Anybody with a basic knowledge of the media certainly agree that there are very few farm magazines in Kannada that truly cater to the information needs of farmers or agriculturists. Most of the existing farm magazines in Kannada channelise the flow of information from scientists to the farmers. But there is a serious lack of magazines that emphasise on farmer-to-farmer communication of information.

In the title for this unit this writer has used two key phrases – ‘self-help magazine’ and ‘documenting success from people’s university’. Those two key phrases were in fact coined by the editor of Adike Pathrike, Shree Padre, on two different occasions in his articles to clearly hit the nail on the question of what his magazine is.

Adike Pathrike is a monthly farm magazine catering to the information and motivational needs of farmers and agriculturists in parts of Karnataka and Kerala. Though the name of the magazine Adike Pathrike makes one to assume that the contents of the magazines are intended mainly to meet the needs of areca (a cash-crop of Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Uttara Kannada and Chikkamagalur districts) growers the magazine covers a wide range of crops (commercial and subsistence) and farm and household management themes. It is now 22 years old, is self-supporting. The Adike Pathrike has found a distinguished position in Kannada journalism based on the philosophy of farmer-to-farmer communication and farmer participation in the generation of information.

“The approach of Adike Pathrike is expressed through an insistence on farmer verification of technologies described in the magazine, an adaptive and iterative approach to technology, an encouragement of farmer-to-farmer communication, and a counterbalance to government and industry promotional campaigns” writes Robert Tripp in his minor research paper ‘Reforming farm journalism: The experience of Adike Pathrike in India.’

He also writes that “The magazine has pioneered the idea of encouraging farmers to regard themselves as sources of material and as authors of articles, and operates with the philosophy that farmers are most interested in hearing about the experiences of their counterparts rather than the formulaic recommendations of ‘experts’. This strategy reflects an assessment of the inadequacies of conventional farm journalism and the limited usefulness of many publications aimed at farm households. The magazine is called Adike Pathrike (Areca Magazine). Its primary audience is those farmers who grow the areca palm (Areca catechu L.), the source of the areca nut (or betel nut), an important cash crop grown by smallholders in some parts of southern India. The magazine’s unremarkable title and seemingly narrow subject matter conceal an imaginative approach to farm journalism and a wide scope of interest.”

The readership and initial days of Adike Pathrike:

The readership of Adike Pathrike is spread across certain districts of Karnataka and Kerala like Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Chikkamagalur, Madikeri (in Karnataka) and in Kasargod (in Kerala). The districts where Adike Pathrike has found a strong readership base gets medium to heavy rainfall. “The area is characterised by low hills and lateritic soils, making it unsuitable for the intensive rice production found in some neighbouring districts. Although farmers in the area grow small amounts of rice and other food crops, most of their efforts are devoted to cash crops, including areca, coconut, cashew, cocoa, and black pepper” writes Robert Tripp in his research paper ‘Reforming farm journalism: The experience of Adike Pathrike in India.’

Areca is the most important cash crop in this part and has been a principal feature of local cropping systems for at least a century. The areca palm can grow to a height of 20 metres. It requires well-drained soils and assured irrigation during the dry season. Once established, an areca plantation may bear fruit for 30 years or more.

Commenting on the uses and method of growing areca Robert Tripp has this to say in his research paper ‘Reforming farm journalism: The experience of Adike Pathrike in India’, “there are two major harvesting systems employed. In some areas, the nut is harvested at maturity (when it has turned red), dried, dehusked and sold. In other areas the unripe nuts are harvested, boiled with plant additives and dried for sale. Areca is used as a mild stimulant in a wide variety of preparations.”

The dried nut may simply be crushed and chewed, but by far the greater part of the production from Karnataka is sold to processors who make paan (a mixture of crushed areca and various spices) or gutka (which also includes a small amount of tobacco). A particularly popular form is known as paan masala, manufactured on a large scale and sold in foil packets throughout India.

Areca is grown in several other parts of India, and the market has experienced periodic fluctuations. A severe drop in prices in the mid-1980s caused a crisis in Karnataka. It was during this crucial period that the All India Areca Grower’s Association (AIAGA) decided to do something innovative in the areca farming to solve the crisis. The association is based in the town of Puttur, Karnataka and, despite the name, tends to represent the interests of areca growers in this part of India rather than those from distant areca-growing areas (such as Assam), who have their own organisations. Meanwhile, during this crisis-hit period, the leadership of the AIAGA changed. Varanashi Subraya Bhat, the founder President of Central Areca Marketing and Processing Company (CAMPCO), was succeeded by Dr P K S Bhat Panaje during the year 1985-86.

