influenced by the BanuliKrishi Belagu and has hosted one such programme on his fields on 26th August 2007. Hepractically demonstrated his achievements and supporting crops in sugarcane for the benefitof other farmers. The sugarcane growers of Maranahalli village of Mandya district haveexperimented intercroping in sugarcane with crops, such as onion, garlic, chilly, cucumber,ash guard, water melon, potato, legumes (e.g. green gram, black gram, cowpea), tomato,brinjal, bendi, etc. It has reduced the cost of cultivation and provided additional income inthe hands of farmers. The Banuli Krishi Belagu has been offering invaluable feedback onthe utility of information being disseminated through Kisanvani which in turn facilitates thecontent modification and effective programming.AIR, Mysore (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. H.L. Jayaram2. Address of the farmer - Village: Hanchipura,Post: DugganahalliTaluka: MalavaliDist.: Mandya(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 56 Yrs.4. Education - SSLC (Matriculation)5. Family composition - Small family of 6 members.6. Land holding - 4 acre71

7. Occupationa. Main - Sericulture – Silk worm rearingb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - Common Garden tools and Motor pump.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Surgi trees and Mulberry cultivation.Mysore, one of the princely states of pre-independence India, secured a prominentplace in the map of India Tourism. It is not only known for magnificent royal palaces andhandicrafts but also for the treasure of sandalwood and silk. The Mysore silk is worldfamous for its quality, competing well in the international quality silk market. Sericulturehas a long history in Msyore. Although the sugarcane cultivation in the region is in somekind of crisis in recent years, the farmers have sighted another gainful area and havestarted moving to sericulture. There are many villages in the districts of Mysore, Mandya,Hassan, Kolar, Chamarajnagar, Ramnagar and Kolar which are fully dependent onsericulture. Most parts of these districts are under the coverage zone of AIR Mysore. Tomeet the local demand, Kisanvani of AIR Mysore broadcasts a 52 episode serial ‘ReshmiVahini’ ( Silk Stream) sponsored by Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute(CSRTI), Mysore to educate the Sericulturists of the region about new innovations in mulberrycultivation, silkworm rearing, cocoon marketing, silk reeling, weaving, export promotion,subsidy schemes of sate and central governments and so on. All these broadcasts wereinteractive in which both the silk farmers and silk scientists were on air. A live phone-inprogrammefollowed every two lessons broadcast. The successful farmers from all overKarnataka were involved in the series and the best listeners were awarded. A souvenirwas brought out at the end of “Reshmi Vahini” to commemorate the eventful broadcast.The “Reshmi Vahini” has influenced many non-sericulturists to take up sericulture in theirfields to supplement their income. Innumerable farmers have benefitted from the serialand moved over their traditional methods to new innovations. The silk farmers displayedtheir achievements in ‘Radio Krishi Belagu’ programme of AIR Mysore for the benefit ofother farmers practicing sericulture. Jayaram is one of the beneficiaries of the serial, ‘ReshmiVahini’. He is a small farmer with three and a half acre of land of which half acre beingsaline land. He has studied up to SSLC. He regularly listens to radio and writes letters toradio to seek replies to his querries in Kisanvani. He learnt about the new techniques anddevelopments in sericulture, like paired-row system of mulberry, new varieties of mulberry72

(V1 and S36), new cultivation methods like using vermicompost, mechanization and greenmanuring the orchard, etc. through radio broadcasts. Jayaram used the new silk wormvariety Kolar Gold and new varieties of CSRTI Mysore (CSR Hybrids) and adopted theshoot system of rearing, disinfectants of CSRTI, Mysore, modern methods of chandrike(mounting board), covering cocoons in plastic nets while taking to market, etc. These haveadded to his net revenue. He is getting one crop per month and an assured monthly incomeof Rs.20,000/- through his one and a half acre of mulberry plantation. He is cultivatingpaddy in one acre land using the System of Rice Intensification. He planted surgi trees insaline soils after its reclamation. He has constructed bunds across the field for waterconservation. The success story of Jayaram was broadcast in Kisanvani for motivatingother farmers of the region. Listening to the broadcasts, many farmers visited his field toknow the technology. In order to educate more and more farmers, he organised BanuliKrishi Belagu (Agriculture Radio Enlightenment) programme at his field in September 2007.Mandya district being the prime grower of sugarcane is now shifting to sericulture. Mysoreand Chamaraj Nagar are traditional growers of sericulture. Kisanvani has been orientingfarmers towards rain-fed sericulture, intercropping in mulberry, etc. Departmental schemes73

available for sericulture, market facilities, recent innovations in silk industry, etc. are otherimportant areas being dealt with by it. Although the Mysore silk is world famous, import ofcheap China silk is hampering the interests of local industry. To combat the situation,Kisanvani is training the farmers to produce the best quality silk and curtail imports in duecourse. Since the programme deals with information aimed at regenerating the economiesof farmers, its listening is sustained and the farmer’s interest is steadily maintained.AIR, Raichur (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. B. Guruswamy2. Address of the farmer - Vill: KadagamdoddiPost: ChandrabandeDist.: Raichur(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 45 Yrs.4. Education - High School5. Family composition - Small family6. Land holding - 8 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Horticulture, Pomgranate Cultivation & PaddyFarming.b. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow and a pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Common Garden Tools and Bullock drivenimplements.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Pomegranate and Vegetables likeCauliflower, Tomato, Onion & ChillyRaichur is one of the drought hit districts of Karnataka receiving an average rainfall ofaround 550 mm annually. This is the major worry of farmers in this region coupled with thefluctuating market, onset of pests and diseases together with ever escalating input costs offarming. Kisanvani of AIR Raichur has been trying to educate the farmers about various74

scientific methods by which yields could be improved with reasonably less fluctuations.Since the farmers of Raichur are traditional paddy growers, the local radio station hasmade continuous attempts to educate the farmers about the System of Rice Intensification(SRI) through economical usage of water and to enhance the soil fertility. Sri V.Guruswamyis one of the many farmers who was inspired by the Kisanvani broadcasts and SRI methodof cultivation. Kisanvani educated the farmers in the usage of seed rate, preparation ofseed bed, raising of seedlings, land preparation, method of planting, weed managementby using rotovater, economy of water usage, management of pest and disease throughbiological method, usage of organic manures, etc. Guruswamy approached Kisanvani ofAIR Raichur for more information and Krishi Vignana Kendra (KVK) of Raichur for practicalguidance. Satisfied with the information and guidance sought from the institutions, headopted SRI method of paddy cultivation in his three acre of land and was personallyamazed with the results. Guruswamy found a great difference between the traditional methodand SRI method of paddy cultivation. Through SRI he could save 80% of seeds, 75% ofirrigation water and 70% of chemical fertilizer and make his farm pest-free as well. Inaddition, he noticed greater cut in the cost of cultivation and enhanced yield to the extent of30% as compared to the traditional method of paddy cultivation. Guruswamy has gained40 bags of Sona variety of paddy with an input cost of Rs. 2000/- per acre through SRImethod whereas he used to get 30 bags of paddy at Rs.5000/- per acre of input costthrough traditional methods of paddy cultivation. He required only 25% water and three75

kgs of seeds to raise the nursery as compared to 30 kgs of seeds in traditional methods.Further, his produce had great demand as he did not use any chemical fertilizer or insecticide.Guruswami has become an example in the region for other farmers to adopt SRI method.Many farmers have followed him and the SRI method of paddy cultivation has motivatedthem to tune into Kisanvani for newer information.Guruswamy’s ventures in agriculture were not only confined to SRI method alone buthe also made use of Kisanvani broadcasts to experiment in other crops. He has taken upvegetable cultivation as intercrop in his four acre of pomegranate farming. He growscauliflower, brinjal, tomato, onion and green chilies through which he raises regular income.There is a great demand in the market for all his produce because of its quality productionthrough organic methods. He availed financial assistance to the tune of Rs.2.5 lakh forpomegranate farming and Rs. 30 thousand for paddy cultivation through Pragati GraminaBank, Raichur. He also availed of drip irrigation subsidy to the tune of Rs. 40 thousandfrom the Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka. Recently, he has startedraising pomegranate seedlings as well. Pomegranate seedlings were raised through Gootymethod of propagation to help the local farmers who were earlier getting seedlings from faraway places. He has decided to convert his farm into a fully organic one and preparevermicompost at the same place. Guruswamy is all praise for Kisanvani of AIR Raichur forinformation on a variety of agricultural and rural development issues.AIR, Raichur (Karnataka)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. K. Suryanarayana2. Address of the farmer - Vill: Amaresara CampTaluka: ManviDist.: Raichur(Karnataka)3. Age of the farmer - 50 Yrs.4. Education - High School5. Family composition - Large family of more than 8 members6. Land holding - 20 acre76

7. Occupationa. Main - Inland – Fisheriesb. Secondary - Farming – Paddy Cultivation8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Buffalo and a pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Farm ponds, Fishing Net, Electric pump,Rearing well, Tank and Bullock.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy by SRI Method, Horticultural crops likePomagranet, Sapota etc.Even though Raichur is one of the draught prone districts of Karnataka, a majority offarmers at the Tungabhadra left bank canal are traditional paddy cultivators. Of late, theagricultural scientists have advised to abandon paddy cultivation in the zone for variousreasons. The Government of Karnataka has endorsed the view of the scientists.Nevertheless, the farmers in the zone are continuing with paddy cultivation as they aretraditionally trained in the trade. Now the farmers have come to realise the scientific viewas their yield has started coming down. In addition, the tail end farmers of the left bankcanal can never be sure of timely availability of water for kharif crops. It has placed the77

paddy cultivators in great difficulty and made them to think for better alternatives. Kisanvaniof AIR Raichur addressed the issues of local farmers creatively in its broadcasts and triedto educate them about suitable alternatives. Suryanarayana is one of the farmers who hasbenefitted through Kisanvani in this regard. He has inland fisheries (polyculture) as he is atthe tail end of the left bank canal facing difficulty in having sufficient water throughout theyear even though he dug four big ponds for water storage. Kisanvani broadcast on issuesrelating to inland fisheries, such as construction of fish pond, preparation of pond, selectionof fish variety, method of feeding the fish, disease management, maintenance of water inthe pond, developing natural plankton in the pond, method of catching, cold storage facilities,marketing avenues, efficient utilization of excess water and so on besides providinginformation on the availability of government schemes and subsidy, particularly for inlandfisheries and financial assistance offered by the nationalized banks to promote fisheries. Inaddition, Kisanvani also highlighted the advantages of inland fisheries for the paddycultivators of the area as a better alternative. Suryanarayana, a traditional paddy cultivatorwas under great distress as he failed for two years in paddy cultivation and was badlylooking for alternative as his land had become unfit for paddy. He secured the necessaryinformation and tips from Kisanvani on inland fisheries. This enabled him to go for thesuggested alternative. He made use of the existing water storage ponds for inland fisherieson experimental basis. Satisfied with the result, he made up his mind to expand inlandfisheries by putting degraded land for fish culture. He approached not only the Kisanvaniunit of the local station but also the other agencies, such as Department of Fisheries,Agriculture Research Centre, Krishi Vignana Kendra and the banks for technical and financialassistance. He started fisheries five years ago in two acre of land and gradually expandedto 20 acre of fish pond with fingerlings under the net. Since the seeds are not available inlocal area, he fetches the required seeds from the government seed farm at Munirabadand also from some private companies located at Vijayawada. Around 3000 fingerlings peracre are released every year. The mainly consist of three varieties like Rahu, Katla andMurugal. He obtained about three tons of fish per acre and sold it at Rs. 35/- per kg whilethe prawn fetches him of Rs. 300/- per kg in the market. He introduced prawn in the fishponds two years ago observing the market demand. Suryanarayana planned to have thefish harvest during non-season, i.e. November-December to avoid competition in the marketwith the seasonal fish during January-February. It has created a good demand for his pondfish. Now, he is fully involved in polyculture which provides him regular income through avariety of fish and prawn. Now, Suryanarayana has obtained financial assistance from thebanks and subsidy from the government departments for promoting fisheries in the area.78

Being a traditional paddy cultivator, Suryanarayana still grows paddy in 20 acre of landadopting SRI method and getting 40 quintal of paddy per acre. He has linked his polyculturewith paddy cultivation in such a way that after harvesting the fish, the same water is usedfor raising paddy nurseries and irrigating other crops. The fish ponds are filled wheneverexcess water flows in the canal. He has planted sapota, pomegranate and some otherhorticulture crops on the banks of fish ponds. He has, thus, designed optimum utilization ofwater and land as also advised by the Kisanvani of AIR Raichur. Suryanarayana is today amodel farmer in the area for polyculture and many farmers keep approaching him to knowthe tricks of the trade.AIR, Akola (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Rajendra Eknath Ranware2. Address of the farmer - Village: Gaigaon, Tah: BalapurDist. Akola (M.S.)Phone No.0724-6511167Cell No.098503670573. Age of the farmer - 41 years4. Education - M.com5. Family composition - Joint family, comprising of 12 family members6. Land holding - 28 acre of land with well irrigation in4 acre and remaining 24 as dry land7. Occupationa. Main - Agricultureb. Secondary - Flour mill8. Cattle (bovine population) - Like all other farmers a pair of bullocks, a pairof cow and a buffalo9. Agricultural implements - Electric motor, sprinklers and sprayingmachine10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Jawar, tur-other pulses etc79

