Panaji: State govt is turning to social media to promote sustainable and climate-resilient farming and advance its mission of making the state self-sufficient in agricultural products, with plans to take information on farming, schemes and local produce directly to farmers, consumers and young entrepreneurs.The directorate of agriculture will appoint an agency to manage and promote its activities across social media platforms and strengthen the department’s digital outreach.The initiative will promote organic, natural, sustainable and climate-resilient farming practices while highlighting Goa’s agricultural heritage, local crops, traditional farming methods, seasonal produce, and farmer success stories. Govt hopes the campaign will build awareness and demand for locally grown food while reconnecting communities with the state’s fields and food culture.A senior govt official said the objective is to maintain a regular and credible digital presence and provide accurate, farmer-friendly information on schemes, services, advisories, training programmes, and important announcements.The agency will also support agricultural extension through simple digital content in English, Konkani and Marathi and facilitate basic two-way communication by monitoring comments and forwarding queries to the department.“Promote sustainable, climate-resilient, organic and natural farming practices. Highlight Goa’s agricultural heritage, local crops, traditional practices and farmer success stories. Improve awareness of departmental services, farmer helplines, training opportunities and official application channels,” are among the department’s objectives.The agency will also be tasked with producing at least eight long-format videos every month, each of at least 15 minutes, for the department’s YouTube channel and official website.Each video will focus on subjects such as scheme explainers, farmer success stories, field demonstrations, training sessions, expert interviews and event documentation, the officer said.The agency will work under the direction and supervision of an authorised department officer. All agricultural, technical, financial, scheme-related and policy information will be provided or approved by the department before publication, the officer said.The agriculture department oversees programmes relating to agriculture, horticulture, farmer welfare, agricultural extension, soil and water conservation, organic and natural farming, crop diversification, market access, farmer organisations and allied activities.