“Dr P K S Bhat invited some like-minded areca growers to the AIAGA who were capable of infusing some novel ideas in areca farming. Different committees were set up with different tasks related to areca farming. And a committee was constituted to look into the feasibilities of brining out a newsletter for the areca growers. I was an established freelance journalist by that time. And, with not much discussion, the responsibility of bringing out a newsletter from the AIAGA was put on my shoulders,” Shree Padre, the editor of Adike Pathrike, in an interview with this student researcher, recalls the days that later proved to be crucial in the launch of Adike Pathrike.

“I had clearly told everyone that the newsletter that we were planning to bring out then will not be a face-voice of the AIAGA; but it will be the mouthpiece of the farmers,” Shree Padre adds.

The first issue of the four-page newsletter ‘Areca News’ was released in November 1987 as a bimonthly publication and three issues of it were brought out. This newsletter was an unregistered one and was limited to private circulation only. The first several issues of the four-page tabloid were sold for Rs.1 and, with the help of advertising revenue, managed to break even. The response to the newsletter was sufficiently positive that a decision was taken to explore a more extensive magazine. After six months the AIAGA got permission from the Registrar of Newspaper in India to start a monthly farm magazine under the title ‘Adike Pathrike’ in November 1988. Thus Adike Pathrike was born.

As its administration and finances required much more attention, a separate body, Farmer First Trust (FFT) was formed by AIAGA. Since 1998, FFT has been shouldering the responsibility of administration and publication of Adike Pathrike.

Adike Pathrike is a monthly magazine, typically of 28 pages (or more, depending on advertising). It is attractively produced, with a colour photograph on the cover, additional black and-white photos and diagrams to illustrate news items, and written entirely in Kannada. Adike Pathrike sells for Rs.15; in comparison, a daily newspaper costs Rs.2–3 and popular weeklies (of 50 or more pages) sell for Rs.7. The magazine is now 22 years old. It has never missed a deadline, and once a year it brings out a special, longer issue.

Shree Padre, in the interview recalls the initial days of Adike Pathrike. “When we decided to start such a farm magazine, many of the media pundits told us, in fact cautioned us, that Adike Pathrike will not last longer. The media pundits advised us to pre-sale Adike Pathrike as subscription copies. My close associates too were not convinced, let alone the media pundits. Many advised us not to bring out Adike Pathrike as a monthly. They insisted upon us to bring it in the form of a tri-monthly magazine. But, not caring all such suggestions and cautions, we brought out Adike Pathrike as a monthly farm magazine and now it is running successfully even after 22 years.”

The policies of Adike Pathrike:

Shree Padre writes in his article titled ‘Self-help journalism’ about the policies Adike Pathrike, a truly unique farm magazine, follows while publishing any feature or article. “If farm journalism is to be need based and useful, the best way is this: farmers should start expressing through their pens. Only those who wear shoes know where it pinches. We have made a humble attempt to translate this objective into implementation. The idea was this: to encourage and train farmers to write, drawing from their field experiences. No theoretical writings. The yardstick for acceptance of an article is that how useful or informative – in that order – it is to the farmer and not who has written it. Our association, the All India Arecanut Growers Association, a 50 year old apolitical farmers’ welfare organisation, earlier known as South Canara and Coorg Planters’ Association, started publishing a pro-farmer monthly in vernacular Kannada language. The publication is not a mouth-piece of the association. All the editorial board members, including me, the honorary editor [Shree Padre was then the Honorary Editor of Adike Pathrike, but now he is the chief editor of it], are practising farmers. From writing articles and editing to publishing and even selling (we have nearly 200 news agents spread over 6-7 districts) farmers play the key role. An experiment which probably has no parallel in our country.”

The strong presence of the word ‘Adike’, meaning areca, in the masthead of this farm magazine might make one to feel that the magazine is entirely dedicated to areca issues. But, however, the editorial team of Adike Pathrike has made it very clear in the first issue that the magazine doesn’t intend to address the issues affecting the areca growers alone.

