2018
December 26-27: D Deb and Mita Dutta visited Daringbadi and held a discussion meeting with Kailash Dandapat of Jagruti.
December 20-21: D Deb gave an orientation lecture for farmers in village Kadopara, Deogarh district.
December 17: D Deb gave a presented at a panel on FPO and Sustainable Agriculture, held at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.
December 13: D Deb held a meeting with Kavita Kuruganthi, Kapil Shah, Dr. Tushar Chakraborty and Dr. Parthib Basu at Basudha’s Laboratory in Kolkata to discuss methodology for collecting data on Bt brinjal farms in Bangladesh.
December 1-2: D Deb presented at Conference on Food Sovereignty and Indigenous Food Systems, held by Living Farms at Bhubaneswar.
November 25-26: D Deb visited farmers’ seed banks at Akole, Maharashtra, and exchanged ideas with farmers and conservationists.
November 24: D. Deb gave Prakash Gole Memorial Lecture at Ecological Society, Pune on ‘Agroecology and Food Security’.
November 1-3:
October 28-30: D Deb gave semester lectures in ecological economics at SIT, Jaipur.
October 27: D Deb presented his findings from Living Farms action research in (a) Monocrop vs Polycrop productive efficiency and (b) Wild Food from the Forest: Diversity and Nutrition, at a colloquium at CYSD, Bhubaneswar.
October 21-26: D. Deb gave National Training in Agroecology on Basudha campus to 17 participants from India and the US.
October 7-8: D. Deb discussed Agroforestry and Land Rights with a group of Munda farmers at Sambalpur. This program was jointly held by Patang and Living Farms.
September 27: D Deb gave an UGC Orientation Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security for College Teachers at Calcutta Univesity.
September 11-13: D. Deb and Prof. Mousumi Poddar gave talks at IIT-Madras on ‘Models of Sustainability’ and ‘Semiochemistry’ respectively; and worked on a collaborative research in rice biochemistry.
September 8-10: D Deb gave guest lectures at Organic Food Fair in Chennai, organised by AIM for Seva.
August 28-30: D Deb visited Jeypore and Boipariguda blocks of Koraput district, Odisha to assist conservation farmers in characterising rice landraces.
August 26: D Deb presented his research findings of non-forest land use, in Bhubaneswar, organised by Foundation for Ecological Security.
August 20-21: D. Deb visited Godda, Jharkhand and surveyed the Chir and the Neelgi rivers to assess the viability of Adani’s power plant.
July 2-3: D Deb gave presentations in Living Farms’ Consultation on Nutrition from Wild Foods from the Forest in Odisha, at Bhubaneswar.
June 11: Basudha Study Circle talk by Prof. T. Pradeep on ‘Nanotechnology and Water’.
May 09-12: D. Deb gives an orientation training in agroecology, agrforestry, traditional forest management and indigenous cultural traditions to a group of Dongaria Kondh youth at Muniguda and on Basudha campus. Sponsored by Living Farms.
May 02: A new hut was built on the old Basudha campus in Bankura, West Bengal.
April 21-25: D. Deb gave intensive training in agorecology to a group of farmers in Nilphamari district, Bangladesh. Organised by Research Initiatives, Bangladesh.
April 01-05: D. Deb participated and gave talks on the inherent scientific uncertainties in, and alternatives to, the Golden Rice at the International Conference, held by Stop Golden Rice Network, at Quezon City, the Philippines.
February 24: Basudha Study Circle Talk on “Why You Should Be More Concerned than Farmers about Glyphosate Herbicide”, by Santanu Mitra.
2017
October 26-31: Basudha organised a hands-on Crash Course in Agroecology: Principles and Practice. Trainees from 4 States of India and one from Germany attended this course.
October 13-14: D. Deb presented the results of Living Farms study on “The Relationship of Forest Ecological Status with Wild Food Biomass Availability”, at Bhubaneswar.
