Countryside film shot by people living in the countryside to promote agricultural activities in hinterlands of Jharkhand might look like a day dream but contrary to that it is a reality and is slowly awakening people to strive for economic prosperity by adopting best agricultural practices.
Women of Chaibasa and Ranchi are disseminating the art of agriculture by showcasing films shot by little known film producers residing in villages and prepared just to depict how agricultural activities should be practiced to reap benefits of the local conditions and mint money to move out of abject poverty.
As many as 18 people mostly from Ranchi and Chaibasa have been trained in film production by a non-governmental organisation at two facilities situated in Ranchi to shoot short films in 35 best agriculture practices for further dissemination among people who feel helpless in the absence of proper guidance.
“We select people who are comfortable with using smart phones. We train them in film making for two days. They shoot the film and around 200 people have been roped in to display in villages,” said Assistant Programme Manager of Digital Green, Joshin of Digital Green.
The trained farmers shoot videos of best agricultural practices adopted in Jharkhand specific crops. The videos of 10-15 minutes duration is first shown to women of self help groups and they are equipped with inputs to display those videos to villagers. The videos have been screened around 1300 times in five villages in Chaibasa and 30 villages of Ranchi. The videos are then given to members of the women self-help-group who embark on a mission to educate people by displaying the video on small portable projectors.
The videos and techniques led the beneficiaries on the path of economic prosperity like Rinki Devi of Besradih, Bundu who learned several economical and effective agricultural techniques, such as the use of natural insecticides and the practice of Systematic Rice Intensification (SRI), which enables a ninety percent reduction in required seed and a fifty percent reduction in irrigation water. Not only has Rinki’s own family benefited from these techniques, but so have other villagers who have followed their lead.
Her decision to lead the society with the tool available for dissemination of information brought changes in the attitude of male counterparts of the village.
“The men in our village are eager to support the women since they stand to gain loans for farming and medical exigencies at a nominal interest of Rs 2. Almost every woman in the village can sign her name,” says Rinki Devi.
Since the last one year, with the help of Digital Green, a not-for-profit international development organization, Rinki has been disseminating videos in her village to build capacity and motivate women to adopt the new practices.