Shree Padre-The Water MAN

Mr. Shree Padre has made impressive strides in farm journalism. He is from Vaninagar, a village in Kerala bordering Karnataka. A farmer by profession, he has been associated with the publications of All India Areca Growers’ Association, Puttur (Karnataka State) since 1987. First with Areca News, a newsletter that became Adike Pathrike in November 1988. He had been the Chief Editor of this unique venture in farm journalism for more than a decade and at present he is its Executive Editor.

The initial efforts by Mr. Padre in prodding the farmers to come out with their innovations and experiences were met by reluctant responses. Subsequently he took the initiative to conduct workshops in farm journalism for farmers and the results were very much encouraging. The trained farmers not only began to write about their own farm experience, but also began to report, interview and narrate the farming experiences in their neighbourhood. By his radical and pro-farmer stance, Mr. Padre has given a new dimension to farm journalism in the country, setting aside the age-old notions of information supply, practiced by the official agencies.

Through Adike Pathrike, Mr. Shree Padre has turned the concept of “farmers first” into reality. His efforts through the journal are the fine Indian example of self-help journalism, widely acclaimed for its efficacy the world over, especially in rural communication for development. His talent in photography has helped in providing additional weightage to his write-ups. His style of writing is unique in Kannada journalism.

In recent years, Mr. Shree Padre is working persistently in the field of soil and water conservation in Karnataka and Kerala. He has been conducting awareness programmes on the theme, a unique effort in the region. He has been vigorously collecting and documenting information on rainwater harvesting from world over. Mr. Padre’s series of feature articles on soil and water conservation became an eye-opener for farmers and many experiments based on his articles have been yielding fruitful results in different places. He has written seven books (Six in Kannada and one in English) on rainwater harvesting. Vijaya Karnataka, a Kannada Daily carries his column on water conservation, Hanigoodisona every Wednesday.

To boost his efforts, Mr. Padre has initiated a water forum ‘Jalakoota’ in October 2001. The forum is involved in several activities on soil and water conservation including rainwater harvesting.

Mr. Padre successfully initiated a campaign against the hazardous endosulfan spraying on the cashew plantations in the Kasargod district of Kerala, which had serious repercussions on the health of the villagers.

Email: shreepadre@sancharnet.in
Tel: 91-8251-287234, 91- 04998 - 266148
Address:
Editorial Consultant, Adike Patrike
Post: Vaninagar, Via: Perla - 671 552
Kerala State, INDIA

His blog is: http://jeevajala.blogspot.com

• Padre's interview

• The Rain Man of Canara Coast

• Padre's Profile as published in rainwaterharvesting.org