Rajendra Eknath Ranware of village Gaigaon, district Akola is an educated farmer andan avid listener of Kisanvani programme. He never kept his radio set away especially inthe evening at 7:30 pm, the time for Kisanvani broadcast. Cultivation became his passionbecause he inherited nearly 28 acre of land from his grandfather. He was cultivatingtraditional crop like cotton which is also the main cash crop of the area. Irregular monsoonand attack of pests and diseases in cotton crop, during the last few years, have made hisfamily debt ridden. During the year 2007, Akola district in general and Gaigon area inparticular, has received heavy to very heavy showers. The farmers cultivating in the waterlogged soil started encountering the problem of excess water which required to be drainedout to save the standing crops. Rajendra Ranware was also experiencing similar problem.His standing cotton crop of about 15 acre was badly affected.He, incidentally, listened to the phone-in Kisanvani programme broadcast from AIR,Akola and noted the particular piece of advice given to save the cotton crop cultivated inwater logged soil. Prof. Patil of Punjabrao Krishi Vidayapeeth (Agricultural University),Akola was an expert in the panel of discussion who suggested certain chemicals to be putin the water logged soil. He meticulously followed the instructions and saved his cropcultivated in the water logged soil. Gradual improvement in his crop condition made otherfarmers in the area to follow Rajendra Ranware. With this initiative of Kisanvani programmeof AIR, Akola, hundreds of acre of cotton crop has been saved and the farmers have80

eaped bumper harvests for the first time in past few years. Rajendra Ranware remainsthankful to kisanvani broadcast for giving timely advice which saved the standing crop inthe area and helped the farming community as a whole.AIR, NANDED (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Manmat Marotirao Gawali2. Address of the farmer - Village : Jambhru, Tah : ArdhapurDist. Nanded (M.S.)Cell No.098815651223. Age of the farmer - 20 years4. Education - HSSC with diploma in agriculture5. Family composition - Joint family comprising of 16 family memberswith children and grand children of 3 brothers6. Land holding - Irrigated 40 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Milk dairy8. Cattle (bovine population) - Two cows, two buffalo and a pair of bullock9. Agricultural implements - Modern plough with all accessories, greenfodder cutter (Chara Yantra), Electric motorpump, sprinklers and bio gas plant sprays10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Jowar and SugarcaneManmat Gawali used to cultivate irrigated and unirrigated crops like cotton, jowar,cereals and pulses along with sugarcane. The cropping pattern was not proper to feed hislarge family and to meet all the requirements. Gawali was, therefore, searching for an agrobased secondary occupation to earn extra income, from the same patch of land beingused for cultivation of traditional crops.Manmat Gawali, a regular listener of kisanvani broadcast of AIR, Nanded listened to aspecial episode in June, 2006 on floriculture. Inspired by the broadcast, Gawali assessed81

the marketing potential of this crop in Nanded town and nearby areas. Initially he cultivatedmarigold and rose on a patch of three acre of irrigated land.Now, Gawali has developed a habit of growing good quality flowers as per the adviceand instructions given from time to time through kisanvani programme of AIR, Nanded. Hisincome has multiplied manyfold and there is a regular flow of cash to meet other requirementsof his family as well. The net profit from the flower cultivation is Rs. 50,000/- per acre.Gawali, happy with the success, is planning to go for some other related activities like beekeeping to get double advantage from the flower garden. He himself and his family arethankful to AIR, Nanded and remains in constant touch with the broadcasters and theexperts for any information that could be gainfully implemented.AIR NANDED (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Vaijanth Kagade2. Address of the farmer - Village : Umri, Tah : ArdhapurDist. Nanded (M.S.)Phone No.02462-2734933. Age of the farmer - 70 years82

4. Education - Primary education5. Family composition - Joint family comprising of 10 family members6. Land holding - Irrigated 16 acre (bore well)7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Nil8. Cattle (bovine population) - Three cows and their calf, two buffalo and apair of bullock9. Agricultural implements - Modern equipment like plough, harrow,green fodder cutter – power driven,sprinklers, power sprayer10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Jowar and SugarcaneVaijanath Kagade, an aged innovative farmer, has taken initiative in adopting modernagricultural techniques of cultivation. He is a regular listener of kisanvani programme anda follower of the instructions and advices given from time to time during the broadcast.Kagade was earlier cultivating traditional varieties of sugarcane and turmeric but has now83

opted for improved varieties of both the crops. After listening to a special broadcast onproducing compost and earthworm fertilizer from the farm- waste, he decided to undertakethe project of vermicompost.Application of vermicompost and cultivation of improved varieties of sugarcane andturmeric have changed his farming scenario. Being an innovative farmer, he has successfullyreaped a profit of Rs.1 lakh per acre. Shri Kagde is now a source of inspiration for fellowfarmers who constantly remain in touch with him to gain from the experiences of hissuccessful experiments.AIR, DHULE (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Bhaidas Garbad Patil2. Address of the farmer - Village : Saudane, Tah : DhuleDist. Dhule(M.S.)Phone No.02562-2304183. Age of the farmer - 65 years4. Education - Primary level5. Family composition - Comprising of a married son and self withwife and mother6. Land holding - 30 acre of irrigated land with tube wellirrigation7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Milk dairy8. Cattle (bovine population) - 15 buffaloes – 2 pair of buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Tractor, Electric motor pump, powersprayer etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Maize, jowar, tur, groundnut and sugarcaneMaize is one of the principal crops grown on a large scale by majority of famers inDhule district. Bhaidas Patil one day listened to a programme on gender friendly farm84

equipment. Being motivated by the broadcastcast, he started designing a new machine forseparating maize grains from the cobweb. He took help from the experts of Rahuri AgricultureUniversity in designing the machine in the beginning but later on he succeeded in his effortby himself through trial and error.The machine he developed is very handy, light weight and easy to transport. Themachine has been demonstrated at many places and has proved its efficiency and utilityfor small farmers including women farmers. Great success of the machine has motivatedPatil to produce such machines on a greater scale to help small and marginal farmers.Bhaidas Patil gives a part of the credit for his success to Akashvani, Dhule and the AgriculturalUniversity, Rahuri, Maharashtra, for all the necessary and timely guidance.AIR: DHULE (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Dagadu Yadav Vaise2. Address of the farmer - Village : Ranmala, Tah : DhuleDist. Dhule (M.S.)Phone No.02562-2278213. Age of the farmer - 69 years85

4. Education - Primary level5. Family composition - Composite family of about 16 membersincluding 3 sons and grand children6. Land holding - 4 acre of irrigated land with well irrigation7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Milk dairy8. Cattle (bovine population) - A pair of bullocks and 4 buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Modern plough with all attachments andelectric motor pump.10. Main crops cultivated - Maize, jowar, tur, groundnut, pulses andcerealsDagadu Vaise, a small farmer in the village was cultivating his small patch of land withtraditional crops like maize and jowar along with vegetables and flowers to meet normalrequirements. However, the pressure of growing family expenses made him think ofsupplementing his income.86

Vaise, a regular listener of the kisanvani programme of AIR, Dhule listened to thespecial episode of flower cultivation and its marketing prospects. Motivated by the broadcast,he started collecting more information on flower cultivation, improved varieties of flower,common diseases, packaging and marketing, etc. On his request AIR Dhule aired a fewmore episodes on horticulture providing minute details on every aspect of floriculture.Vaise planted improved varieties of flowers like rose, marigold, Gaillardia and so on.While marketing the produce in the nearby town, he himself experienced a huge potentialof demand for his product. This made him expand his area under flower cultivation.At present, Vaise is a proud farmer earning more than Rs.1,00,000/- from his flowergarden. Encouraged with the great success, he is assessing the export potential as well.He never gets tired of giving thanks to All India Radio and kisanvani broadcasts. Thefarmer, the hero of the success story, is now often consulted by the new aspirants and hehas been acting as an extension agent in the field of flower cultivation.AIR, NASIK (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Vitthalrao Balaji Tidke2. Address of the farmer - Village – Talwade, Tah : TrimbakeshwarDist : NasikPhone : 0253-23923683. Age of the farmer - 70 Years4. Education - Middle School5. Family composition - Family of 5 members and grand children6. Land holding - 20 acre irrigatedSource of irrigation – Well7. Occupationa. Main - Farming (Horticultural – grapes garden)b. Secondary - Nil8. Cattle (bovine population) - Two cows9. Agricultural implements - Power spray and improved implements likecultivator leveler operated mechanical.Farmer possesses bio-gas unit.10. Main crops cultivated - Grapes orchards only and vegetables liketomato, Onion sporadically.87

Nashik is well known for its horticultural crops like grapes, vegetables and onion.Sizeable area of the district is covered with grape gardens and vegetable cultivation. VithobaBalaji Tidke has been a grape grower for the last 50 years. In recent past, however, hisentire grape orchard became unproductive due to constant use of chemical fertilizers,flood irrigation and application of insecticides in excessive doses.Such a problem was experienced by many other grape growers also. Tidake is a regularlistener of AIR Nasik. Incidentally, he listened to an interview of Shri Vasantrao Mali, popularlyknown as Mali Guruji who is an expert in the field and who is also the Director of GrapeGrower’s Association of Maharashtra state .The suggestions and valuable tips given duringthe broadcast motivated Tidake and a large number of farmers to approach AIR Nasik forrebroadcasting the programme for the benefit of grape growers. Accordingly, a programmeon the same subject was scheduled from AIR, Nasik in the phone-in format wherein MaliGuruji replied to queries as an expert.Encouraged by the help rendered by AIR Nasik, some of the farmers personally visitedthe station to extend their heartfelt gratitude as their old orchard started rejuvenating. Thissuccess story was further highlighted in Kisanvani which enabled other farmers also tocome to terms with their problems.88

AIR: NASIK (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Waman Kedu Borgude2. Address of the farmer - Village: Naitale, Tah : Niphad,Dist. Nashik (M.S.)Phone No.02550 -2484113. Age of the farmer - 60 years4. Education - SSC with Diploma in agriculture science5. Family composition - Joint family with about 15 members underwork in orchard garden6. Land holding - 30 acre of irrigated land7. Occupationa. Main - Farming (Horticulture grapes)b. Secondary - Nil8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk animals - Two9. Agricultural implements - Blower machine and other implements.10. Main crops cultivated - Grapes orchard only and vegetablesWaman Borgude is a progressive farmer in the area who grows quality grapes. Inspite of his very busy schedule, he spares time to listen to kisanvani broadcast of AIR,Nashik. Some of the items like market rates, weather report, agricultural news and specialhints to farmers are carefully listened to and taken note of by him. He says that the weatherreport in advance helps him a lot in chalking out various agricultural operations such asspraying of insecticides, marketing of product, etc. Borgude recollects as to how the timelyinformation and tips over kisanvani given before the occurrence of storm and heavy rainfallsaved the grape gardens. He further adds that not only his orchard but of other farmer’stoo have been benefitted during such exigencies. He acknowledges that the informationgiven in the interview of Prof. Prabha Nale has helped him in overcoming many problemsand getting remedial solution in respect of his grape garden. Now he has an earning ofRs.4,00,000/- per annum from his grape cultivation.89

AIR, Yavatmal (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Ganesh Mhatre2. Address of the farmer - Village: Digras, Dist. Yavatmal (M.S.)3. Age of the farmer - 55 years4. Education - Post graduate5. Family composition - Joint family with about 15 members, allengaged in farming and process unit6. Land holding - 83 acre, all under awala cultivation7. Occupationa. Main - Awala cultivationb. Secondary - Bi-product of awala like jam, jelly, squash,Manuka, Awala supari, awala cold drink underthe brand name Waradi Awala8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk animals - Two9. Agricultural implements - All modern equipment required for mechanicfarming long with automobile for transport10. Main crops cultivated - Awala tree90

Shri Ganesh Mhatre, young energetic, enthusiastic and an innovative farmer was helpinghis family in the traditional agricultural activities. After experimenting for many years, Mr.Mhatre realised that the traditional cropping pattern was not cost effective. Thus, he startedsearching for an alternative cropping pattern. A listener of kisanvani along with farm andhome programme of Akashvani, Mhatre once listened to a special programme on awalacultivation. Inspired by the broadcast, he started consulting experts in the agriculturaluniversities and decided to undertake plantation of awala trees of improved varieties, likeKrishna-5 of UP and Anand-1 of Gujarat on trial basis in 13 acre of land. Initially heencountered many problems. But the satisfactory growth of awala garden made him happy.For marketing of awala many ayurvedic medicine manufacturing companies startedapproaching Mhatre.According to him, 110 to 120 awala trees grown in an area of one acre, yields 200 to 250quintal of awala fruit per annum giving a return of more than one lakh rupees. Moreover, awalabeing a forest tree does not require much attention and upkeep once it is grown fully. Mhatre feltthat no other agricultural crop can yield this much return with such a minimum input.Mhatre further decided to go for the processing of awala fruits and prepared productslike jam, jelly, squash, cold drink, manuka and awala supari. Here also Mhatre hassuccessfully established himself and his products are sold in the market under the tradename ‘Waradi Awala’. The processing unit has given employment to many youths includinghis own family members.On becoming skilled in the field of awala cultivation, Mhatre is now organizing anawala sampling nursery and a guidance centre for the interested farmers. He has alsobrought out a CD giving all the details of awala cultivation and its live demonstration.Mhatre proudly registers his gratitude to Akashvani’s farm and home broadcasts in generaland kisanvani in particular.AIR, Chandrapur (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Madhukar Bhalme2. Address of the farmer - Village: Chargaon, Dist. Chandrapur (M.S.)3. Age of the farmer - 40 years4. Education - HSSC91

