Outreach

Communication and Outreach

The capacity of stakeholders (scientists, regulators, journalists, extension workers, farmers, retailers, religious groups, and consumers, among others) to make informed decisions related to ABSPII products will be dependent on access to quality information. Communication and outreach activities should be integrated across all phases of the product development process.

ABSPII South Asia’s communication approach follows a general strategy based on the targeting of key stakeholders and opinion leaders and includes: identification of the communication partners and opinion leaders in relevant stakeholder groups; identification of information channels most used by opinion leaders; analysis of information related to agricultural biotechnology available to opinion leaders; and development of educational materials and related activities specifically tailored to stakeholders' opinion leaders, using ABSPII products as the main focus of discussion.

ABSPII South Asia has developed a press kit which comprises brochure, fact sheets and development milestones for Bt brinjal etc. The fact sheet covers all the common queries posed by the farmers, academia, researchers and media.

Multi-lingual CD Rom based outreach material has been developed and translated into Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Bangla for the FSBR eggplant. It will be used for training extension personnel and to orient farmers on best cropping practices. A video featuring Prof. P Balasubramanian of TNAU, one of the developers of Bt Eggplant, providing the scientific facts and explaining the benefits of the technology has been produced and made available for the general public.