From today, Baramati’s morning raga: Agri news

Established at Rs 15 lakh, drawn from World Bank grants on an ‘‘Empowering The Poor’’ project, the licence from the government took a year and a half to come through. ‘‘To make it a truly community affair, we are involving the farmer community to contribute towards the radio station’s maintenance cost — just Rs 20 per year. Even if 1 lakh farmers from the 150-odd villages in the region contribute, it should suffice since the airwaves are free,’’ Goje said. The free airwaves come with restrictions — the content cannot include news, political coverage, advertisements and entertainment.

Goje is also asking agricultural universities and the state government to help them. ‘‘The College of Agriculture in Pune is already involved. If this (station) proves to be successful, the number of such stations should go up. Technical education centres like engineering colleges, mushrooming across the state, can each set up one such radio station.’’

The content would comprise talks from experts on agriculture, but not restricted to the university type. ‘‘We plan to get a farmer ‘expert’ — someone from the region who is doing well for himself with a particular crop. Also, morning programmes like ‘Things To Do Today’, current market rates for produce, farmer-oriented government schemes and a phone-in programme are also planned. The content is a collaborative effort of VIIT and Krishi Vigyan Kendras,’’ Goje said.