KISSAN - Kerala

About KISSAN Krishideepam : A television based Agricultural Information Dissemination System

Today the influence of visual media has crossed all the barriers of rural-urban biases and is becoming the most powerful tool in decision making in all the sectors including farming. Moreover the programmes and schemes implemented by the government and other related agencies for the empowerment of farmers are hardly carried to the masses through these media with adequate emphasis.
For the first time in the country, KISSAN-Kerala is building the capability for aggregating at regular intervals such validated information from all over the state using state-of-the-art IT. In this project, we are complementing this capability with a media strategy to provide the farmer with balanced and validated information that empowers him to make the best out of his resources and efforts. A core team of subject experts possessing media and IT skills handles the selection, validation and production of the krishideepam program. The program has a proper blend of balanced, updated and timely farm information, appealing presentation, reliability and feedback, which are essential to sustain a system of this kind.

The Mission and Objectives of Krishideepam Program

1.	To translate the rich academic and practical agricultural information aggregated through the KISSAN-Kerala Network into viewer friendly video/multimedia content to be disseminated through the television network to the doorsteps of the farmers.
2.	To provide the farmers with right information of regional relevance regarding best farming practices, soil and water management, forecast and precautions on pest and disease incidences, weather and market information etc., which are of practical utility, in time.
3.	To empower the farmer with news and information regarding government schemes, assistance from other related agencies, research findings of practical relevance etc., to enable them to take advantage of the various development programmes initiated by various agencies in the farming sector in an integrated manner, in time, without being exploited by any of the intermediaries.
4.	To develop and sustain a platform for interaction between farmers and experts in a more appealing and acceptable form.
5.	To initiate a system for healthy feed back from the beneficiaries of various developmental activities initiated by the government.
6.	To influence a positive change in the agriculture scenario by empowering the farmers with latest information; hence enhance the total agricultural productivity.