October 11-12: A team of anti-GMO activists from the Philippines (MASIPAG), Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh visited Basudha.
September 20: D. Deb surveyed Jaypur forest in the District of Bankura, in search of specimens of Cordia macleodii.
September 18-19: D. Deb surveyed Jamboni Forest Range in the District of West Medinipur in search of specimens of a Critically Endangered tree, Cordia macleodii, and found one mature tree in Jamidardanga village near Kaima.
September 15: D. Deb finalized the forest dendrometric survey in Balangir.
September 9: Dr. Massimo Spadoni, the Scientific Attache to the Italian Embassy organised a study visit of students and Faculty from the University of Milan and University of Bologna to Basudha Laboratory… to learn about Basudha’s efforts to conserve indigenous knowledge systems and cultures (incl. food cultures).
September 1: D. Deb gave a talk on Indigenous Conservation Ethic and Biodiversity, at Guru Nanak Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology at Sodepur.
August 12-13: D. Deb visited a group of traditional Baul singers at Shilaidah, Bangladesh, and organised their upcoming visit to Kolkata.
August 9-11: D. Deb attended and gave plenary lectures at the Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, held by Research Initiative Bangladesh and Rosa Luxemberg Stiftung, held in Dhaka.
July 6: D. Deb visited the agroecology farm at Kashipur and oversaw the planned transplanting of 50 folk rice varieties for both conservation and commercial multiplication.
May 11-12: D. Deb and D. Bhattacharya participated in Shodh Yatra in Bargarh, and walked along with Prof. Anil Gupta in search of rural innovations.
May 1-2: D. Deb conducted a field survey for quantification of wild foods gathered from forests in Rayagada district.
April 27: At Odisha Seed Fair, Debdulal Bhattacharjee was endowed with Richharia Samman, in recognition to his contribution to conservation of indigenous rice varieties.
April 17: D Deb gave a presentation in a farmer’s meet, organized by Shuddha Krishi, at World Literature Centre, Dhaka.
April 12-17: D. Deb led a workshop to prepare a Manual of Agroecology for Bangladesh farmers. The Manual was composed in Bengali, and shared with scientists from BARI and farmer organisations.
April 10: Illiyas K.P. and Shamika Mone visited Basudha’s Biotechnology Laboratory for Conservation.
April 5-8: D Deb gave a semester lecture at SIT, Jaipur.
April 1: Basudha Study Circle Talk on “Science in Ancient India: Reality vs Myth” by Prof. Soumitra Banerjee.
March 30-April 1: D. Deb gave a keynote speech on models of Sustainability at NEHU, Tura, Meghalaya.
March 25-28: D. Deb gave training in seed conservation techniques to Punjab farmers at Gangsar Jaito, organised by Kheti Veerasat Mission.
March 20-24: D. Deb gave a semester course in ecological economics for M.Phil. students at Ambedkar University, Delhi.
March 18-19: D Deb participated and talked on the Platform for Equity and Sustainability meeting, held in Kolkata.
February 25-28: Alan and Joan Wilkinson from Scotland visited and stayed on Basudha farm and advised Basudha team on technicalities of community revival task.
January 25-28: D Deb gave a training in seed conservation and agroecology to Punjab farmers in Gangsar Jaito, organised by Kheti Veerasat Mission.
January 13-14: D Deb and Dr. Hemanta Sahoo made a taxonomic survey of Bolangir forest division.
January 10: Research students from Ambedkar University, Delhi visited Basudha farm on an exposure visit program.
2016
December 27: D. Deb gave a course lecture to indigenous students of Green College, Muniguda.
December 23-24: D. Deb and Dr. Hemanta Sahoo made a taxonomic survey in Rayagada forest.
December 12-14: D. Deb visited Vanvadi of Maharashtra to participate in a meet of sustainable agriculture enthusiasts, hosted by Bharat Mansata.
