IT bears no Fruit for Farmers

Take Rafiq Sayedali Inamdar, who plans to grow vegetables. He could have consulted scientists at a video conference for advice or settled on a market for his produce through the Intranet service or studied the drought-like conditions. He did none of this. ‘‘I know of such a centre, but I’ve never been there,’’ he admits.

Not that there aren’t any beneficiaries for the very comprehensive KVK site or the online courses in agricultural diversification and rural employment. The end-users are the rich, landed educated farmers who drive down to the Kendras from neighbouring villages.

‘‘Yes, the uneducated, poor farmers are a minority here,’’ says Babasaheb Ghangre, who mans the Dadh Kendra. The centre registers the average of 8-10 inquiries a day, but most of them come from the so-called gentleman farmers.

Chief scientist at KVK Bhaskar Gaikwad concedes that it is the cash-crop farmer who makes maximum use of the technology. ‘‘Farmers growing bajra or jowar are not utilising the information because the prices of these commodities do not fluctuate much,’’ he says. Ironically, they are the same small farmers who find it risky to diversify into un-traditional crops, while landed farmers in this belt have ventured into fruits and aromatic herbs.

‘‘Education can be the only link. The farmer has to learn by doing, by using the technology, not merely by being told. The method and approach of teaching and convincing him of the utility of information must be enhanced,’’ says Shrinath Kalbag, who founded the Vigyan Ashram at Pabal village in Pune district, to provide vocational training and education in rural technology to dropouts from rural areas.

Kalbag believes another hindrance is the language used to communicate the message. ‘‘Although he may be able to read it, it is important that he comprehends it. The farmer may not understand technical language, calculations and proportions, and may be discouraged from using the information. Often, this aspect is overlooked,’’ says Kalbag, adding that such ventures should also be supported by grassroot level education.

In the early ’90s, the KVK focused on direct contact with the farmers. Now, it has shifted to group activities like the innovative farmers’ club. ‘‘If a technology works with this group, then the others tend to absorb it,’’ says Gaikwad. ‘‘We also net the farmers through the various programmes at sugar factories or technical institutes,’’ says Purshottam Hendre, scientist in-charge of the Agricultural Research Information System.

Meanwhile, in the world of the marginal farmer, Ghangre at the Dadh centre hopes that the ‘IT-aware’ schoolchildren flocking here to e-mail will educate their parents.