Creating awareness and interest amongst the masses in agricultural biotechnology through strategic communication

 Effective  communication  strategy  on  Biotechnology  should create  public  and  political  confidence,  encourage  future  investment,  reduce  fears and  skepticism  and  improve  the  usage  of  Biotechnology  products.  The Biotechnology  community  should  ensure  access  to  the  balanced  and  credible information  so  that  people  reap  the  benefits  of  Biotechnology  by  deciding  that Biotechnology  products  would  contribute  to  their well-being. It  is  important  to  provide  the  public  with  information  on  how  the Biotechnologically  derived  products  have  been  produced,  the  systems  followed  to assess  their  safe  use  and  the-advantages  in  using these  products.  There  is  a  need  to change  the  image  of  use  of  Biotechnology  to  make  them  become  fashionable rather  than  being  seen  either  as  backward  or  risky,  eg.  Bio-pesticides.  Creating continuous  public  awareness  of  this  nature  is  all  the  more  important  in  our country  where  large  number  of  farmers  are  small  and marginal  and many  are  still illiterate.  Building  awareness  is  the  preliminary  stage  of  adoption.  This  need  to  be followed  by  sustainable  persuasive  communication  strategy  in order  to  lead  them to innovation decision process and finally for adoption of technology. Therefore  we need  to develop different  media  mix  to  the  different  stakeholders  from  time  to time.