December 9-11: D. Deb gave a talk at Jalpaiguri on Intergenerational Environmental Rights, to celebrate the International Day of Human Rights, organised by APDR.
November 30 – December 5: Giancarlo Cammerini and Dr. Massimo Spadoni stayed at Basudha for discussion on different projects on the environment.
November 25: The last specimen of Vitex glabrata in eastern India was destroyed in April. Fortunately, a few fruits and leaves had been collected previously for tissue culture in Basudha’s Biotechnology Laboratory. A sapling raised from tissue culture was transported and planted in Kerandiguda village.
November 21-25: Basudha Biotechnology Laboratory for Conservation gave intensive training in techniques of molecular biology to 15 students and faculty members from 5 institutions.
June 10: Basudha’s work highlighted in Source Book on Organic Seeds, authored by Shamika Mone (Organic Farming Association of India: Goa).
June 7: Deb’s presentation at Sombath Symposium, Bangkok is now published here. Video of the symposium can be viewed here.
May 20: Basudha held a training workshop in agroforestry for indigenous farmers and students on Basudha campus in Odisha.
April 19: D Deb gave presentations before agriculture scientists and Director of Agriculture at Ahmedabad, suggesting curriculum of agroecology in the proposed Organic Agriculture University in Gujarat. Subsequently, Kapil Shah and Deb gave presentations before Gujarat Chief Minister Ms Anandiben Patel, Secretary of Agriculture, Director of Agriculture and others, suggesting banishment of GMOs, education of agroecology for teachers and students, and enlisting agroecology experts from outside mainstream agriculture universities as faculty of the proposed Organic Agriculture University.
April 16-18: D Deb attended the first exhibition of 1200 rice landraces in Ahmedabad, and gave public lectures on the role of traditional crop varieties in food security. The programs were organised by Arya Sanskruti and Heritage Venture Lab, Ahmedabad.
April 14: D Deb held a meeting with organic food movement activists in Dhaka.
April 10-12: D. Deb visits Chittagong to give a training in agroecology for Bangladeshi farmers. Hosted by RIB, this is the first comprehensive introduction to agroecology in Bangladesh.
April 3: D. Deb and Avik Saha visited Basudha farm at Kashipur and planned the land preparation for the coming season.
April 1-3: D. Deb gave semester lectures at Jaipur, and documented the oldest baori (step well) of Rajasthan at Abhaneri.
April 1-3: D. Deb and Avik Saha participated and talked in Kishan Swaraj Sammelan at Hyderabad. [Read report of the outcomes here]
March 27-29: Basudha held a 3-day intensive training in Agroecology: Principles and Practice on Basudha campus.
March 18-19: D. Deb gives talk at Gangtok University on computational modelling of ecological economics in a seminar organized by Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
March 9-15: D. Deb gives semester course in Environmental Economics at TISS, Hyderabad.
March 3-4: D. Deb visits Balanagir to oversee the ongoing forest ecology research at Katapali village.
February 23-27: D. Deb gives semester course in Environmental Economics at TISS, Hyderabad.
February 19-21: D. Deb gives a series of public lectures on agroecology and sustainability in Kerala. This trip was supported entirely by farmers of Kerala, organized by ‘Paithrkam’ Kunnamangalam, Kozhikkode.
February 18: A new set of experiment with PSM and biochar initiated on Basudha farm.
February 15-17: D. Deb gave a presentation at Bangkok on biodiversity and indigenous cultures. Also visited the work of Phra Sangkom.
February 11: D. Deb participated in a meeting of Children’s Science Congress at Ekatre.
February 9: At Basudha, D Deb gave an orientation lecture to a group of Kondh youth about the indigenous conservation ethic and culture, in the face of modernization.
January 28-February 1: D. Deb gave talks in a seminar on indigenous cultures and conservation, organized by Bhugol Parishad, in Cooch Behar.
January 20-24: D. Deb conducted a survey in Jeypur block of Koraput district in search of rare and endangered rice landraces.
