PAU students take jingle route to deter straw burning

Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University’s (PAU) Centre of Communication and International Linkages (CCIL) and Department of Extension Education are continuously making videos to discourage stubble burning. They have made songs and videos for the past two years, but this year, they have come up with new jingles to discourage farmers from burning stubble.
PAU wants to popularize the jingle among farmers not only of the state, but also the country. They made two videos in Punjabi and one in Hindi. Dr Anil Sharma, assistant director of TV and Radio at CCIL, said: “Science is a dry subject and agriculture is also science. We need an easier way to understand it, so we made jingles of 65, 70, and 75 seconds.”

The videos have been appreciated abroad as well. Three jingles discouraging the practice of stubble burning through imparting of social values have been portrayed and dramatized, linking it to economic benefits like subsidies and availability of machinery. Almost 25 students pursuing different fields were involved in the production of the jingles through their voice-overs and dialogues. Scientists also participated in some of the videos.

Experts are of the view that rather than lengthy articles, farmers get more easily convinced by videos and live theatre. Anil Sharma said: “There are important things that need to be acknowledged. From paddy straw burning to saving water, we have experimented and seen that farmers lose interest in videos which are lengthy, and so they are only half seen.”

But with these crispy messages, just like other social awareness advertisements, the message goes across in an entertaining way, effectively mixing humour with information.