Community radio for location specific knowledge management in rural India

Community radio has proven its worth as a promising media for location specific knowledge share in rural India. Despite late entry in our country it has became very popular within a short period of time due to its inherent nature of catering a blend of knowledge with local flavour and entertainment. Observing its potential, govt. of India, modified its policy to allow NGOs, agricultural research organizations and KVKs to set up community radio centres, which earlier allowed only educational institutions for the purpose. Radio stations operating within a broadcast range of 8–10 km. radius rightly cater to particular communities based on their information need & cultural background. Agricultural sector in our country is widely diverse with practices & problems varying greatly, spatially and temporally. Community radio helps in building knowledge in participatory mode and thus gives due importance to farmers ’wisdom in a true knowledge share mode. Radio farm schools have been successful in India and abroad, though they were general and covered diverse population. With locale specific adaptation, it can provide a cheaper solution for lifelong learning of fanning community. This paper discusses the initiatives and experiences of community radio in different developing as well as developed nations, their modes of operation and benefits to the communities they serve. Further, the initiatives in India have been reviewed with special reference to the policy implications and scope for location specific agricultural knowledge management.