Village hosts unique farm book fest

Seven years ago, Surashettikoppa, a small village in Kalaghatagi taluk of Dharwad district was in news by organising 'Friendship Fair'. This innovative fair provided a forum for people from surrounding villages to come together and make merry along with sharing their joys and sorrows.

The same village will witness another unique event, 'Farm Book Fest' on December 18, 2005. Centre for Alternative Agricultural Media (CAAM) has organised 'Krishi Pustaka Habba' (Farm Book Fest) on the occasion of its fifth anniversary.

Three agriculture related books in Kannada will be released on the day along with an exhibition of books on farming and rural development. The programme will be held at 'Gram Chethana', under the auspices of BAIF Institute for Rural Development, Karnataka and Sarvodaya Mahasangha, Surashettikoppa.

Farm related books titled 'Nettiragi', 'Savayava Chittara' and 'Shathashringada Saalinalli...' authored by development journalists Mallikarjuna Hosapalya, Ganadhalu Srikantha and Anandatheertha Pyati respectively will be released by S G Siddaramaiah, chairman, Kannada Book Authority, Bangalore.

Publication of Masanobu Fukuoka's book "" 'One Straw Revolution' "" in Kannada (by Santhosh Koulagi) in 1988 created a new wave in the farming sector in Karnataka, resulting in many such experiments in natural farming.

Recently, a book by Swami Anand, based on the natural farming experiences of Subhash Palekar has attracted farmers in a big way.

These instances show the usefulness of farm books. Several books like Sakalarigu Samriddhi, Beeja Sampada, Hasiru Hejje, Hasira Mathu published this year, have given new hopes in the area of farm publication. Another three books will be added to the list through Farm Book Fest.

Farm journalism awards: CAAM annual awards for farm journalism will be presented during the programme. The centre has instituted the award in two categories to encourage farmer friendly journalism in Kannada.

In practising farmer category, Subrahmanya M Hegde's article titled Adike Thota - Beruhulagala Kaatadinda Rakshane (Method to protect Areca farm from Rootgrub disease) published in Sujatha Sanchike has been selected for the award.

In the general category, V Gayathri's exhaustive feature Savayava Besaayadalli Raitare Namma Gurugalu (Farmers are the teachers in organic farming) has bagged the award. The feature was published in Sahaja Saaguvali. The awards carry a cash prize of Rs 2,000 each besides a citation and a parisara shilpa.

CAAM fellows: Successful candidates of the second batch of CAAM's farm journalism diploma course will be honoured as 'CAAM Fellow's on the occasion. They are: H K Basavaraju, Shailaja Bellankimath, Pushpa M Kammar, Siddaramegowda, Ravishankar H G and K Kumar.

For the third batch of diploma course, contact programme has been arranged from December, 16-18 at 'Gram Chethana'. 'Shree' Padre, Addoor Krishna Rao, Prakash Bhat, Poornaprajna Belur, Mallikarjuna Hosapalya, Anandatheertha Pyati, Ganadhalu Srikantha and G Krishnaprasad will be the resource persons. During the course, candidates will be given practical training on farm and rural journalism.