5. Family composition - Small family of four members including oldage mother and children6. Land holding - Marginal farmer holding land of only3 and1/2 acre irrigated land7. Occupationa. Main - Farming, horticulture, flower cultivationand forestryb. Secondary - Bee keeping and manufacturing farm toolslow cost agricultural implements and compost8. Cattle (bovine population) - A cow and a buffalo9. Agricultural implements - All modern low cost tools manufacturedlocally, electric motor pump, sprinklers etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, soybean, cereals, pulses, vegetablesand variety of fruitsMadhukar Bhalme, born and brought up in the family of a farmer at Chargaon villagein Chandrapur district tried his level best to seek employment after completion of his HSSC.However after several futile attempts to seek employment, Bhalme decided to devote himselffully to his ancestral occupation of agriculture.A regular listener of radio and its kisanvani broadcast, Bhalme once listened to thebroadcast on plantation of teak as the fence of the farm land which can also generate extraincome. Accordingly, he planted 400 saplings of teak. Within a short time, he found theteak sapling growing fast which would yield an extra income to him in future.The agriculture department of government of Maharashtra conferred on him ‘KrishiBhushan Puraskar’ for his outstanding performance in the area of soybean cultivation. Hisefforts to get maximum yield with minimum inputs were appreciated by the governmentand local authorities.The innovative mind of Bhalme got attracted towards the utility of vermicompost whichhe started preparing soon. He even went for other organic manure for his own use andalso for selling it to the needy farmers. Bhalme, on an average sells 100 quintal of organic92

manure to earn a sizeable income. At least 150 farmers approach him every year for thesupply of earthworms.The recent project launched by him on honey bee cultivation has also proved to be agreat success. The honey produced in the unit is processed and packed by family membersand sold to KVIC.Bhalme has also been an excellent organizer and helpful social worker.AIR, Osmanabad (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Rajshekhar Patil2. Address of the farmer - Village: Nipani, Tah. KalamDist. Osmanabad (M.S.)3. Age of the farmer - 42 years4. Education - Agriculture graduates (B.Sc. Agri.)5. Family composition - Small family of six members including oldmother and father93

6. Land holding - 50 acre – 25 acre irrigated with dripirrigation7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Fruit gardens8. Cattle (bovine population) - A cow and a buffalo and pair of bullock9. Agricultural implements - All modern equipment including powersprayer, thresher, tractor, sprinkler etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Traditional crops like jowar, wheat, tur, underrain feed condition and horticulture gardens ofpapaya, guava, mango, chickoo, awala,jamun. He also undertakes bamboocultivation on barren landRajshekar Patil, the young agriculture graduate farmer inherited 50 acre of landcultivated traditionally by his ancestors. Not satisfied with this kind of agriculture, he decidedto go for innovative farming and to make it a profit making business.He consulted AIR, Osmanabad kisanvani programme producer and requested forguidance to undertake innovative farming. He also consulted different experts of horticultureand some government agricultural department officials. Initially he planted papaya saplingsof improved variety in 25 acre of land. He also introduced sprinklers at some places andutilized drip irrigation for optimum use of available water. He applied maximum amount oforganic manure in the farm. Use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides has almost beendiscontinued now in his farm.Patil, a regular listener of market rates being broadcast in kisanvani, now sells hisproduce without the intervention of middlemen and brokers. This has also helped him earna net profit of Rs.13,00,000 in a single season.At this moment, his horticulture garden has 7500 saplings of custard apple, 1000guava trees, 1000 mango trees of special kesar breed, 100 chickoo plants and 500 each ofawala and jamun trees. His garden and agriculture farm has been selected for agriculturetourism development project by the government of Maharashtra and hundreds of visitors94

have since paid visit to his farm. The Minister of Agriculture, Government of India, ShriSharad Pawar has also visited his farm and encouraged him for his innovative farming.Patil, who wants to utilize every inch of his agricultural land has undertaken, bamboocultivation in comparatively less fertile land. At present he has 1000 bushes of fully grownbamboo trees. His bamboo cultivation looks like a thick forest, generally seen in the areasof North East region of India.Rajshekar Patil, a social worker in the field of agriculture believes in dissemination ofinformation and knowledge to his fellow farmers. He has participated in many workshopsorganized for the farmers. He is also a regular participant of kisanvani broadcast aired byAIR Osmanabad and gives valuable tips and guidance to the farmers interested inhorticulture.Patil is of the opinion that removal of middlemen and brokers from the agriculturalcommodity market will help a lot in improving the farmer’s condition.95

AIR, Osmanabad (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Prataprao Deshmukh2. Address of the farmer - Village: Itt, Tah. BhoomDist. Osmanabad (M.S.)3. Age of the farmer - 40 years4. Education - Post graduate5. Family composition - Joint family of brother, mother, father andchildren6. Land holding - 60 acre – 30 acre irrigated7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy and poultry8. Cattle (bovine population) - A pair of bullocks, milk animals like cow,buffalo and a poultry farm of local breed forpoultry birds9. Agricultural implements - All modern equipment including powersprayer, thresher, tractor, electric pump etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Traditional crops in dry land farming andseeds plot in irrigated land developed specialquality of green fodder titled “Adinath Grass”Prataprao Deshmukh, the young post graduate inherited 60 acre of cultivable landwith traditional cropping pattern. Prataprao’s family too was debt ridden due to a marginalgain in farming activity. Prataprao decided to transform ancestral farming activities withmodern methods. Being motivated by AIR programmes, he started consulting experts,professionals, government officials for securing their help on commercial farming.First of all, he decided to take up a project of producing vermicompost and organicmanure FYM which would minimize the excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Not remainingcontented with this much alone, Deshmukh developed a special type of green grass fodderwhich suited the local environment. The fodder has been named ‘Adinath Grass’ and has96

een found very useful as well as nutritious for milching animals and heavy duty farmanimals. He also believes in marketing of farm produce by the farmers themselveseliminating the chain of middlemen and brokers. To this end, he has started ‘Krishi VigyanMandal’ in villages which provides all sorts of information to the farming community includingthe prevailing market rates and trends. Krishi vigyan mandal is well equipped with computer,internet and different books including agriculture magazine.Prataprao Deshmukh, the successful farmer is now earning more than Rs.2,50,000/-per annum. He proudly appreciates and acknowledges the efforts made by kisanvanibroadcasts of AIR, Osmanabad for the upliftment of agriculture community and rural folk.AIR, Ahmednagar (Maharashtra)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Sandip Kulkarni2. Address of the farmer - Village: Wadala, Tah. AhmednagarDist. Ahmednagar (M.S.)3. Age of the farmer - 34 years4. Education - Post graduate5. Family composition - Small family of 5 members and children6. Land holding - 3 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Flower cultivation8. Cattle (bovine population) - A cow9. Agricultural implements - Garden tools, green house (polyhouse).10. Main crops cultivated - Vegetables and flowersSandip Kulkarni, son of a poor farmer having 3 acre of land only has to share theburden of his family with his father who has been laid off due to the closure of sugar factoryhe was working in. Sandip, a post graduate young man became burdened with theresponsibility of making his family self sufficient and self reliant. Living in a village nearbythe famous Saibaba temple at Shirdi, Sandip once listened to a programme on floricultureand decided to cultivate different type of flowers required in bulk at the Saibaba shrine.97

In his small piece of 3 acre of land, hedecided to cultivate flower plants like Rose,Lilly and Marigold in three equal patches ofone acre each. He used the improvedvarieties of saplings for gaining higher yield.He also applied drip irrigation for optimum useof the scarcely available water. Theapplication of insecticides and fertilizer wasmade in consultation with the experts. Themarketing of the flowers too is being done bySandip himself and the amount that wouldhave otherwise gone to the middlemen isbeing saved.fruits in near future.Sandip is proud of making his family selfsufficient by earning 15 to 20 thousand rupeesper month. He is also planning to opt forexport oriented flower varieties grown in polyhouse. Moreover Sandip has a plan tocultivate different types of vegetables andThe experiment made and success achieved by Sandip is the leading example forother small farmers to follow. He admires kisanvani broadcasts and has personally deliveredradio talks also to help other aspiring farmers.AIR, Markapuram (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Venna Narayan Reddy2. Address of the farmer - Village : Ramchandra-KotaDist. : Prakasham(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 45 Yrs.4. Education - SSC98

5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - 2 Buffaloes and few sheeps9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural implements used byany farmer.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Cotton, Chilli etc.Venna Narayaan Reddy of Ramachandra Kota, a village situated in Dornala mandal ofPrakasam district in Andhra Pradesh listens to All India Radio, Markapuram every day onhis FM Radio set. For the last ten years, he has been an ardent listener of agricultureprogrammes.He makes further enquires from the government functionaries and agricultural extensionagents and accordingly decides on the implementable suggestions. After listening toKisanvani programme, he collected the soil samples and sent for testing. He has grown alocal variety of chilly in three acre of land.99

In chilly cultivation, Reddy adopted intensive pest control management. The pesticidesand necessary chemicals were used at the time of flowering and fruition. He learned chillycultivation techniques from the kisanvani programmes and adopted the new techniques ofchilly harvesting, storing and drying. All these helped him in producing fifteen quintal ofchilly per acre. He has been earning a sizeable profit by adopting improved chilly cultivation.He proudly claimes that by adopting new techniques, he has been able to obtain high yieldof cilly even in dry areas.AIR, Markapuram (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Jillella Srinivas Reddy.2. Address of the farmer - Village : ThokapalliMandal : Peddara veeduDist. : Prakasham(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - Middle age4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - Medium Farmer7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - Buffaloes and cow9. Agricultural implements - Motor pump, Drip irrigation tools,Power spray.10. Main crops cultivated - Citrus Garden, Seed Farm and cultivationof Paddy, cotton etc.Jillella Srinivas Reddy hails from the village Thokapalli situated in Peddaraveedu mandalof Prakasham district in Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in the coverage zone of All IndiaRadio, Markapuram. Srinivas listens to the kisanvani programmes regularly and remainsin close contact with block level government officials for availing benefits. As a progressive100

farmer, he has attended many farmers’ training camps and is known as a progressive andsuccessful farmer in the surrounding villages of Prakasham district. He has also won anaward, Uttama Rythu (Top grade farmer) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government ofAndhra Pradesh.Reddy opines that drip irrigation method which he has adopted recently has proved tobe boon for orange fruit gardens. After experiencing the advantages of drip irrigation, hehas applied it to chilly, brinjal, ladies finger and other green vegetables enabiling him to getbetter yield and profits from these crops.He has started a farmers club in the village to promote soil testing and preparation ofNPV for crop protection. Sri Reddy acknowledges that information received from “All IndiaRadio” has helped him in changing the cropping pattern.AI R, Ananthapur (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri M. Peddi Reddy2. Address of the farmer - Village : Mamilla chervuMandal : GuttiDist. : Ananthapur(Andhra Pradesh)101

3. Age of the farmer - 50 Yrs.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family.6. Land holding - 30 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Bullock and cows9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools, Spray Pump,Threasher etc.10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Barja, Jawar and mainly Jatrophafor Bio-diesel.M.Peddi Reddy, a resident of Mamilla Cheruvuvillage in the Gooty mandal of Ananthapur districtgave a vivid picture of his experiences ofcultivation. He cultivates on thirty acre of landinherited from his father. For the last thirty fiveyears, he used to grow traditional varieties of cropsand get average yield. Tunning in to AIR Kisanvaniprogramme regularly provided him with necessaryinformation to rejuvenate his economy.He learnt the advantages and techniques ofJatropha cultivation and the importance of biodieselin conserving the eco-system from theprogramme. He put nine acre of land underJatropha cultivation. Now the trees are nearly 3years old. The advice given by scientists on AllIndia Radio about the market facilities andcultivation techniques has contributed to thereduction of input costs and increase in profits. Heduly acknowledges the contribution of AIR Programmes for taking up the cultivation of Jatropha.102

AIR : ANANTHAPUR (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Bille Eshwariah2. Address of the farmer - Village: NemalivaramMandal: KanaganapalliDist.: Ananthapur(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Below SSC5. Family composition - Small Family.6. Land holding - 4 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Pair of Bullock and cow9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools for use of Paddycrop, Spray Pump, Motor pump10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy by SRI method and cash crop likecotton.Bille Eshwariah, son of Shri B.Narayanaappa hails from Nemalivaram village ofKanaganapalli mandal, Ananthapur district. He listened to the programme ‘Hello AnanathaRaithanna‘ (Hello farmer brotheren of Ananthapur) broadcast on 10 th August, 2006. Theprogramme carried the message of transplantation techniques of paddy saplings throughSRI method. Sri Eshwariah also interacted with the agriculture scientist, Shri Laxman Reddyfor seeking clarification regarding SRI technique of paddy cultivation. He was advised tomeet the scientist personally in his office because the limited time on AIR could not removeall his doubts.Bille Eshwaraiah met the scientist and he was elaborately explained the SRI methodof paddy cultivation with the help of a visual demonstration. The scientist also gave twokilograms of paddy seed and suggested him to apply SRI method. Later, the scientist paid103

several visits to the experimental farm and trained the farmers in weeding operations also.The paddy grew luxuriantly in four months and Eshwaraiah obtained a yield of fortyfivebags, each bag weighing seventy five kilograms. It was a very high yield compared tothe traditional method he used earlier. This has had a multiplier effect on other farmers inthe area and SRI method of paddy cultivation has rapidly spread as a result.AIR, Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri M. Srinivasulu2. Address of the farmer - Village: SanthanakotaMandal: Nandi KotkurDist.: Kurnool(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - Middle age.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family of 6 member6. Land holding - 4 acre104

