RECOGNIZING the trend of the present day, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications and the Department of Agriculture-Davao conducted last Thursday, August 17, a seminar on Communicating Agri-Innovations thru Social Media at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites in Davao City.
SEARCA special project coordinator and network administrator for Biotechnology Information Center Knowledge Management Department Maria Monina Cecilia A. Villena said the seminar would help information officers communicate effectively thru social media platforms.
"We want to use and maximize social media on how to communicate biosecurity, biotechnology, agriculture innovation, it also includes topics like organic agriculture, sustainable agriculture," she said.
This is the first time SEARCA conducted social media seminar. The seminar's goal is to capacitate agriculture information officers maximize the tools in communication using social media.
"We hope to bring more seminars like this because social media is really crucial in today's realities," she said.
Social experts from ISAAA Global Knowledge Center were invited to share their knowledge about the topic.
"There are a lot of media channels that you can use to correct misconceptions about science especially in biotech products, but the strength of social media is that it can reach wider set of audience," Villena said.
"I think the younger generation is more receptive to technology. That is one strategy that we use so that we disseminate information through social media," she added.
At present, SEARCA, ISAAA and DA are active in different social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.