The Adike Pathrike team had written in its first issue as follows: “We provide space for various agricultural produces apart from areca and also we intend to publish information about various other activities in which the farmers are interested. We would like to reach out to every areca grower. We give more importance to the words of farmers who toil in the soil rather than to the words of those agricultural scientists sitting in the ivory towers. Welfare of the farmer cannot be achieved by escalating the agricultural produce alone. The magazine will carry such information that will be helpful in the all-round development of the farmer.”

The first issue also tells something more about the intentions and aims of the Adike Pathrike. “It is true that areca has become the lifeblood of many of the farmers. But the farmer has too many other demands. The information that he requires to fulfil his day-to-day demands are to be given in a single place. We strive to provide it. Our motto is to provide all the necessary information that the areca grower needs.”

When Adike Pathrike was started, it made its policies clear to the readers in its very first issue. The editorial in the first issue of Adike Pathrike writes “The business oriented magazines do not provide required information to the farmers, lest we anticipate them to provide farmers with useful information. This will be magazine that strives to become a mirror to the pains and agonies of the areca growers and strives to build a good rapport among the farmers. The magazine intends to draw the attention of the government towards the problems of farmers, it works towards moulding public opinion. The magazine has the aim of safeguarding the interests of the farmers and also to sensitise the growers about their own negligence.”

The editor-in-chief of Adike Pathrike Shree Padre writes about the motto of Adike Pathrike in the article titled ‘Self-help journalism’: “We have hundreds of farm journals for namesake. All these are published by government research organisations or agricultural departments. The writers are scientists or ‘subject matter specialists’. They write what they think is useful to farmers. Seldom do they bother to identify the information needs of the farmers. Nor do they take pains to meet farmers and document their experiences in black and white. Most of the articles that appear in such journals are run of the mill, library-borne and of no purpose for the community for which it is purportedly intended.”

Robert Tripp writes about the Adike Pathrike and the issues it covers as follows: “Although Adike Pathrike began as an effort of the Areca Growers’ Association, the publication soon expanded to treat a wide range of crops and other rural activities. Its articles discuss management techniques for various crops, the prospects of new crop enterprises, farm machinery, farm household improvement, and even new recipes. Less than 10% of articles and discussions are related specifically to the areca crop. Adike Pathrike promotes discussion on a wide range of crops and crop management techniques. The editorial stance of the magazine may be described as ‘pragmatically green’. It favours technologies that lower dependence on external inputs and the magazine will not accept advertising from pesticide manufacturers. However, the magazine does not impose restrictions on the types of technology discussed and is, for instance, a forum for healthy debate on topics such as the advantages and disadvantages of chemical fertiliser. The rest of this paper concentrates on those features that distinguish Adike Pathrike from other agricultural magazines in India (and indeed most of the rest of the world). Perhaps the outstanding feature is an insistence that any new crop or management technique described in the magazine must be verified by farmers. The magazine is very ‘science friendly’ and welcomes information on new technology. However, it tries to ensure that farmers themselves write about their own experience, rather than simply passing on information from university or public research institute scientists. A second, related, feature is an iterative and adaptive approach to technology description.”

The circulation:

The magazine’s circulation is achieved half through subscriptions and half through sales by newsagents and booksellers. Adike Pathrike was the first farm magazine in Karnataka to be sold through newsagents, and even today there are only a few farm magazines in India sold in this way. The combination of the cover price and advertising revenue is sufficient to support a staff of five people (editor, manager, two office assistants and a peon). The magazine is a non-profit entity and is a registered Trust.

Shree Padre makes a special reference to the kind of acceptance Adike Pathrike has received by the farmers. “Where people have accepted agriculture seriously Adike Pathrike is being taken seriously. For example, in Uttara Kannada district, though our circulation comparatively less, the acceptance of our thoughts is high.”

“We gave an advertisement in Udayavani inviting agents for Adike Pathrike in various parts. We received a very quick letter from Sirsi seeking agency. We had to reply back to the seeker. Dinesh Pai of Puttur was the first agent of Adike Pathrike. Now, more than sixty percent of our copies reach the readers through our agents and rest of the forty percent reach the readers through subscriptions,” Shree Padre says about the circulation of Adike Pathrike.

