Kerala
Farm journalism workshop concludes

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: A State-level workshop on farm journalism workshop, organised by the Farm Information Bureau for journalists from the print and electronic media, concluded here on Thursday.

The three-day workshop was inaugurated by Kerala Press Academy chairman Thomas Jacob on Tuesday. M.N. Babu, Additional Director, Agriculture Department, who presided over the inaugural function, pointed out that expanding the horizons of knowledge of the farmers was necessary in this era of the explosion of information. Communicating the practicality and authenticity of new technologies to the farmers in a direct and simple language was the need of the hour, he said.

Mr. Babu suggested that a consortium of farm journalists be formed. The media should take care not to give exaggerate reports on the market instabilities of agricultural produce, leading to a sense of desperation among the farmers, he said and requested the media to desist from such tendencies.

Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam chief executive officer Ashok Kumar Thekkan, Dairy Development Deputy Director K.S. Vijayan, District Information Officer M.A. Vincent, I. Vasudevan and Radhakrishnan Narippatta also spoke. R. Heli, former Agriculture Department Director, said the departments of research and information in the agriculture sector should be strengthened, especially in the present context where the farmers are not being given the deserved status and respect.
(The Hindu-10/02/06, Friday)