PANAJI
Adike Patrike, a monthly farm magazine for the farmers and by the farmers has completed three decades of successful publication and is a unique example of self-help journalism. Initiated with the initial capital given by the All India Areca Growers’ Association, an apolitical farmers organisation, years later the farmers' team floated the Farmer First Trust that supports the publishing activity now.
“We tread a new path in content, reportage and presentation. We source most of our stories from experienced farmers,” states editor Shree Padre, a farmer and a former freelance journalist.
Started in 1988, during the times when the areca nut market had collapsed, on demand for a farmers’ own publication, today the magazine has over 125 agencies in five districts. Naming the magazine Adike, meaning areca nut or supari, the magazine’s target reader is the areca nut farmer who also grows a variety of crops like coconut, cocoa, pepper and cardamom. The farmers also need diverse information on animal husbandry, manure, irrigation, labour-saving devices, banking, post-harvest technologies etc and the magazine caters to this demand for information, states the editor. The team recently conducted a WhatsApp Journalism workshop as they use this social media platform in a big way.
In three decades, the magazine has initiated five movements “ training farmers in journalism, conducting workshops in the villages, educating and propagating chemical-free farming, initiating a campaign on rainwater harvesting, starting a movement on farmer-centred value addition to augmenting the income of farmers and the fifth is jackfruit development. “Our community-owned magazine brought positive changes to the world of journalism and the farming community,” claims Shree Padre.
“In partnership with other organizations, we have been conducting awareness and training programmes on micro-irrigation, electronic fencing, biological control of pests, skill training for areca nut tree climbing, jackfruit festivals and seminars. We started a ‘plant friendship’ organization called Samruddhi which has now completed 25 years. Farmers meet every month, go on educational tours and exchange planting materials of vegetable and ornamental plants. This has boosted interest in vegetable cultivation. Our campaign on jackfruit development increased awareness, use and domestic consumption of this much-ignored fruit,” briefs Padre, a regular visitor to Goa for interacting with Goan farmers and educating them through workshops, seminars, lectures and exhibitions.
