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The concept |
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The
advent of green revolution brought to the fore the importance of
agricultural communication. Its approach and attitude were altered
in accordance with the priorities of modern agriculture. It should
be mentioned that earlier attempts in agricultural journalism drew
their strength mainly from the discipline of agricultural
extension and not from journalism or mass communication. The main
idea was to transfer knowledge and skill; or, to be precise, the
package of practices about various crops written by scientists or
subject matter specialists to farmers. Since there was no
integration of extension and journalism, the agricultural
journalism stagnated for many years. If we analyze the qualitative growth
of farm journalism in India, the picture is not very promising.
The farm journals published by the agricultural universities and
government departments continue to be extension oriented academic
exercises. They emphasize empirical data wherein facts are
presented as revealed by research findings. Also they limit
themselves to one-way communication thereby missing the feed back
from the beneficiary. Unlike other disciplines, agricultural
journalism avoided subjective imprints on facts in its own form
and content. This non-interpretative method, though it had an
objective edge, suffered from excessive neutrality. The use of
scientific jargons and technical terminology failed to merge into
farm level language and idiom. As a consequence, even when facts
were presented as facts, farmers perceived them as half-truths.
Gradually, the objectives of agricultural journalism, which
undermined the indigenous knowledge systems, the cultural ethos,
and perceptions of farmers became weak. Modern agriculture has also unleashed
an array of fresh problems like the growing threat of chemical
residues, resistance of ever-stronger pesticides, salination and
other environmental hazards. The over-reliance on modern science
led to a search for corrective technology and inventions, which in
turn created a hopeless no-win situation and an irreversible
chain-reaction of side effects was set into motion. The farmers, disenchanted with the
recipe of modern agriculture as offered by agricultural journalism
set up, sought alternative methods of knowledge exchange. Several
initiatives exploring alternative agricultural methods all over
the world demonstrate certain features like:
Another important development is the
'farmers first' approach in the overall agricultural development
process. Accordingly there is a 'paradigm shift' in extension
system away from the terminology -'transfer of technology'-
towards an interactive approach entirely subordinate to the needs
of the farming community. Thus, along with this emerging
phenomenon, agricultural communication process has also been
altered radically. While presenting facts as established by
research as well as in-situ findings, attention was given to
need-based information, defined in farmers' own medium. With the
farmers first approach, the focus was on to encourage farmers to
learn, adopt and do better analysis not by outsiders' help -
scientists, extensionists - but on their own. The initial ventures in alternative
agricultural journalism began exploring these dimensions and
pursuing new possibilities. These efforts, countering the
archetypal, narrative approach by interpretative and analytical
presentation of facts, are considered by farmers to be more
'down-to-earth'. Various communication
efforts, which are need-based, pro-farmer and involving farmers'
participation, have sprung up all over the world. The agricultural media, which stresses the need for pro-farmer
ideologies and practices in agricultural research and
communication, is encouraging the farmers' self-respect and
self-reliance. Such agricultural media have
strengthened the bond between farmers and farmers; farmers and
research sectors. They have thrown light upon farmers' innovations
and indigenous treasure house of native technology. These media
have also revealed certain other issues related to farm sector. "Farm journal published by
farmers and pen to farmers' hand" - this is another unique
feature of agricultural media. Today, we see
successful farm journals brought out by farmers
themselves. It is proved beyond doubt that the information, which
evolves directly from the kiln of farmers' hard earned farm
experience, is more transparent, time tested and authentic. The
farmers' journals are not only disseminating farm knowledge but
also operating as farmer-friendly centers, catering the needs of
local farmers. Adike Pathrike, a farm journal, being
published by a group of farmers (since 1987) in Puttur (Karnataka
State, INDIA) seems to have expanded the horizons of agricultural
journalism. This unique success story, which relied on 'self-help
journalism',
has developed into a need-based knowledge exchange system. Its
efforts to bridge the communication gap between farmers amongst
themselves, between the farmers and the government have yielded
fruitful results. The journal conducted workshops in agricultural
journalism for farmers and the results were encouraging. The
trained farmers not only began to write about their experiences
and innovations, but also began to report, interview and narrate
the farming experiences in their neighborhood. The journal also
offers free space for exchange of information about seeds and
plants available with farmers for distribution. Now we find many such ventures
in agricultural journalism and there seems to be some
thematic patterns and ideational commonality in these isolated
initiatives. The Centre intends to focus on this novel phenomenon.
It will be working complementary to different farmer-friendly
communication efforts being undertaken all over the world. CAM, in general,
supports any pro-farmer issue in all possible ways. This is the
first venture of its kind in India.
Anitha Pailoor |
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