A month in the past, when agri-commodities analyst Deepak Chavan chanted the social media app Clubhouse, he by no means imagined it could change into a straightforward instrument to unfold information about technical know-how associated to agriculture.
This is the place the Indian Farmers Club was born and since then, they’ve been conducting each day periods the place farmers change dwell details about crops and practices with one another.
The huge and complicated space of agricultural extension has advanced through the years right into a top-down mannequin, the place data is handed on to the farmers. Chavan identified that typically, this data comes from the angle of the analyst or advisor, who could or could not have real-time subject information. “What farmers want and what is offered often differ in many ways. But the audio drop-in rooms of the clubhouse are the solution to this problem,” he mentioned.
Social media is nothing new for farmers, with analysts like Chavan utilizing in style media comparable to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. However, the problem of undesirable consideration or spam and unidirectional stream of data hinders the precise change of data. “The clubhouse rooms allow controlled entry of participants. The format of the audio drop-in room is good as free exchange of ideas is possible,” he mentioned.
Traditionally, for farmers, the village class has been a supply of data change. Most typically, the management in these conversations is taken by people who’re educated in regards to the topic and the free-flowing dialog is surrounded by questions from others. Chavan mentioned that the clubhouse permits this format which is useful for the farmers. “So, in our rooms, we first discuss the weather and then go to an expert member introducing the topic of the day. Post this, the room is open for questions and answers,” he mentioned
The first session of Clubhouse was organized by Chavan about Onion – a topic during which he has a number of expertise. “I had published it on my Facebook wall and within seconds, around 40 farmers had gone live,” he mentioned. Since then, he conducts each day periods at 7 pm. “Expert farmers log in and we talk openly on various issues related to agriculture,” he mentioned.
Chavan mentioned the clubhouse’s invite-only characteristic permits them to dam trolls or spam from coming into the rooms. Since inception, the Indian Farmers Club has seen round 50-80 farmers enter each day to take heed to the session. “We think this new platform will help farmers in getting the right kind of knowledge,” he mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