7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Pair of Bullock and cow9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools alongwith SprayPump and Motor pump10. Main crops cultivated - Cultivation of JJL Varieties of paddy by SRImethod.M.Srinivasulu, son of M.Naganna from Sathanakota village situated in the Nandikotkurmandal of Kurnool district participated in the phone-in-programmes aired from AIR. In theprogramme, Dr. Narsimhulu, agriculture scientist, DAAT centre, Kurnool clarified the doubtsraised by farmers on SRI method of paddy cultivation.Srinivasulu got inspired after talking to expert in the radio b’cast and decided to takeupSRI method of paddy cultivation. In course of practising the new method he realised manyadvantages. This technique has helped in reduction of pest and insect attack and reducedthe loss of young paddy pinnacles and spikes due to sheet blight and stem borer attack.105

The spacing has also helped in protecting the crop from grasshopper. He has used lessquantity of pesticides and insecticides. He also has a mechanical weeder for weedingoperation in the field. This has caused reduction in agriculture input costs and saved himthe loss of yield in a reduced irrigation conditions. The technique has been very popular inthe area and people take useful tips from Srinivasulu.AIR : KURNOOL (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Venkateshwar Reddy2. Address of the farmer - Village: PeddapothulapduMandal: ManavapaduDist.: Mahaboobnagar(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 50 Yrs.4. Education - Below SSC5. Family composition - Family of 6 adult and children6. Land holding - 7 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Arhar, Groundnut and Caston.Venkateshwar Reddy, son of Chinna Narayan Reddy, a farmer from Peddapothulapaduvillage in Manavapadu mandal situated in Mahaboob Nagar district has been practisingagriculture for the last twenty years. Earlier he cultivated groundnut, SF cotton, Thuwarand Castor. Last year, he cultivated Annagiri variety of groundnut and 275 Sunbridge cotton.The seeds were supplied by the Department of Agriculture on subsidy. Listening to therelevant broadcasts from radio, he learnt about better crop management practices suggestedfor groundnut and SF cotton. Deep ploughing was done in the summer and bunds wereprepared in the field. Two to three bullock carts of manure was spread in the field. In the106

Rabi season groundnut was planted with a seeder. In one acre 30 kg of seed was sownafter proper treatment. Any thick growth of seedlings was removed for proper spacing andthinning.The farmer followed Intensive Pest Management methods. (IPM) like spraying neemoil on the crop, using permanent traps for controlling parrot to prevent crop loss, controllingpest using branched twigs, applying fertilisers at the time of seeding, etc. This gave him ayield of about ten quintal for one acre of land under cultivation.Earlier the production of groundnut was only five quintal per acre. After adopting IPMmethod, the input cost per acre came down to about Rs.4000/- and the profit went up toRs.12000/- per acre.107

AIR : KURNOOL (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri K. Suri Babu2. Address of the farmer - Village: K.NagulapuramMandal: GuduruDist.: Kurnool(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 35 Yrs.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 4 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools, Spray Machine,Seed drill.10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Arhar and Sunflower with improvedvariety like ‘Arjun’.K.Suri Babu, son of Eesaiah of Nagulapuram village in Guduru mandal of Kurnooldistrict has been an average farmer doing agriculture for the past ten years. Recently hehas cultivated Sunflower by using the subsidised seeds provided by the AgricultureDepartment. Having no knowledge about the use of fertilizers and pesticides, Babu had toincur heavy losses because the doses he applied in sunflower cultivation were many timesmore than the prescribed ones. He, therefore, could not get adequate return on hisinvestment.In one of the Kisanvani programmes, he learnt about ‘Arjun’ variety of sunflower anddecided to switch over to this variety because the expert participating in the programmeexplained in detail about substantially less input costs in its cultivation.108

Arjun variety of sunflower seed was sown in 1.5 acre of land. Before sowing propertreatment of the land was done and after the plants came up, the organic method of pestcontrol was adopted. This involved spraying neem oil on the crop which gave him an yieldof five to six quintal per acre. The cost of cultivation also decreased manifold while theprofit improved.AIR : KURNOOL (Andhra Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri China Thimmappa2. Address of the farmer - Village: MudduruMandal: ManavapaduDist.: Mahboob Nagar(Andhra Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Below SSC5. Family composition - Family of 8 members6. Land holding - Marginal Farmer109

7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow and sheep9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools, Spray pump.10. Main crops cultivated - Cash crop like cotton and castor seedThimmappa, son of Hussaini, a resident of Mudduru village of Manavapadu mandal isa farmer for past ten years. He did not know the latest agriculture techniques and properuse of fertilisers all these years. He used more fertilisers and pesticides than suggestedwith the expectation of getting higher yield. This resulted in higher input cost which couldhave been avoided. He incurred heavy losses in the cultivation of castor. He got only threequintal of castor seed per acre.For the past two years, he has been listening to the Kissanvani programmes broadcastfrom All India Radio, Kurnool. He has followed the suggestions given by the scientistsabout seed treatment to be done before sowing.He has been duly rewarded for putting these suggestions into practice. He has obtaineda yield of five quintal of castor per acre.AIR, Nagarcoil (Tamilnadu)1. Name of the farmer - Mr.S.Jeya Cruz2. Address of the farmer - M/s. S.V.Handicrafts4/56, Silver Smith Street,Kanyakumari District.3. Age of the farmer - 50 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Small family6. Land holding - -7. Occupationa. Main - Coconut shell jewellery & articles.b. Secondary -110

8. Awards received - Tamil Nadu State Award (Poompuhar) forHandicrafts.Kalasri Award, 2006.Challenger Award.9. Tools - Craft tools10. Major Exhibitions - Gwalior Trade FairparticipatedSuraj Kund MelaSouth Zone Cultural Mela –NagpurCoconut Development Board ExhibitionS.Jeya Cruz comes from Kanyakumari. He belongs to traditional fishermen communityand his ancestors were traditional craftsmen known for their unique craftsmanship.He regularly listens to the Kisanvani programme broadcast from All India Radio,Nagercoil. Even though majority of the programmes are related to the farming community,some broadcasts are originated for craftsmen and various types of handicrafts also. JeyaCruz listened to quite a few of them with honest intent and purpose.He opines, “I am running a small scale manufacturing unit of coconut shell, jewelleriesand coconut wood articles. I developed my own designs using my unique skills and111

techniques to create artistic articles out of coconut shells. I enhanced my capabilities andgot acquainted with latest techniques of upgrading my handicrafts activities. I was able toknow about various financial aids and schemes of the government and other agencies forthe development of handicrafts. A few Kisanvani programmes on handicraft helped me tofind out new markets for my finished handicraft articles.I got opportunities to participate in various handicraft exhibitions organized by theHandicraft Marketing and Service Extension Centre, Coconut Development Board, TamilNadu Handicrafts Corporation, etc”.Kanyakumari is blessed with coconut trees which provide quality coconut shellabundantly. Materials from the coconut trees are used for making show articles and attractivejewelleries. Now, Jeya Cruz is engaged in promoting the craftsmanship skills in coconutshell jewelleries among the poor communities of Kanyakumari as an alternative employmentfor enhancing his income.AIR, Nagarcoil (Tamilnadu)1. Name of the farmer - J. Muthu Raj2. Address of the farmer - Farmer, East Theroor, Theroor P.O.Kanyakumari District. 6297043. Age of the farmer - Middle age farmer4. Education - Metriculation5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 3 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - A pair of bullock & Cow9. Agricultural implements - Bullock driven implements10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Coconut.J. Muthu Raj is a regular listener of Kisanvani. He is a humble paddy grower. Initially112

his farming practices were based on experiences gained from forefathers. Being exposedto radio broadcasts and in consultation with a few other opinion leaders, he began torealise the importance of bringing about changes in the traditional farm practices. Now heapplies reduced doses of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. He has also started usinggreen leaf manures and organic fertilizers so that the fertility and texture of the soil getimproved to a great extent.He has now adopted the ‘System of Rice Intensification’. He follows the new approachin farming with minimum quantity of seeds and reduced cultivation cost. Farmer’sexperiences on paddy cultivation broadcast regularly from AIR also helped him to gainnew ideas. A turning point in his life happened two years back when he listened to aninterview with Dr.Selva Rajan on pineapple cultivation in Kisanvani programme from AllIndia Radio, Nagarcoil. He knew various agricultural practices of pineapple cultivation likethe varieties suitable for his area, selection of seedlings, number of seedlings required,spacing, application of fertilizers, weeding practices, pest management, diseasemanagement, harvesting and marketing, etc. He also learnt about the varieties suitable forjuice and marketing purposes.As a followup measure, he contacted the Agricultural Research Station, Pechipaaraifor further information. He was given training in various aspects of pineapple cultivation.113

After completion of training, he leased in 40 acre of land from Government at Keeripaaraiand successfully cultivated pineapple in that land.Later, he was also given an opportunity by AIR, Nagercoil to share his success storywith other farmers. A team of All India Radio, Nagercoil also visited to his farm and recordedhis experience in pineapple cultivation. From a humble beginning J.Muthu.Raj has risen tobecome a role model for others to follow.AIR, Karaikal (Pudduchery)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Govindaraj2. Address of the farmer - Village : Mela OduthuraiDist.: Karaikal(Pondicherry)3. Age of the farmer - 62 Yrs.4. Education - Matriculation5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 5 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Milk Cow9. Agricultural implements - Common tools of intercultural operation.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Coconut, Pepper, Arecanut andseasonal VegetablesGovindraj has been a farmer since he retired from government service and decided toget involved in farm activities. He is an owner of 5 acre of land. Paddy is the major cropwhich he plants in winter but the scarcity of water during summer does not give muchscope for other crops. Govindraj thus confines himself to vegetable growing on a limitedscale. He listened to a programme on organic farming from AIR Karaikal and realised thenegative impact of chemical fertilizers. Soon he decided to stop the use of chemical fertilizerin his field.114

Over a period of time Govindraj formed an organisation of farmers and decided topropagate the message of organic farming in his locality.AIR, Idduki (Kerala)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Kurian2. Address of the farmer - Village: PadikappuPanchayat : AdimaliDist.: Idukki(Kerala)3. Age of the farmer - Middle age4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 1 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - -9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Pepper, Coconut, and Musk TermericKurian is a regular listener of Kisanvani programme broadcast from AIR, Devikulam.His experiments and knowledge made him a model farmer in the locality.He belongs to an undeveloped village, Padikappu in Adimaly panchayat of Idukki district.He carried out experiments in pepper cultivation in his one acre of land which has becomea success story. Kurian, being a radio listener, was aware that excess use of chemicalfertilizers and pesticides affect the crops adversely. He realized the importance of biofertilizers for better cultivation and, therefore, sowed musk turmeric as intercrop betweenpepper plantations. He found that the turmeric could destroy the pests, such as phytothoraseen in pepper. In addition, it could retain the water content in the soil. The decayedleaves increased the fertility of the soil. The intermittent cultivation of additional plant wasan added advantage. Many farmers benefitted from the experience of Kurian.115

Dr. J.Thomas, Director of Indian Cardamom Research Centre, Mylattupara, Idukki andDr.Rajeev, Senior Assistant Aromatic Plants Research Centre, Kozhikode have admitted thatKurian’s experiment of musk turmeric has the capacity to prevent the attack of pests in pepper.AIR, Iddukki (Kerala)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. Thomas Devasya Vettukattil2. Address of the farmer - Village: VettukattilPanchayat : MonnathodeDist.: Idukki, (Kerala)3. Age of the farmer - Middle age4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 members6. Land holding - 4 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - -9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools.10. Main crops cultivated - Banana, Coconut, Rubber, Pepper, Cocoa,Nutmeg etc.116

Thomas Devasya Vettukattil of Konnathadi gram panchayat in Idukki district is a regularlistener of the kisanvani programme of FM, Devikulam. He listens to the ideas of farmersand agriculture experts and experiments them in his own methods of cultivation. Thoughhe is cultivating all kinds of crops suitable to the soil and climate of high land areas, he isgaining high quality of output from the cultivation of vegetables, including plantain. He isalso the Director of Co-operative Bank in Konnathady and President of the self reliantagricultural market functioning in Parathottil of Konnathadi gram panchayat. He hasconducted new experiments in banana cultivation and has succeeded as well.The experiences of Thomas have shown that a little change in the cropping systemcould yield substantial results. He sprays pesticides on seedlings and covers it with dryplantain leaves to provide shade for about a week. He has proved that seedlings if plantedin dry fields at prescribed distance and given nursing regularly from the very beginning,one can earn between Rs.18000 to Rs.25000 per acre.AIR, Kannur (Kerala)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. Vasavan2. Address of the farmer - Mangathidam PanchayatDist.: Kannur, (Kerala)3. Age of the farmer - Middle aged117

