Research Article Open Access

Coverage of Farmers Issues in Newspapers during COVID-19: An Analysis of Major Kannada Dailies

Abstract

The largest livelihood source of India is agriculture with its allied sectors. COVID-19 pandemic has badly hit on the economy of many sectors, including the food market across the world. Farmers struggled to market their products and get support from the government during COVID-19. Many farmers protested against the government by destroying their agricultural products throughout the country. Not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also many other reasons grinding farmers of this country, such as lack of agrarian Labour, drought, middle man interference, policies by government, seeds, fertilizer, floods and natural calamities, etc. As per the N. C. R. B. Report, 10,281 farmers committed suicide in 2019; among them, 5,957 were cultivators, and 4,324 were agricultural labourers. In India, dry land agriculture occupies 68 per cent area, and 42 per cent of Indian land is facing drought as per DEWS 2019.

Karnataka is also diverse in its geographical area, and many farmers’ of this state depend on rain-fed agriculture. The state has been affected many times by floods and natural calamities in recent years. Even farmers’ in Karnataka are not getting reasonable support prices from the government for their agricultural products. State farmers faced many problems during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lockdown. The media covers some of these issues, and some are not. Hence, in this background, the present study aimed to explore the farmers’ subjects covered in Kannada significant dailies, the presentation of the problems and which newspaper emphasizes more farmers’ issues. The researcher used the content analysis method to find answers to the study's objectives. The present study would help to understand how the media is projecting the farmers’ issues.

Vinod Rao N*, Dr Rajeshwari R

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