Mumbai: The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Anurag Singh Thakur on Tuesday said that the government has allocated a total of Rs 12.05 crore to DD Kisan in financial year 2022-23, which is being utilised for farmers’ education.
While answering a question asked by a politician and Lok Sabha member from Gujarat during the parliament session, the minister highlighted different initiatives the government is taking to educate farmers and build their capacity by imparting new knowledge.
The I&B minister noted that Prasar Bharti’s 24x7 satellite TV channel "DD Kisan" is exclusively dedicated to the farmers and the agriculture sector. "The objective of this channel is to serve and educate farmers and build their capacity to use new technologies in their activities and extend its reach to the remotest parts of the country," he added.
"The programmes of “DD Kisan” are designed to inform and educate the rural populace and work towards creating a holistic environment for sustainable and inclusive growth," he added.
The minister further explained that Krishi Darshan, the field-based stories on technologies in agriculture, major events and success stories, is telecast five days a week and Gaon Kisan, field-based stories on animal husbandry and agripreneurs, is telecast five days a week.
The programme Krishi Darshan is being telecast on 20 DD Channels in 12 languages, including Hindi. Prasar Bharati also has a dedicated YouTube channel for DD Kisan where the viewers may access this channel and also its various programmes digitally across the globe.
Further, All India Radio broadcasts a 30-minute, six days a week, dedicated interactive programme, Kisanvani, in respective regional languages, over 96 AIR stations across the country and Kisan Ki Baat programme over FM Gold Channel in Delhi, for the farming community in collaboration with the ministry of agriculture & farmers' welfare, the government of India, he also added.
Thakur also mentioned the government’s effort to analyse the utilisation of dedicated channels for farmers.
He further replied, “the impact of the DD Kisan Channel is regularly monitored through feedback from the farmers during field-based and interactive recording, and from toll-free lines provided for farmers."
"The regular analysis and impact of the channel are also done by the scientists and experts from ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute) and KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras), etc.," he added further.