4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 members6. Land holding - 3 acre of Stonny and less fertile7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - Nothing worth mentioning9. Agricultural implements - Common Garden Tools and Spray Machine.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Coconut, Banana and cashewnut.The main crop cultivated by Vasavan is cashew. He has 3 acre of cashew cultivation.He has planted ‘sulabha’ variety of cashew saplings on his land. It was at a time wheneverybody was moving to rubber cultivation, Vasavan realised the importance of cashewand planted 196 saplings. He started using cow dung and compost as manure after listeningto kisanvani programme from AIR Kannur.The land where he started his cultivation was full of rocks. One day he listened to aprogramme on rocky land treatment broadcast from AIR Kannur and decided to give it atry. After careful treatment, he transformed it in such a way that even paddy could becultivated on it now. Theremaining area is usedto cultivate paddy, milletand ragi. After paddycultivation vegetables,such as ash gourd,cowpea, and bottlegourd are grown in thesame land. The inputs ofkisanvani have helpedVasavan to convertdifficulties to rewards.118

AIR, Kannur (Kerala)1. Name of the farmer - Mr. Gopi2. Address of the farmer - PathiriyaduDist.: Kannur, (Kerala)3. Age of the farmer - 35 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 3 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Paultry Farming, Piggery8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Goat, Pig and other Small Calf9. Agricultural implements - Common Garden Tools10. Main crops cultivated - Mulberry, ladies finger, bitter gourd, banana,vanilla, Arecanut, coconut and pepper.119

Gopi purchased 3 acreof land at Pathiriyad inKannur district. At the timeof purchase, the land wasnot much fertile. His visionand hard work made itfertile and today he leadsa successful life by usingthe land to its potential.Earlier the land was fullof laterite soil and rocks butthere was a good road andelectricity facility available.Initially he purchased thecoir pith from the nearby coir factory and mixed it up in the land which helped preservewater in the soil. The poultry waste and cow dung from his own farm helped as naturalmanure.One acre of land was used to cultivate mulberry which was enough to produce 40 kg ofcocoon. Amaranthus was also cultivated as intercrop for a month along with the mulberry.Now he is able to sell around 20-25 bundles of amaranthus twice a week. Arecanut,coconut and pepper are theother crops he grows in hisland.Other than agriculture,he derives substantialincome from his poultry farm,piggery, goat and cowrearing, etc. He shares hisviews with others and alsowith kisanvani programmeregularly broadcast fromAIR,Kannur.120

AIR, Godhra (Gujarat)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Baria Ranjit Singh Himmat Singh2. Address of the farmer - Village : Bodidra (Buzarg)Taluka : GodhraDist : Chhindwara, (Gujarat)3. Age of the farmer - 42 years4. Education - Non Metric5. Family composition - Joint family of more than of 11 members6. Land holding - 5 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 1 Cow, 2 Buffaloes and pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Diesel Pump, Electric Motor Pump, Tractorand other common tools for Agriculture purpose10. Main crops cultivated - Maize, Wheat, Gram, Ginger and Pulses.Gujarat is one of the progressive states in India in respect of agricultural productionand dairy development. Narmada river project has drastically changed the agriculturalscenario of the state. Almost all types of crops including cash crop like cotton, sugarcane,cereals and pulses are grown in large quantity. In recent years, horticultural gardens ofdifferent fruits have made Gujarat one of the important fruit producing states.However, the areas of Godhra district comprising hilly areas and comparatively lessfertile soil are still awaiting noteworthy progress in the field of agricultural production. Thearea is still backward in many respects as compared to other areas of central Gujarat andSaurashtra.Ranjit Singh, a regular listener of kisanvani programme broadcast from AIR Godhra,listened to a programme entitled ‘Sendriya Khatar’ devoted to organic farming and applicationof farm yard manure and compost for better yield of rainfed crops. The farmer, beingimpressed by the broadcast, sensed the importance of the overnight stay of sheep carvan121

on the farm to manure his small patch of land. Ranjit Singh cotacted the owner of a sheepcarvan having one thousand sheeps camping in the area and requested for its stay on hisfarm for a couple of nights, at a payment of one thousand rupees.He further followed the advice of kisanvani in the selection of improved varieties ofmaize and treatment of seed before sowing. He also learnt the application and preparationof organic insecticides from the locally available inputs.Meticulous follow up of the advice over the entire period of maize cultivation gave himtremendous success. During the season, he could get an average production of four quintalof maize per acre against the one and a half quintal in the past few years. Moreover theadvice also resulted in the savings of Rs.1500/- per acre as input costs which he otherwiseused in the field.AIR, Daman (UT)1. Name of the farmer - Sh.Rathod Kalpesh Amrutlal2. Address of the farmer - Village : Mohan Gam MotiDaman, (Daman)3. Age of the farmer - 31 years122

4. Education - Graduate (B.Com.)5. Family composition - Small Family6. Land holding - 6 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Mango orchardb. Secondary - Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 5 Cows, 3 Buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Electric Motor Pump, Drip irrigation tools,Power sprayer and other common Gardentools.10. Main crops cultivated - Mango, Maize, Wheat, Gram, Pulses.Daman is a coastal belt in the border areas of Gujarat and the Maharashtra state.Balsaad is an important township adjacent to Daman, famous for its fruit garden of mangoand chikoo. The main food crop grown in the area is paddy apart from fruits and vegetable.Kalpesh Rathod Amrutlal is a young and energetic youth involved in agriculture sincethe completion of his graduation. Mango growing has been the ancestral activity of thefamily of Kalpesh. The crop was not giving proper production for the last few years. Themango fruits used to get damaged just at the beginning of the flowering stage. Once Kalpeshlistened to the Kisanvani broadcast of AIR Daman and realised that due to application ofhigh doses of chemical fertilizers his mango fruits did not sustain till maturity. The alternativesuggested was to use chemical fertilizers in combination with organic manure like FYMand compost micro nutrients before the flowering stage of mango.Next year Kalpesh meticulously followed the advice and found that the flowering andfruit formation process was very smooth and normal. Further, he also used insecticides toprotect fruits at early stage from insects and pests. Earlier, Kalpesh spread cow dung(FYM) in the entire garden which was almost a wastage. He again followed the advice andapplied FYM and compost by making one and half feet deep ring around the mango tree.The application of micro nutrients in the beginning gave him a favourable result providingadequate resistance to mango crop.Kalpesh found that his mango yield grew substantially. In subsequent years hisproduction doubled as compared to last few years.123

Kalpesh, a regular listener of Kisanvani broadcast gives due credit for his improvedfarming to it for all the valuable information provided through this programme.AIR, Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Manoj Singore2. Address of the farmer - Village : Badgona (Linga)Dist : Chhindwara(Madhya Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 38 years4. Education - Middle Schooling5. Family composition - Joint family more than of 10 family members6. Land holding - 4 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Fish Cultivation (Fishery)b. Secondary - Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow9. Agricultural implements - Electric motor, sprinklers and other commontools in use of Agriculture10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Gram and Vegetables like Potato.124

Manoj Singore, a young enthusiastic angler, belonging to Dhimmer (Fisherman)community of village Badgona of Chhindwara district has formed a cooperative society ofanglers to undertake the traditional business of fishery. The young entrepreneur decidedto acquire scientific knowledge of the fishing business. He served as a labour in seawaterand river water fishing activities.Singore, a regular listener of Kisanvani Chhindwara once listened to a broadcast onfishery and fish cultivation. He initially formed a cooperative society called BadgonaMathsyoutpadak Sahakari Samiti, with local members, including some of his close anddistant relatives belonging to the same fisherman community. The cooperative headed bySingore as Chairman has applied for 10 year’s lease of the naturally formed BadgonaLake. The lead bank of Chhindwara district has sanctioned a loan worth Rs.2,00,000/-.The samiti with this loan amont has initiated the work of cultivating fish eggs (MatshyaBeej) along with the regular fishing business.Singore has purchased two acre of cultivable land adjacent to the lake. A small hatcheryhas also been started by him with the construction of fish eggs cultivation well (cementwell) equipped with rotating water nozzles inside to give effect of flowing water stream.The lake water is pumped into the overhead tank constructed on the top of the hill to getcontinuous flow of water into the hatching well.Singore and his co-operative society are earning 5-6 lakh rupees by marketing fullygrown fish. Apart from this, the fish seeds sold by the society gives an income of Rupees75,000/- to 1 Lakh per annum.Looking at the market potential and good demand, Singore has now decided to takeup the hatchery work on large-scale. During our visit to the sight, big artificial wells wereunder construction for cultivating fish eggs. Singore informed that each well would be usedfor hatching a particular variety of fish only. In addition, small ponds are also being developedto cultivate different varieties of fish separately in each tank.Interestingly, the availability of fish seeds with Badgona Sahakari Samiti has encourageda few other samities to undertake fish cultivation at places like Harrai, Pakhadiya, Khuunajand Chargaon in Chhindwara district itself.This samiti has provided regular employment to some 25 youths who are busythroughout the year in fish cultivation and the fishing business. Female members of the125

fishermen family also help in fishing activities like making of fishing net, drying of fish andpreparing the fishes for selling in the local market.Singore has not only developed this business but has also set an example beforethe youths of his community to establish their own business. Interestingly the farmers inthe area are also getting attracted towards fish cultivation.AIR, Betul (Madhya Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Saheblalji Hingwe2. Address of the farmer - Village : Heti, Post : SarraTehsil : MultaiDist : Betul, (Madhya Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 65 years4. Education - Middle Schooling5. Family composition - Joint family more than of 10 family members6. Land holding - 48 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Jaggery Manufacturing and Teak woodplantation.8. Cattle (bovine population) - 5 Cows and 10 Buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Electric motor, sprinklers, Diesel Engine,Tractor, Threshure and other common tools inuse of Agriculture10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat,Gram and Vegetables like Potato.Saheblalji Hingwe, a medium farmer at Heti, Tehsil Multai is a well known personalityin the locality. His cultivable land located in the hilly areas of Satpuda ranges is utilized forimproved crop varieties bringing in maximum yield in the less fertile stony land. Hingwehas a joint family comprising three sons, all of them busy in agrilcultural activities and alliedsecondary occupations like dairy farming and jaggery manufacturing. Hingwe is a talker of126

the Kisanvani programme. His achievements in Kisanvani have motivated many farmersto take up organic farming and dairy.Hingwe recollects that farming was not used to be a profit-making activity sometimeback. The average rainfall was also not enough for the stony and uneven terrain. In suchsituation, he decided to go for well irrigation and cultivation of cash crops like sugarcane.However, the well water was not enough to irrigate his total area of ten acre of land. In themeantime, the government of Madhya Pradesh constructed a big dam adjacent to hisvillage Heti. Now ample water is available for irrigation purposes.Hingwe, dealing with less fertile and stony soil, decided to take up organic farming toimprove the soil texture and fertility. For this purpose organic manure like FYM, Vermicompost and NADEF compost were used for three years consecutively. He noticed thatthe constant use of organic manure brought in a drastic change in the soil texture andfertility. Hingwe further concentrated on the cropping pattern and crop rotation. His attemptto cultivate cash crop like sugarcane alongwith wheat, gram and soybean has given him agreat success.The success of Hingwe in agriculture, dairy farming, jaggery manufacturing, growingof valuable timber and organic farming in a comparatively less fertile and undulating terrainof satpura mountain range has shown a path of progress to many others in the area. Hisinterest in social work and his helping attitude has given him name and fame in the area.AIR, Guna (Madhya Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Santosh Ojha2. Address of the farmer - Village : UmriTehsil : GunaDist : Guna, (Madhya Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - Middle aged4. Education - Middle Schooling5. Family composition - Joint family of more than 30 family members6. Land holding - 10 acre irrigated127

7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming.8. Cattle (bovine population) - 5 Milk animals including buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Tube-well, Diesel pump, Spray pump10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat,Gram, other Cereals and Pulses alongwith Vegetables.Guna District of Madhya Pradesh comprises hilly and stony soil. Farmers cultivaterainfed crops, mainly cereals and pulses. Wheat, gram and linseed are grown as maincrops during rabi season. Guna district is also known for its handloom and chanderi silksarees famous for its texture and elegance. With the construction of minor dams in thearea, the farmers have started cultivation of irrigated crops during the past few years.Santosh Ojha has 10 acre of irrigated cultivable land. Having a joint family of morethan 30 members, Ojha also needed some secondary occupation like dairy farming andcattle rearing to be undertaken.Despite having irrigation facility on his land, Ojha followed traditional methods of128

cultivation. One of the young members of his family is an ardent listener of Kisanvaniprogramme. He listened to some Kisanvani broadcasts on the topics like selection ofimproved high yielding seeds, control and eradication of pests and diseases, application ofrequisite doses of chemicals, fertilizers and insecticides, etc. The young boy usually didnot discuss much about agriculture with the elderly members of his family but one day, allof a sudden, he raised the issue of cost-benefit of agriculture his family was practising. Inthe beginning, the elderly members did not like his advice but the boy prevailed upon themin experimenting with the new variety of maize.Encouraged by a better result, Ojha decided to adopt improved methods of cultivationand began to experiment new practices on his farm.AIR, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Dashrath Patel2. Address of the farmer - Village : Hanota Patkui Post : ChhapriTehsil : BandaDist : Sagar, (Madhya Pradesh)3. Age of the farmer - 52 years4. Education - Middle Schooling5. Family composition - Joint family of more than 19 membersincluding 8 children6. Land holding - 11 acre (9 acre irrigated)7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming.8. Cattle (bovine population) - 4 Milk animals including buffaloes and a pairof bullocks9. Agricultural implements - Electric pump for Tubewell spraying machineand Bullock driven implements.10. Main crops cultivated - Soybean, Paddy, Wheat, Gram, Bajra, andCash crop like Ginger and Vegetables.129