The content of Adike Pathrike:

Adike Pathrike features a question-and-answer section in which farmers share their experiences and ask for advice. In addition, each article provides the farmer-author’s contact details. A fourth distinguishing feature of the magazine, related to its farmer focus, is a sceptical and investigative stance towards newly promoted crops or technologies, particularly those featured in positive terms in the conventional press.

This journal introduced a novel plan of ‘Plant Friendship’ in its columns. A farmer with surplus seeds, seedlings and medicinal plants share them with fellow farmers via this column.

Adike Pathrike’s articles are selected keeping the overall rural life in mind. Articles are suitably edited to make them easily understood by the farmers. Articles on any new issue carry a farmer’s opinion who has been involved in it.

Krushikara Kaige Lekhani (KKL) – Give the pen to the hands of farmers:

Of course, there have been thousands of experiments in Indian journalism regarding the ways of collecting articles and features from various corners. Many news magazines have many verities of methods to have a constant flow of articles and features to fill their pages. But the experiment of Adike Pathrike in teaching the farmers about the art of writing for farm magazines is very much unique.

A lecturer in journalism of national fame Dr. Niranjana Vanalli has the following words say about the KKL programme of Adike Pathrike: “Karnataka has been witnessing a silent movement called Krushikara Kaige Lekhani since last two decades. This movement is the one that gave a new turning point for Kannada journalism. Though our farmers were experienced, they were illiterates. The literate farmers were not well-versed in the art of writing which had created a situation where the general feeling was that anybody could write about agriculture. Those who had never been to farming were writing on agrarian issues as though they are the sole voices of farming community. On observing this condition, Shree Padre and his friends initiated the Krushikara Kaige Lekhani movement.” Dr. Niranjana Vanalli’s words gains significance as he was one of the few academicians who supported the launch of Adike Pathrike and has closely witnessed its growth since the last 22 years.

“When we started Adike Pathrike and invited our readers (farmers) to contribute articles to the magazine, we were expecting a great flow of information which was very soon proved otherwise. The rate of flow of articles or features from the farmers to Adike Pathrike was very low. We had a set of farmer-writers who were regularly contributing to Adike Pathrike. But having a big number of writers gives our readers wider knowledge than a small number of writers writing every month. However, as the response from the farmers to our invitation to write for us was very minimal, we thought of doing something different,” says Shree Padre about the idea that worked behind the launch of KKL programme.

Supporting this thought Shree Padre has written as follows in his article Self-help journalism: “From the beginning, we believed in the wisdom and knowledge of our farmers. There is no dearth of it. We gave this offer: “if you have something worthwhile about farming that you want to communicate with your fellow farmer, feel free to write it. Don’t bother about the style. If there is content, we will try our best to rewrite and present it, with your co-operation. We wanted to see every new development or new crop or technology or plant varieties, devices, machine etc. from farmer viewpoint. So when embryo transfer in cattle started making news, we had a friend veterinarian with farming background to describe and analyse the technology and give an inkling of how useful it is from an ordinary farmer’s viewpoint. We had a hope that once you create a platform for farmers to write, articles would flow like water that flows on gravity. But that was not to be. We had to dig borewells each time to get water. After decades of being taken for granted, farmers are happy to allow others to talk and write on behalf of them. It is like a patient who has fractured one leg. He needs a lot of physiotherapy to teach his legs walking before he can resume walking on his own. Within a few months of starting the magazine, we realised the futility of pinning our hopes on known staff journalists, most of them based in cities or towns, who lack a clear understanding of farming profession and its problems. Even some in rural areas couldn’t offer new content. Instead of relying on such sources, we thought it better to give some interested farmers a training of journalism.”

Thus with the intention of training the sons of soil who toil in their fields the art of writing the ambitious KKL programme was launched by Adike Pathrike. In this programme, applications from the farmers are invited through an announcement in Adike Pathrike for the KKL camp. They are requested to send a model write-up for evaluation by Adike Pathrike team. Out of the applicants around 25 to 30 farmers are selected for the camp based on their write-up. A team of resource persons chosen by Adike Pathrike would organise a camp in a particular rural area for some three or four days.

