PM Narendra Modi launches new channel for farmers offering weather information, new agricultural techniques

NEW DELHI: On the day his government completed a year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a farmers’ gathering in the capital that his government would do its best to improve their lives. Invoking former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri’s efforts to energise agriculture, he said there was a time when India even imported wheat but it was the Shastri’s call to farmers that changed everything.

"His language was accessible. Our farmer brothers made sure that the country never went hungry after that." Steering clear of commenting on the proposed land bill that has earned the opposition’s wrath, the PM added that the government was investing crores on satellites and the biggest beneficiaries of the project would be farmers for there will be accurate weather information now.


The PM also launched a 24-hour channel for farmers, DD Kisan, which will telecast special programmes on weather, farmer issues, commodities markets, new farming techniques among others every day.

The channel has been launched with the tagline, Badalte Bharat ki Shaan and will be considerably different from DD Krishi Darshan run by the regional centres of DD, said officials. The PM said the channel could also be used to telecast stories of the most successful farmers of every tehsil so that others learn from them. Modi urged the farmer community to invest in timber cultivation that can give them wood to sell for furniture markets.

"There are many in the country who suffer from malnourishment. Our protein largely comes from pulses which are imported. Lets make a promise to ourselves that by 2022 when the country celebrates its 75th anniversary, we will be self reliant in the production of pulses."

"We need to make agriculture viable and dynamic so that we can attract the youth that is running away from becoming farmers." Information on changes in global markets that influence prices of grains should be taken to farmers through DD Kisan. Prasar Bharti chairperson A Surya Prakash said channel will focus on generating exhaustive reports on weather, market among other things which will be beneficial to farmers.