MUMBAI: When India’s first TV channel went on air –pubcaster Doordarshan- one of its most popular programmes was Krishi Darshan which till date runs on its national channel.

Taking a step further, now, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has decided to urge the Centre and Planning Commission to come up with a TV channel that will be dedicated for airing programmes related to agriculture. ICAR says that it wants to make the farmers of the country aware of modern farming techniques that will benefit their crops.

"We have been urging for an agriculture TV. They ask whether there was enough content and who would watch the channel. There are over 65 crore farmers in the country and if each of them are given 10 minutes, we have enough content for long," ICAR Director General S Ayyappan said in an interview to PTI.

The report also said that nearly Rs 300 crore was needed to set up such a channel. However, Ayyappan believes that due to the size of the country and the number of farmers, it will benefit them a lot.

Currently, Krishi Darshan airs everyday at 5:30 pm on DD National. However, a fully dedicated channel that can reach out to farmers would lead a lot of advancement in the profession of farming.