He has devoted much of his life to changing the fate of the farmers. Working since ‘80s, for the development of agriculture of the country, Shykh Seraj with his programme, Hridoy-e Mati o Manush, has taken agriculture to the drawing rooms of every urban household, making us aware of the importance of agriculture, its contribution, plight and the struggles of the farmers and more.
He is called a friend of the farmers, who has been motivating them, keeping them up-to-date with the latest methods and breakthroughs in agriculture. Today we bring our readers up-close with Shykh Seraj.
Spending decades on the fields with the farmers there is hardly any region of Bangladesh where Shykh Seraj has not been to.
He has won many awards. He has been awarded the United Nations FAO AH Boerma award and Ekushey Padak for his contribution to poverty elimination through media.
Shykh Seraj has also brought out six books written on agriculture.
While speaking about his work Shykh Seraj says, “In ‘80s I realised that media can reach the mass-people very easily and can motivate them instantly. I started thinking to do something for the farmers of Bangladesh and started making Mati o manush.”
“The programme used to feature documentaries pointing out the solutions regarding farming as well as aiming at making the people aware about agriculture. So, my field of work can be termed research-based journalism for agriculture,” adds Shykh Seraj.
“Before starting Mati o Manush in 1980, I used to host a few programmes, occasionally, like Jubomela, Khela-dhula and so on for BTV.
“While doing entertainment-based programmes for BTV, one thing that I noticed was that television can do more, apart from entertainment.” Shykh Seraj continues.
“In the early ‘80s, I started making a TV programme titled Policy to promote the local industries of the country. I received a great response from the TV viewers for the programme. I realised that television can be used as an effective tool to motivate and educate the mass people,” he adds.
“The response I received from Policy inspired me greatly to make a programme like Mati o Manush. I started making Mati o Manush in 1980,” says Seraj
Sharing his feelings about Mati o Manush, he says, “The first days of Mati o Manush were difficult but the programme received a high response after 1986 when we began to motivate the mass people through bringing the stories of successful farmers to life,” informs Seraj.
“The young unemployed were highly inspired to do something for engaging themselves in self-employment by this programme,” he adds.
“I have travelled to many countries of the world including Vietnam, China, and Philippines to observe their agro-technology. By working together with the Bangladeshi agro scientists, I have tried to introduce new technologies in to the realm of agriculture, for the welfare of the farmers,” says Shykh Seraj.
“Hridoy-e Mati o Manush focuses more on the use of modern technologies in agriculture. It zooms in on the newly introduced rice which can adapt to the changing climate and other natural elements.
“We always speak out against tobacco farming as its cultivation lowers the fertility of land,” continues Seraj.
“The most recent project of the programme is to take the university students to the villages where they can interact and see the farmers at work. The objective of this is to familiarise them with agriculture.”
Shykh Seraj says he is optimistic that agriculture in Bangladesh has a bright future. He ended with expressing his desire to continue his work for the development of agriculture in Bangladesh.
News Source: The Daily Sun