A unique national initiative called All India Millet Network started by the Deccan Development Society, an NGO in the state was formally launched in Machnoor Village at Medak District today by the noted organic farmer and ideologue Dr Nammalwar of the Tamil Nadu Organic Farmers Movement.

NOTE: This is a response to an article written by Dr Gurcharan Das in the Times of India on November 4, 2007 called Let Biotech Crops Bloom (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2515942.cms). He accuses environmental activists of  “spreading disinformation and misleading the public”. The article below exposes the disinformation spread by the likes of Dr Das who have all their life been on the payroll of transnational corporations and have such an intimate knowledge of agriculture that they cannot distinguish between a cotton and a castor plant.

Documentating traditional knowledge on biodiversity without adequate safeguards for protection of this knowledge will lead to a host of risks, the government has been cautioned by a national consultation on Documenting Diversity. It will offer the rich knowledge heritage of the Indian people to the predatory corporate interests, the Consultation has warned the Government.   The Consultation has also  demanded that any such documentation must be designed and led by communities, and be given legal and other protection against theft and misuse through ‘biopiracy’.