Robert Tripp writes in his research paper: “The effort required to elicit farmer writing led to the idea of organising workshops to teach basic farm journalism skills. To date, six four-day workshops (Krishikara Kaige Lekhani, which means ‘handing over the pen to farmers’) have been held. Most of these were given in rural communities and one was held at an agricultural university campus. The participants have included 175 farmers as well as some agricultural officers, professors and other agricultural graduates. The course syllabus is now available as a book.”

To put in the words of Shree Padre about the workings that goes behind the organising of KKL programme: “A lot of pre-planning has gone into this. First, we called for applications, a sample write-up on anything farmers feel strongly about. Based on the answers to our questionnaire and their write-up, the trainees are carefully selected. Local farmers participate in a series of preparations, meetings held at village centres. This convinces them that this is something very essential for them. They are requested to host one or two trainees during the workshop. This arrangement facilitates a dialogue and exchange of farming knowledge between the host and trainee. In the 4-day workshops, the trainee gets off-class training too. Apart from dialogue type lecture sessions on “identification of subjects”, “how to write”, “how to improve your writings”, “development journalism”, “farm journalism and the environment” etc, there used to be three writing assignments, followed by evaluation and suggestions for improvement. The last assignment is one where the trainees are taken to a nearby farm. Using the knowledge and tips they received in the last three days, they have to interview and collect information pertaining to one selected subject seen in the farm. During night the trainees write their feature. Next day, it is evaluated. During the evaluation, one by one, some trainees are asked to read their article aloud. Positive criticism and specific suggestions are invited from fellow trainers. In conclusion the panel of faculties would give their advice. If 10 trainees read their work, all the 25 will get at least 40 good tips.”

The KKL programme has been a great success and the participants of this programme have been contributing articles for Adike Pathrike and to some other agriculture related magazines as well. But, despite KKL programme having proved a great success, only minority participants of all the six KKL programme have continued to write for farm magazines. Adike Pathrike has a core team of some 30 to 40 writers who actively contribute articles to it.

Adike Pathrike at present:

At present Adike Pathrike, having its headquarters at Bhat’s Building, Puttur, is running successfully with a circulation of 30 thousand copies per month, including subscription copies and the copies sold through its agents, and is 22 year old now.

Manchi Shrinivas Achar is its publisher and editor. Shree Padre is the Executive Editor while Na Karantha Peraje is its Associate Editor. Shankar Saradka, Dr. P K S Bhat, Kinila Ashok, Padaru Ramakrishna Shastri and Vate Mahalinga Bhat are the members of the managing board of Adike Pathrike. Sharada C is the chief of Advertising department, Sunitha K manages the circulation department and the magazine is being published by the Farmer First Trust (R), Puttur. The cost of annual subscription is Rs 175, Rs 500 for three years and Rs 820 for five year subscription. Adike Pathrike has recently launched its own interactive website (www.adikepatrike.com) to make the readers in the distant parts get in touch with Adike Pathrike.

Adike Pathrike, at present, publishes a cover feature story and three other feature stories in every issue. Adike Pathrike has permanent columns like letters to the editor (one page), an editorial – titled ‘Manadaladinda’ – written by Shree Padre (one page), a column – Mudeballi – on rural affairs by renowned Development journalist Shivananda Kalave (one page), a column – Tere Mareyinda – to tell the story of what went behind the selection the stories for the present issue, a column – Mane Maddu – on medicines that one can prepare at home by P S Venkatarama Daithota (half a page), a column on different recipes – Rasa Ruchi – being written by various readers of Adike Pathrike (half a page), a unique column on environmental and developmental issues – Riktha Vyathiriktha – by veteran environmental journalist Nagesh Hegde (one page), a column – Hasiru Jala – aimed at introducing to readers some of the useful websites written by Harish Halemane (half a page) and a column – Hanigoodi Halla – for readers to raise their doubts about various issues related to agriculture and seek answers from their fellow readers who might have answers/solutions to their problems. Adike Pathrike also publishes a regular column on reviewing agriculture related books.

Management structure of Adike Pathrike:

As any media house, Adike Pathrike too has got its own structure of administration. Here is a chart that explains how Adike Pathrike is being administered now.

The above image shows the management structure of Adike Pathrike

Author, Vijay Joshi, is a Post Graduate in Mass Communication and Journalism |

He can be contacted at joshi.viju@gmail.com