TN's Village Cooking Channel hits 1 cr subscribers; How farmer-influencers are next big disrupters in digital content

When Village Cooking Channel started out a few years ago, little did they imagine, let alone expect, a 10-million subscriber base. A number that's a sheer dream for macro level influencers. The team of six from Tamil Nadu got into making Youtube videos out of sheer boredom, with their hitherto main occupation of cultivation occupying only six months in a year.

What stands apart is not just the cooking itself or the method of cooking but the fact that swanky modular kitchen studios are replaced by rural scapes and countryside comprising nature and greens. Amidst trees and fields, large iron pots are brought out to cook meals on wood fire. Reminding the viewers the organic way of preparing food, sans gadgets or kitchen cabinets. Little wonder, today the farmers-turned YouTube stars from Tamil Nadu are a part of history by becoming the first channel from Tamil Nadu to have one crore subscribers. With the entire video in native Tamil, a lot many of the visitors only understand the now popular catch line "Ellarun Vaanga always welcomes you."

Hailing from a small village Chinna Veeramangalam in Pudukkottai district, the members include cousins V Subramaniam, V Murugesan, C Ayyanar, G Tamilselvan and T Muthumanickam. Together they are led by their grandfather and a former caterer M Periyathambi.

As per a India Today Report, they earn around Rs 7 lakh per month from the ad revenues from Youtube views. The team does not believe in just taking from the community in the form of fans and followers as it is equally well known for cooking large quantities of food and serving them in orphanages and old age homes. They recently also hit the news for handing over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund to help fight against Covid.

The videos with the maximum views

Even though their subscriber base was growing by the day, things accelerated further when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited during election campaign and sat down to enjoy mushroom biryani served on banana leaf in the middle of open environs. The video featuring Gandhi, conversing with the group while accompanied by a translator has 26 million views. One of their videos wherein fruit salad is made without custard powder, but some honey boasts of a whopping 75 million views.

Farmers turned influencers

Village Cooking Channel might stand apart in ways more than one, but that's not the only novel endeavour wherein farmers across the world are tending to their land and also trending on social media. We bring you a few more heart-warming similar success stories from across the world.

Elsewhere in India

There is no dearth of other Youtube influencers impacting rural India and the conversation around rural farming life. Darshan Singh, in his late twenties, and a farmer from Haryana, has uploaded hundreds of videos on his Youtube channel Farming Leader. The initiative that in a short span of time has brought him over 4.46 million subscribers. From the technicalities of irrigation to the right tyres to be used on tractors, to chaff cutters, his channel addresses all aspects of farming. Making him a true blue farmer turned farming influencer.

Dairy farmer from Lancashire

Tom Pemberton Farm Life is one of the most popular farming channels on YouTube. One of the many disrupters to have driven the demand for content on country life and farming in the virtual world. Thomas Pemberton, the man behind the endeavour, is a dairy farmer in Lancashire by the day. By night, he's a social media farming influencer all over the world. Giving a sneak peek into the farming life to his ever growing subscriber base currently standing at 382000.

Loneliness of long hours, or being miles away from city life or sheer underemployment in several months in a year, the reasons for making digital content vary for all of them. But for viewers it's an insight into the farming life.

Farm Girls from New York

NY Farm Girls sounds as cool as farming can get, with the page name straightaway borrowing from the glamour of movies in the Western genre. But the page, which belongs to three sisters, Evelyn, Claudia and Jojo Leubner of Maple-Lane Partnership in Marietta New York, advocates and believes in changing the future of agriculture.

There is not a platform that the three sister farmers have left unexplored to raise awareness on dairy farming and industry. From TikTok, Instagram, Youtube the sisters can be found promoting agriculture and, hoping to, "shape the traditional conversation around farming." Currently, the three have a 108k subscriber base on Instagram. In their Youtube channel the girls can be seen introducing their farm and farm life against the backdrop of popular music.