Located in central India, Sagar district is known for its fertile soil and a variety of cropsgrown in the area. Dashrath Patel of village Hanota, tehsil Banda, is cultivating both irrigatedand dry land crops. The cropping pattern mainly comprises of soybean and pulses duringkharif season followed by wheat and gram during rabi season. In addition, cash crop likeginger is also grown on a large scale to earn sizeable income.Dashrath Patel undertook ginger cultivation for the last few years with traditionalmethods. He used to apply FYM and cow dung to manure his ginger field. However, for thepast two years the ginger bulb has been found to be badly infected with fungus due tomoist FYM. In spite of the application of different insecticides, fungus could not be controlled.Patel, who is also a regular listener of Kisanvani programme of AIR Sagar, has listened tothe programme devoted to eradication of pests and diseases in ginger crop. As suggested,he used the mixture of cow dung and insecticide in a required proportion and applied itover the entire field. Surprisingly, he found that the ginger crop was showing positive results.Dashrath Patel acknowledges the contribution of AIR Sagar and its Kisanvani broadcastfor its invaluable tips to save his ginger crop and a better yield as a consequence.Looking at the healthy growth of ginger crop in Patel’s field, other farmers of the villagealso began practising the same techniques as applied by him.130

AIR, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Amol Das Ray2. Address of the farmer - Village: KughurtalBlock : ChandeliDist.: Raipur, (Chhattisgarh)3. Age of the farmer - 44 Yrs.4. Education - Graduation5. Family composition - Family of 8 members6. Land holding - 26 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow and a buffalo9. Agricultural implements - Tractor, Submersible pump for tube well,Spray pump alongwith Common agriculturaltools.10. Main crops cultivated - Oil Seeds and pulses.Amol Das Ray is a regular listener of Kisanvani programme. Once he listened to abroadcast devoted to wheat cultivation. He also came to know about the improved varietythat could give him good production. Earlier he used to practise traditional methods ofcultivation. Being exposed to the programme, he took down the minute details regardingfertilizer doses, distance between plants, irrigation intervals, etc. After sowing the wheatseeds, he applied super sulphate, urea and organic manure. He watered the plants after agap of 21 days and sprayed zinc sulphate to prevent weeds and insects. He could now geta better yield to the tune of 10 quintal of wheat per acre which is just double as comperedto his yields of past few years.131

AIR, Raigarh (Chhattisgarh)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Madhav Prasad Patel2. Address of the farmer - Village: NandeliBlock : RaigarhDist.: Raigarh, (Chhattisgarh)3. Age of the farmer - 37 Yrs.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - 9 members6. Land holding - 10.5 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 16 Animals9. Agricultural implements - Tube well, Pumpset, Spray pump, and othercommon agriculture tools.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Wheat, Groundnut and pulses.Madhav Patel is a medium farmer having 10.5 acre of land. He used to cultivate paddy,wheat and groundnut following traditional methods. Not being able to meet the requirementsof a family of nine members from the traditional methods of agriculture, he thought of doingsome agro related works as secondary occupation to increase his income. On listening toa programme on diary farming, broadcast in Kisanvani from AIR Raigarh, he felt encouragedto practise the same in order to supplement his income from agriculture. According to theadvice given by experts, he started dairy farming with four cows which substantially wentup to sixteen cows, each giving 60 liter of milk per day.He is now earning a handsome profit from the dairy unit he raised through hardwork,creative thinking and some help from Kisanvani.Besides, he is also earning from milk products and cow dung. Patel remains in closecontact with the Livestock Officer and the local VLW, who guides him in taking preventive132

measures to control occurrence of common seasonal diseases of milching animals. Theendeavour has made him an expert in the field and now he gives suggestion to otherfarmers to start diary farming. His success has encouraged others to adopt dairy farmingand earn enough to sustain a better life.AIR, Murshidabad (West Bengal)1. Name of the farmer - Shri Amulya Ratan Sahana2. Address of the farmer - Village: DangrailDist.: Murshidabad(West Bengal)3. Age of the farmer - 45 Yrs.4. Education - SSC5. Family composition - Small Family of 4 members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - -8. Cattle (bovine population) - A Cow9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools, Motor pump.10. Main crops cultivated - Oil Seeds and pulses.Amulya Ratan Sahani is a cultivator depending primarily on land inherited from hisancestors. He also owns a piece of about 6 acre of land of which a sizeable part wasunproductive till recently. He always wanted to put it to some productive use and to thisend, he continued to seek information from whichever sources he could. He possessed apair of good ears for advices and opinionsHis father used to cultivate pulses and oil seeds on this near infertile land becausewater requirement for such crops was less.The block level agricultural extension services helped him know about the benefits ofimproved agricultural methods and the ways to claim infertile land for cultivation. Being a133

listener of Kisanvani, Sahani was considerably helped by the information received on thetechniques of seed care and the sources of seed availability.He explored one of the suggested sources and procured improved seeds in accordancewith the information received. This brought him pleasure. He was very much conscious ofthe efficacy of organic manure. But he went for the use of chemical fertilizers also. Tilling ofland was mainly accomplished by hired tractor because he had no animal power. Acceptanceand use of certified seeds, like WBBN-1 (Kalyan Variety) and Sonali–B1 has resulted inremarkable increase in production, he acknowledges. Moreover, the certified seeds yieldedmore because these were disease resistant.In the year 2005-06, pulses and oil seeds on his highlands gave enough yields. Sincethen the area and production have witnessed continuous increase, reaching up to about 2quintal per bigha. And the net income has obviously been more than in any individual yearin the past. He very enthusiastically recalls the knowledge support given by AIR.The increased productivity on highlands has been accompanied by the fame of Sahnias a model farmer. He is not only exposed to improved technologies today but is also veryclose to harnessing the various farm facilities available with the government and the nongovernmentalsources. He also enjoys the frequent visits of government officials on hisland. He is also regarded as a successful farmer by NABARD. He feels honoured in thevillage for all his progresses made in the area. He is thinking of purchasing lands which arenot useable for others and putting them to further innovative use.AIR, Murshidabad (West Bengal)1. Name of the farmer - Abdul Rajjak2. Address of the farmer - Village: KutubpurDist.: Murshidabad, (West Bengal)3. Age of the farmer - 56 Yrs.4. Education - H. SSC5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 members6. Land holding - 3 acre134

7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Sericulture8. Cattle (bovine population) - Sheep9. Agricultural implements - Common agricultural tools, Pump set.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Pulses, Vegetables and Mulberry plants.Abdul Rejjak of Kutubpur village is associated with land for quite a long time. He narratesthe economic hardships faced by him till the last few years with deep emotions. He wascuriously searching for some assistance for putting his small piece of land to effective use.He was engrossed with the idea of mulberry production for the last two years and for all hisgood efforts he could not obtain a good yield.Abdul Rejjak lacked in the knowledge of scientific cultivation of mulberry and propermanagement of pests. The much needed financial assistance for farm improvement wasalso not easily forthcoming.Being a marginal farmer, Rejjak was enlisted for multiple assistance by the CentralSericulture Research and Training Institute (CSRTI) located in Murshidabad. With this, hewas also exposed to varied advantages of mulberry cultivation. This was a turning point forthe development of his farm.Rejjak has also been a listener of Kisanvani. He learnt about importance of organicmanure from the programme. He was duly assisted by the agricultural extension servicesavailable in his area.Rejjak is now producing six crops of mulberry in a year. This has obviously paved waysfor better earnings. Rejjak’s initiatives and determination brought about a turnaround in hiseconomy.He is now an example not only in his village but in the entire area. His experienceserves today as useful tool for others to change their destinies.Now, he is planning to add some more plots of land suitable for mulberry cultivation.His association with radio as a sincere listener has further strengthened in these years.135

AIR, Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Parasuram Sharma2. Address of the farmer - Village : MadhupurBlock : MasoudhaDist.: Faizabad, (UP)3. Age of the farmer - 45 Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - 6 members including Childrens6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cows & a pair of Bullocks9. Agricultural implements - Thrasher, Spray pump, Motor pump and othercommon tools in use of Agriculture.10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Paddy, Peanut, Mustard, Sugarcane,Vegetables, Potato.Parasuram Sharma is a regular listener of Kisanvani programme. He listens to theprogramme in the company of the members of the Kisan Club formed in his village. Once,there was a broadcast about the importance of cultivation of sugarcane as a cash crop.Sharma had a long discussion with the members of his club and he finally decided to go forsugarcane. On an experimental basis, he began with one acre of land. He got a betterreturn from sugarcane as compared to paddy cultivation done earlier. Next year he expandedthe area under sugarcane cultivation to 3 acre and got still better return. Besides sugarcane,he also cultivated vegetables. Now in his village, about half of the land is used for thecultivation of sugarcane and the rest for crops like paddy, wheat, vegetables, mustard,peanut, potato, etc.136

AIR, Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Somveer Singh2. Address of the farmer - Village : Saidpur KhajuriyaBlock : Bithri ChainpurDist.: Bareilly, (UP)3. Age of the farmer - 27Yrs.4. Education - Graduate5. Family composition - 6 members6. Land holding - 12 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Manufacturing Organic Manure like VermiCompost8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Buffalo and a pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Spray pump, Motor pump, Common Tools inuse of Agriculture.10. Main crops cultivated - Paddy, Wheat, Sugarcane, Potato andSeasonal Vegetables.Somveer is a medium farmer. He has been cultivating paddy, wheat, sugarcane andvegetables in his 12 acre of land. Due to ignorance about using pesticides to preventweeds and insects from crops, the productivity was affected. After listening to a programmeabout correct doses of insecticides to be used, he followed the advice as given and obtaineda very good production.Another programme which inspired him was the preparation of vermi compost and itsuses. He attentively listened to the programme and wrote down the procedure for preparationof vermi compost to be practically implemented later on. Now he is preparing vermi compostin his house and selling in market. He has earned a very good profit. He is an inspirationamong the farming community in his village.137

AIR, Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Chandravan Dixit2. Address of the farmer - Village : GadmauBlock : JhansiDist.: Jhansi, (UP)3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - High School5. Family composition - Joint family of Large Size6. Land holding - 30 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Manufacturing Organic Manure like VermiCompost8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Buffalo and a pair of Bullock9. Agricultural implements - Harvester, Spray Machine, Motor pump, andcommon implements.10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Linseed, Mustard, Gram, other pulsesand oil seeds.Chadravan Dixit is a large farmer. He used to cultivate wheat, barley and mustardin his 30 acre of land. Due to inadequate knowledge about seeds, he sowed local varietiesavailable in the shops and obtained poor productivity. Dixit is a regular listener of Kisanvaniprogramme of AIR, Jhansi. One day he listened about certified seeds and its qualities.Inspired by the programme, he tried to get certified seeds as advised by specialists inKisanvani programme. After using these seeds, he got a very good return compared to theprevious years. Motivated by the success he purchased latest agricultural equipment likeharvester, spray machine, etc. for making his farm more modern. Now he is an inspirationfor other farmers in his locality.138

AIR, Obra (Uttar Pradesh)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Ram Dulare Maurya2. Address of the farmer - Village : BaheraBlock : GharwalDist.: Sonbhadra, (UP)3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Middle School5. Family composition - Joint family of 10 Members6. Land holding - 20 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow, Buffalo and a pair of Bullocks9. Agricultural implements - Spray Pump, Motor pump and Bullock drivenagriculture implements.10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Potato, Mustard seed, and Papaya inLarge Area.Ram Dulare Maurya, a medium farmer, is the memberof a joint family of 10 persons. Agriculture remains the majorsource of income of his family. All the members of his familyare engaged in farming as they could not get opportunitiesfor jobs in other areas.Radio is the only source of information andentertainment for most of the members of his family. Theyspend leisure together mostly keeping the radio switched onin the evening. Maurya also discusses the topics of radiofarm broadcast with the members of his family. In aKisanvani broadcast, they listened to a programme onpapaya cultivation and decided to experiment it in 2 acre of139

land. He spent about Rs.300/- for plantation and fertilizers and earned Rs.50,000/- in thatyear. The cultivation process takes one year to give production. One plant can give uptoone quintal of papaya in one year. Now he has planted 400 papaya plants in another twoacre of land. Viewing his success in the cultivation of papaya and hybrid paddy, the farmersin his locality are coming forward to replicate his experiment.AIR, Bathinda (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Gurjant Singh2. Address of the farmer - VPO : Kauni, Tehsil : GidarbahaDist. : Muktsar (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Metriculation5. Family composition - Small Faimily of 5 members including3 children6. Land holding - 9 Kanals7. Occupationa. Main - Culvationb. Secondary - Weaving Handloom Khadi8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by thefarmer10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Gram, and other related crops.Gurjant Singh, a resident of village and P.O. Kauni, tehsil Gidarbaha, district Mukatsaris an ardent listener of Kisanvani programme of AIR. Agriculture is his secondary occupationwhile his primary occupation is weaving.Earlier Gurjant Singh was dependant on agriculture alone but he could not make bothends meet only 9 kanal of agricultural land. One day he listened to a programme onhandloom work from AIR Bathinda. He discussed the information with his wife who incidentlyhad the basic knowledge of handloom weaving. He sent a request letter to AIR for140

oadcasting the programme again and advised his wife to tune in to the programmeregularly. She continued to listen to the radio programmes and in the course, she learntabout pet-loom. Both of them discussed the pros and cons and decided to take up theproject.In the process of weaving, a part of the total labour is shared by his family membersand the rest of the work is accomplished by hired labour on daily basis. Singh wants toswitch over from handloom to powerloom and for this, he needs help from the government.Economic fortune of Gurjant Singh took a turn for the better. He feels that a little bit ofenterprise is necessary along with hard work to turn the corner with distinction.AIR, Bathinda (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Jagdeep Singh2. Address of the farmer - VPO : Phullo Mithi,Tehsil & Dist. : Bathinda (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 24 Yrs.4. Education - Post Graduate5. Family composition - Small Faimily of 5 members6. Land holding - 8 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Bee keeping8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow & Buffalo9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by the farmer10. Main crops cultivated - American Cottons & VegetablesJagdeep Singh is a resident of village Phullo Mithi, district Bathinda. He is a mediumfarmer having 8 acre of agricultural land on which wheat, American cotton and vegetablesare grown. Despite being a post graduate, Singh opted for agriculture. He is 24 years oldand listens to Kisanvani programme occasionally from All India Radio Bathinda.Influenced by some AIR programmes on bee keeping broadcast from All India Radio,141

Jagdeep Singh decided to adopt the same. Earlier his income from agriculture was betweenRs.20,000/- and Rs.40,000/- per annum. Initially, he started bee keeping with 5 numbers ofhoney bee boxes. But now he has 70 boxes. His work of bee keeping has increased 14times. His annual income from bee keeping has gone upto Rs.70,000/-. Radio played apart in his success and Jagdeep Singh fondly acknowledges this.AIR, Patiala (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Balkar Singh2. Address of the farmer - Village : Dhindsa PO : Kauli,Dist. : Patiala (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Metriculation5. Family composition - Small Faimily of 6 members6. Land holding - 26 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 10 Buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Tractor, Harvestor, Spray Machine, ElectricMotor Pump and Common implementspossesed by the farmer10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Rice and carrot alongwith othervegetablesBalkar Singh, a resident of village Dhindsa, P.O. Kauli, district Patiala is an enthusiasticfarmer. He is the owner of 26 acre of cultivable land having irrigation facility. He growsvegetables on eight acre of land and remaining 18 acre are utilized for wheat and ricecultivation. Singh wanted to develop dairy farming as a secondary occupation. He is aregular listener of Kisanvani and is aware of almost all the relevant information on dairyfarming as broadcast from time to time. He submitted his project to a financing agency andpurchased 10 numbers of buffaloes with its financial support.Sale of milk and milk productsin the nearby market gives him enough extra income to meet daily requirements of his family.142

Apart from this, the input costs of agriculture like labour charges etc. are also met from this.Balkar Singh mentions that his earlier cultivation of wheat and rice involved higherproduction costs. Because of this, he decided to change the cropping pattern and startedcultivating fruits and vegetables along with grains and cereals as advised in the Kisanvaniprogramme as well. Subsequently, he also started his own seed farm under the supervisionof the agriculture officials of the state government.Balkar Singh revealed that by selling his vegetables in the nearby market like Rajpuraand Patiala and at the local hat, he earned very little. He decided to carry his produce toChandigarh Sabzi Mandi which fetched him better return. He opines that a little bit ofinformation given in the radio broadcast helped him build on it further and perhaps thispaved the way for his success.AIR PATIALA (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Kulwinder Singh2. Address of the farmer - V PO : Khadoli, Tehsil : RajpuraDist. : Patiala (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 25 Yrs.4. Education - Graduation5. Family composition - Small Family of 5 members6. Land holding - 40 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming8. Cattle (bovine population) - 10 Buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Tractor, Harvester, Spray Machine, ElectricMotor Pump and Common implementspossessed by the farmer10. Main crops cultivated - Wheat, Rice and other vegetablesKulwinder Singh, a 25 year old graduate, is a resident of village Khadoli, tehsil Rajpura,district Patiala. His primary occupation is agriculture and the secondary occupation is dairy143

farming. Of his 40 acre of land, he cultivates wheat and rice on 30 acre and barseem(green fodder), etc. on the remaining10 acre.Kulvinder Singh and his family was earlier dependent on agriculture alone but lookingat the great prospect and market potential for milk and milk products, he decided to go fordairy farming as a secondary occupation. An ardent listener of Kisanvani programme, heincidentally listened to some programmes about dairy farming and prepared a project toset up a dairy unit. In spite of several odds, including financial one, he never gave up andstarted his own dairy unit with 10 numbers of buffaloes.Kulwinder Singh was elated to find one of his buffaloes win a prize of Rs.40000/- in acompetition organized at Jalandhar for which he got a certificate from the Cabinet Ministerof the Punjab, Jagmohan Singh Kang. The award winning buffalo gives 29 litres of milkeveryday.AIR : PATIALA (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Amarjit Singh Khaihra2. Address of the farmer - Village : Birdwal PO : Agoul,Tehsil : NabhaDist. : Patiala (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 30 Yrs.4. Education - 12 th Standard with Dimploma in ITI5. Family composition - Small Faimily of 5 members6. Land holding - 16 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Bee Keeping8. Cattle (bovine population) - Cow & Buffalo9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by the farmer10. Main crops cultivated - Seed farm of Wheat, Gram and other hybridvarieties.144

Amarjit Singh Khaihra, villageBirdwal, P.O. Agoul, tehsil Nabha,district Patiala has completed hiseducation up to 10+2 level with adiploma from ITI. He is a mediumfarmer having 16 acre of agriculturalland in his village Birdwal. He got agovernment job which he declinedand preferred to work in hisagricultural fields. Khaihra is a keenlistener of radio and listens toKisanvani programme of All IndiaRadio, Jalandhar. He has beenlistening to radio since 1995 and hasdeveloped interest in farming sincehis school days. Presently, hisannual income from agriculture isapproximately Rs. one lakh perannum.Khaihra listened to aprogramme on seed productionbroadcast in Kisanvani from AIRPatiala. Inspired by the broadcast,he started his own seed farm underthe guidance of some state agriculture department official. Though his income from seedproduction was not sufficient in the beginning, he continued the work with courage andconviction. Later, for marketing purposes, he established contact with two private firmsnamely (M/s D.S. Agro Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Goodwill Seed Farm) and earned enough throughthe sale of hybrid seed of red chilli, peas, wheat, rice and masur. Khaihra has, thus generatedan additional income of Rs.70000-75000 per annum. He has also been participating inagricultural programmes of All India Radio, Patiala and Jalandhar and writing articals in amagazine called ‘Modern Kheti’ published from Nabha (Patiala). Now he is going to startself packaging and marketing of his produce, being helped by information given throughKisanvani programme of AIR Patiala.145

AIR Bhatinda (Punjab)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Boota Singh2. Address of the farmer - Village : Burj Rathi PO : Ubha,Tehsil : MansaDist. : Mansa (Punjab).3. Age of the farmer - 40 Yrs.4. Education - Metriculation5. Family composition - Small Faimily of 4 members6. Land holding - 10 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - Dairy Farming, Bee Keeping8. Cattle (bovine population) - 6 Buffaloes9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by thefarmer and Tractor with Mobile Atta Chakki10. Main crops cultivated - Cotton, Wheat, Rice, Gram and otherSeasonal crop.Boota Singh, a resident of village Burj Rathi, P.O. Ubha, distt.Mansa is a farmer in thecoverage area of All India Radio, Bathinda. He is a medium farmer owning 10 acre ofagricultural land. He cultivates wheat, paddy, American cotton, bajra, maize and animalfodder.Boota Singh is an ardent listener of radio and listens to Kisanvani programme of AIRBathinda.Once he listened to a programme on bee keeping. A woman entrepreneur washighlighting her achievements in the bee keeping business. Boota Singh was deeplyimpressed with her views expressed on radio. He also made up his mind to start beekeeping. He wondered if a female could do such a praise worthy work despite so manyodds, why can’t he? This led to his work being successful and today he is widely respectedand being followed as well.146

Boota Singh initially purchased 11 boxes for bee keeping at a cost of Rs.22,000/-.This continued increasing in the next few months. He has earned about Rs.60,000/- in aperiod of one year from this occupation while devoting minimum possible time to the job.Radio Kashmir, Jammu1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Madan Lal2. Address of the farmer - Dist. : Jammu(Jammu & Kashmir)3. Age of the farmer - 53 Yrs.4. Education - Metriculation5. Family composition - Small Family of 4 members6. Land holding - 5 acre7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by the farmer10. Main crops cultivated - Cash crops and Seasonal Vegetables.Madan Lal is a retired ex-serviceman who served the Indian army for 27 years. Duringhis service in Indian army, he used to listen to radio which was his best companion. Afterretirement, his passion for radio did not fade out. One day he was listening to the programme‘Des Sohman’ in Kisanvani in which information on vegetable cultivation was beingbroadcast. He made up his mind to try vegetable cultivation after getting seeds from thestate Agriculture Department. His hard work showed good results and now he has allpraise for the Kisanvani programme broadcast from Radio Kashmir, Jammu.147

AIR JORHAT (Assam)1. Name of the farmer - Sh. Rajib Dutta2. Address of the farmer - Jorhat3. Age of the farmer - Middle age4. Education - Graduation5. Family composition - Small Family of 4 members6. Land holding - Medium Farmer7. Occupationa. Main - Farmingb. Secondary - NIL8. Cattle (bovine population) - NIL9. Agricultural implements - Common implements possesed by thefarmer10. Main crops cultivated - Cash crops and Seasonal Vegetables.Rajib Dutta is a medium farmer always interested in experimenting new methods in hisfarm. Such an attitude towards his occupation has earned him a name of progressivefarmer in the locality. With different kinds of exposure, Rajib remains in close contact withAIR Jorhat and makes use of new ideas and information in his farmland. Being an avidlistener of Kisanvani programme of AIR Jorhat, he has developed a habit of remaining inclose contact with the experts coming in the programme. Sometimes he would seekclarification from the experts about the issues discussed in the programme and put theminto practices. His close association with AIR Jorhat immensely motivated him to bringabout some changes in the cropping pattern.Earlier he used to spray chemical pesticides manually, sometimes mixing themwith soil. But after understanding the application of spraying machine, he went for it andapplied it in his vegetables. In this case, the VLW too helped him and according tohis advice, he himself prepared the liquid pesticide in appropriate proportion andapplied in his vegetable field.148

Chapter-VRADIO MOVING WITH TIMEThe most heartening about radio over the years has been its strength to reinvent andreorient itself in accordance with the changing reality and remaining relevant to popularaspirations emerging with time. The change has been so perceptible and glaring in almostall spheres of social life that the techniques and content of communication have undergoneconcomitant sweeping changes ever since radio assumed the responsibility of broadcastingfor public benefit. The composition of rural audience, especially the niche audience of farm& home, has changed in character and size. The overwhelming impact of liberal economicpolicies pursued by the government and gradual shifting of attention to secondary andtertiary sectors of economy is noticeable in changing socio-economic composition of theaudience resulting in the change of communication process, symbols and contents.The sustained growth in population increased pressure on limited land resource resultingin the size of holding becoming smaller and uneconomic. Out migration to urban areas insearch of work went up. But a large number of these out migrants kept a regular andsustained link with villages adding a significant new dimension to the rural communicationprocess. Import of new ideas and practices through such outside contacts in the context ofmany traditional skills and techniques becoming gradually uneconomic gained acceptanceand hence the emergence of these importers as the new opinion leaders playing greaterand more credible role in rural communication.The predominantly agricultural society witnessed the emergence of a section branchingout to non-agricultural activities and consequent evolution of a community having newoccupation-mix. The diversity imparted strength to the acceptance of innovations in variousfarm and non-farm areas, and more so in the face of institutional arrangements fordevelopment and commensurate policies existing within the reach of villages. Acceptanceof innovations led to improvement of agricultural practices and growth of farm mechanization149

esulting in considerably reduced dependence on livestock. Rural society viewed the draftand milching animals as the mainstay of its activities and these formed essential parts ofrural ethos. Gradual reduction, and in some areas almost disappearance, of livestock ledto the creation of new ethos which impinged on the way rural society existed andcommunicated. A whole lot of rituals and festivals woven around livestock and itspredominant importance in rural society began to weaken in course of time.The plans and policies of the government aimed at correcting the inequitable ownershipof resources and the skewed distribution of produce in the traditional production relationshipsalso caused perceptible changes in rural society. Sizeable land holdings leased out forsharecropping were withdrawn for the concern of security of tenancy rights leading toinefficient utilization of land resource and a setback to economies at farm level. Efforts oftenancy reform met with new gains as well as new challenges. While the economic battleat farm level continued to be waged on, a glaring at community level emerged.The clientele relationship that formed the crucial link in rural economy soon began toweaken. The relationship revolved around livestock sharing and traditional tenancy practices.And with the near disappearance of livestock from farm practices and a drastic change inthe traditional tenancy practices, the clientele relationship began to lose hold and so didthe crucial traditional social security regime. The change in relationship necessitated achange in rural interaction and the channels of dissemination of information as well.Increasing urban contact has led to the rural society being exposed to modern mediaof communication like television and newspapers and in recent past the access to channelshave considerably gone up due to newer technological interventions of direct to home(DTH) services pioneered by Prasar Bharati and further being catered by some privateplayers as well. The dependence on interpersonal channels for most of the communicationneeds has gradually been lessened and the forays of other means of communication havealtered the way radio was being received earlier.Demographic changes have resulted in the rural population becoming younger in ageand consequently those engaged in farm activities and being the intended consumers ofmessages by radio also becoming younger. The impact of enhanced education andgovernment policies aimed at empowering the underpowered sections of society has broughtabout a distinctive change in the way people looked at the female and other weakersegments of society. Implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act has further provided voiceand decision making prowess to such sections within a legal framework. This legal150

empowerment has gradually gained in social acceptance and a consequent change in theelements of rural communicationWith agriculture and farm activities not remaining isolated occupations in rural society,allied activities being considerably added to these over the years, greater participation innew institutional mechanisms coming up in recent years and the rural inhabitants becomingyounger, more educated, more prosperous, having newer aspirations to venture into hithertounconventional areas; radio always had a role to retain its relevance by reinventing itselfthrough innovations and change.In the process of evolution, radio in different parts of the country has been consciouslystriving to come to terms with new realities. Changes in the formats and contents of broadcasthave been perceptible and the symbols used to conjure up messages for new rural audiencehave continuously evolved in keeping with new social realities. This has ensured therelevance of radio in a rapidly modernizing rural society where activities have leapfroggedboth in magnitude and nature and the channels of communication have also undergonechanges.In interpersonal communication, rural society has witnessed new opinion leaders whoconstitute critical vehicles of messages and cause their replication. The sarpanch, themukhiya and other functionaries of agricultural departments may not be the agents ofexclusive relevance today because of the addition of other significant agencies in villagesituations. The reason being the decreasing share of agriculture in the total earnings ofrural households and non-farm activities entering in a considerable manner as thebreadwinners for rural population. The characters for conveying the messages have alsoaccordingly evolved so as to represent the reality of society and to transpire credibility. Thenew characters are the seasonal migrants, the service holders, the functionaries of moderninstitutions, the linkmen for accessing markets for farm produce, the educated unemployed,the innovators, etc. whose presence in rural life has greater significance today and whoare perceived to be the critical agents of change.The character selection and planning in radio programming have so changed as toaccommodate diverse areas of development and interventions made in present day ruralsociety. Radio has thus remained as an acceptable vehicle of information for developmentinitiatives at government level on the one hand and for catalyzing desired changes in rurallife on the others. Time, which used to be in abundance here, is truly scarce today andhence the existence of village chaupal is the foremost casualty. The messages conveyed151

through the archaic characters of such chaupals may not be either construed properly orbe credible at best. Radio has also broken out of such straightjackets and has picked upcharacters and formats that have hitherto evolved in different regions of the country. Thevariations felt across the nation are primarily culture specific and something to do with thepace of change in different regions. However, the symmetry of change is visible and theefforts of radio to understand and accordingly embrace the new social reality have ensuredits place as a meaningful communicator in a society on the move. No mean achievementthis.152

CONTRIBUTORSK.K. Sundaram, Dy. Director; H.D. Arya, Dy. Director, G.C. Mandal, Dy. Director: L.M.Momin, Dy. Director; H.G. Vasuki, Dy. Director; K.R. Rao, Dy. Director; Dr. Amal Dutta,ARO; Dr. Shashi Prabha Kailash, ARO; Dr. S.C. Ghosal, ARO; Ramesh Babu ARO; K.C.Devariya, ARO; V.Karuppiah, ARO; P.Nageshwar Rao, ARO: B.B. Das, ARO; S.K. Meena,ARO; Dr. P.S. Peter Sunder Raj ARO; Smt. A.M. Pradhan, ARO; G.M. Pillai, ARO; Smt.Vimal Rajni Tirkey ARO; J.D. Mangala, Asstt. Research Officer; Ajit Kumar Mahto,Investigator; Dinkar Yadav, Investigator; Sanjeev Kaul, Investigator; Kushal Singh,Investigator; Mohan Singh, Investigator; N.K. Patra, Investigator; D. M. Choudhary,Investigator.Engineering Wing : A. Shanmugam, Director; Devesh Kumar, Dy. Director; V.R. Hari,SEA, IT Divison, DG, AIRProgramme Wing: Ramesh Agarwal, Dy. Director; Ms. Shobha Mittal, Dy. Director; S.N.Mishra, Programme Executive, Farm and Home Unit, DG, AIR. Producers of KisanvaniProgramme:Devender, S.Johal, Ms. Minni Oberai, S.K.Malhotra, Ravi Magotra, K.C. Manhas,S. Wangchook, Yograj, Puneet Sehgal, Vijendra Sajwan, I.S Yadav, L.L.Damor, K.R. Parihar,S.K.Lal, D.R.Meena, S.B. Singh, (I/C) N.M. Bhatt, Sadanand Holla, P.A. Biju,(I/C)T.T Prabhakaran, Ms. R.S. Sivambika, Rabbani Kolar, M.S. Kendadmath, R. Sadagopan,Ravindran, D. Murali, M. Paul Rajasekhar, Eknath Nadge, R.N. Kalamkar, Sripad Kahlekar,B.N. Shelke, Jayant Kagalkar, L.T. Deshpande, Ms. Kalpana Acharya, Ms. Tanuja Kanade,Samir Shukl, B.N. Vaidiya, Govind Das, S.P. Singh, Vivaswam Ary, Dr. Om Joshi, HarishParashar 'Rishu', R.C. Bhargava, Amareshwar Dubey, Kallol Dutta, S.K.Jamal,S.N. Mohanty, J.K. Pradhan, Jaganath Sethi, L.K. Panda, G.C. Tripathi, S.P. Singh, AmitMitra, Madhukar Pandey, Loknath Bhagat, M.R. Yaduvansi, N.S. Raghuvanshi, ShankarRam, S.K.Chakarborty, P.M. Jamatia, L.Z.Dinga Renthlei, Mohendra Kumar Sharma, N.Keshava Murthy, Sudhakar, Vijay Angadi, Ms. Jayapadma P.N., V.G. Bavalatti, T. ShyamPrasad, Sibu George, Sushil K. Rai, A.K. Tiwari, Balbir Singh Kachh, Shashi PrakashPandey, N.K. Patil, Santosh Jadhav, Vikrant Mandape, J.K. Shetty, B.L. Tekam, VenugopalReddy, G.C. Bundela, G.S. Painkra, Hariom Meena, Santosh Chandra.153

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AppendixBIBLIOGRAPHY1. Aggarwal, B.C, Joshi, S.R and Sinha Arvind K. (1986), Communication Research forDevelopment, Concept Publication, New Delhi.2. Baruah, U.L. (1983), This is All India Radio, Publication Division, Govt. of India.3. Borbedenave, Diaz Jauan E (1977), Communication and Rural Development; Paris,UNESCO4. Chatterjee, P.C. (1982), Broadcasting in India, Sage India.5. Cheu, Goodwin and Schramm, Wilbur(1979), Learning from Television: What theResearch Says, Washington, D.C. , National Association of Educational Broadcast.6. Hornik, Robert C. (1988), Development Communication , Information, Agricultureand Nutrition in the third world, Logman, New york.7. Jamison, Dean T and MC Anany Emilga G (1978), Radio for Education andDevelopment , Sage, Beverly Hills.8. Jha, M.N.(1985), A Village by the Kosi River. In Anthropological Methods forCommunication Research, Edited by Binod C. Agrawal, Concept Publications, NewDelhi.9. Khurana, B.K.(1984), Mechanism of Feedback for Rural Television,Communicators(April)10. Katz, Elihu and Wedell, George(1977) Broadcasting in the Third World, Cambridge,MAS, Harvard University Press.11. Learner, Daniel (1958), The Passing of Traditional Society, Glenoe II Free Press.155

12. MC, Anany Emile G (1980), Communication in the Rural Third World; The Role ofInformation in Development, Praeger, New York.13. Modi, Bella (1991) , Designing Messages for Development Communication, Sage,New Delhi.14. Rojers , Everett M(1982), Communication and Development; Critical Perspectives,Sage Beverly Hills.15. Roy, Pradipto(1969), The Impact of Communication on Rural Development; AnInvestigation in Costarica and India, Paris UNESCO.16. Sachchidanand, Jha, M.N. (1980), Communication in a Bihar Village, ISRO, SpaceApplication Centre, DECU, Ahmedabad.17. Schramm, Wilber(1964), Mass Media and National Development, California , StranfordUniversity, Press.18. Tenth Five Year Plan Document, Planning Commission Govt. of India, New Delhi.19. Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension, Project Document, Ministry ofAgriculture and Cooperation, Govt of India.20. DTH inaugural speech of the Prime Minister of India on 16the December, 2004.156

KISANVANI STATIONS WHERE FEEDBACKSTUDY CONDUCTEDS.N0. State Survey conducted by S.No AIR, Stationscovered1 Uttar Pradesh ARU, Lucknow 1 BareillyARU, Lucknow 2 FaizabadARU Mathura 3 JhansiARU, Patna 4 ObraARU, Mathura 5 Mathura2 Madhya Pradesh ARU, Bhopal 6 ShahdolARU, Bhopal 7 GunaARU, Bhopal 8 SagarARU, Nagpur 9 KhandwaRMU, Allahabad 10 ShivpuriARU, Nagpur 11 ChindwaraARU, Nagpur 12 BetulARU, Raipur 13 Balaghat3 Andhra Pradesh ARU, Hyderabad 14 MarkapuramARU,Vishakhap-atannam 15 KothagudemARU,Vishakhap-atannam 16 NizamabadARU,Vishakhap-atannam 17 WarrangalARU, Chennai 18 Thirupathi157

S.N0. State Survey conducted by S.No AIR, StationscoveredARU, Hyderabad 19 AnantpurARU, Hyderabad 20 KurnoolARU, Hyderabad 21 *Adilabad4 Himachal Pradesh ARU, Shimla 22 DharamsalaARU, Shimla 23 Hamirpur5 Punjab ARU, Jallandhar 24 PatialaARU, Jallandhar 25 Bathinda6 Haryana ARU, Delhi 26 HisarARU, Delhi 27 Kurukshetra7 Karnataka ARU, Banglore 28 MangloreARU, Banglore 29 MysoreARU, Banglore 30 ChitradurgaARU, Banglore 31 MercaraARU, Banglore 32 BijapurARU, Dharward 33 RaichurARU, Dharward 34 HassanARU, Dharward 35 KarwarARU, Dharward 36 HospetARU, Dharwad 37 Bhadrawati8 Jammu & Kashmir ARU, Jammu 38 PoonchARU, Jammu 39 JammuARU, Jammu 40 KathuaARU, Jammu 41 *Bhadarwah9 Orissa RMU, Kolkata 42 RaurkelaRMU, Cuttak 43 BolangirRMU, Cuttak 44 Brahamapur158

S.N0. State Survey conducted by S.No AIR, StationscoveredRMU, Cuttak 45 PuriARU, Cuttack 46 JayporeNorth-East10 Assam ARU, Guwahati 47 JorhatARU, Guwahati 48 NagaonARU, Guwahati 49 Halflong11 Nagaland ARU, Guwahati 50 Mokokchung12 Mizoram RMU, Shillong 51 Lunglei13 Meghalaya RMU, Shillong 52 Jowai14 Tripura RMU, Shillong 53 BeloniaRMU, Shillong 54 Kailashahar15 Rajasthan ARU, Jaipur 55 JaisalmerARU, Jaipur 56 NagaurARU, Jaipur 57 BanswaraARU, Indore 58 ChittorgarhARU, Delhi 59 SawaimadhopurRMU, Delhi 60 JhalawarARU, Mathura 61 AlwarARU, Mathura 62 Churu16 Bihar ARU, Patna 63 SasaramARU, Patna 64 Purnea17 Kerla ARU, Thiruvanantpuram 65 CannanoreARU, Thiruvanantpuram 66 KochiARU, Thiruvanantpuram 67 Devikulam/Idukki18 Pondichery ARU, Pondichery 68 Karaikal19 West Bengal ARU, Kolkata 69 Shantiniketan159

S.N0. State Survey conducted by S.No AIR, StationscoveredARU, Kolkata 70 Murshidabad20 Jharkhand ARU, Ranchi 71 HazaribaghARU, Ranchi 72 ChaibasaARU, Ranchi 73 DaltonganjARU, Ranchi 74 Ranchi21 Maharastra CSU, Mumbai 75 Ahemad NagarARU, Auragabad 76 AkolaARU, Auragabad 77 DhuleARU, Auragabad 78 NandedARU, Auragabad 79 NasikARU, Mumbai 80 BeedARU, Panaji 81 KolhapurARU, Mumbai 82 OsmanabadARU, Mumbai 83 SataraARU, Nagpur 84 YeotmalARU, Nagpur 85 Chanderpur22 Chhatisgarh ARU, Raipur 86 RaigarhARU, Raipur 87 BilaspurARU, Raipur 88 AmbikapurARU, Raipur 89 JagdalpurARU, Raipur 90 Raipur23 Gujrat ARU, Ahamadabad 91 Godhra24 Tamil Nadu ARU, Tiruchirapalli 92 Nagercoil25 Daman ARU, Tiruchirapalli 93 Daman26 Uttarakhand RMU, Delhi 94 Almora*Study could not be undertaken160