December 30 2015 – January 2: D. Deb and Avik Saha visited the districts of Dimapur and Peren in Nagaland and rescued 34 traditional rice landraces from imminent risk of extinction from agricultural modernization.
2015
December 19: Basudha Study Circle: Philippe Leconte, former Director of the Laue Langevin Institute in Grenoble, France, talks on Nuclear Power from the Perspective of Information, at Ekatre House, Kolkata.
November 22: A new campus of Basudha is opened at Kashipur, South 24 Parganas for experiment and demonstration of ecological agriculture.
October 29: A team of 105 graduate students and 5 faculty members of Centurion University visited Basudha farm.
October 28: A team of 25 farmers from Kerala visited Basudha in Odisha for orientation training.
October 25 – 27: National Training on Rice Conservation Phase 2 was participated by 21 farmers-conservators from 6 States.
September 11-13: D. Deb gave orientation training to 23 farmers from the districts of West Medinipur and South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, for conversion to ecological agriculture at Kashipur. Amita Bera from Tiorkhali assisted him in the training program, which was organized by Mr. Avik Saha of Jai Kishan Campaign.
August 9-10: D. Deb and Avik Saha participated in Jay Kishan program in Delhi – demanding the government to recognize farmers’ rights to dignity and security of life. Pension for landless farm workers, and a national agrarian policy to stop farmer’s suicides are some of the key demands. Farmers from 14 States (Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala) participated in the program, reciting several cultural programs – songs, Chhou dance, Santali dance, Stilt dance, drums and flute – at Jantar Mantar. This was the first time that tribal, dalit and Hindu, Muslim and Sikh farmers and farm workers of the country together asserted their right to a life of dignity, right to their land, and livelihood security.
June 22: D Deb gave an orientation lecture for farmers of Bargarh willing to convert to agroecology. This program was organized by Mr. Lingaraj and Mr. Shyam Kansal.
June 1 – 2: D Deb gave a guest lecture for graduate students at the University of Tübingen, on agroecology and biopiracy.
May 28-30: D. Deb participated and presented on Vrihi’s Rice Conservation efforts at the International Seed Conference “SaatMachtSatt” at Berlin, organized by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
May 10-11: D. Deb and Debdulal Bhattacharya attended the State Level Indigenous Farmers Meet was held in Koraput, where hundreds of indigenous farmers gathered and pledged to keep their heirloom seeds on their farms. [News report here]
Apr 23-25: D Deb gave talks on ecological agriculture and seed saving for farmers at Kaduthuruthy, Kottayam; and on Ecological Economic Critique of Development for students, scholars, farmers, priests and nuns at the Renewal Centre, Ernakulum Ankamaly Diocese in Kochi, Kerala.
Apr 11: BASUDHA Study Circle talk (Speaker: D Deb, Topic: Animal Behaviour and Evolution) was held at Kalikapur Comuunity Hall.
Apr 3: D Deb and Avik Saha visited Tribeni (Hoogly district) to arrange for conservation of rare and endangered indigenous fish and fowl breeds in Kashipur; and then went on to Khanakul (Bardhaman district) to hold a seminar with potato farmers.
Apr 1: D Deb gave training to a group of farmers-in-transition to ecological agriculture at Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, Kashipur.
Mar 31: D. Deb and Avik Saha visited a tribal village near Urimari, Hazaribag district of Jharkhand, and participated in the community coal mining activity in Coal Satyagraha.
Mar 29: D. Deb, Mita Dutta and Avik Saha visited and talked in a seminar on coal mines at Asansol. The seminar was organised by ADHIKAR, Asansol.
Mar 25-27: D. Deb surveyed 3 blocks of Malkangiri district, Odisha in search of vanishing rice varieties, and rescued 22 land races for conservation at Basudha.
Mar 16-17: Deb gives course lecture in ecological economics to students of World Learning India/School for International Training in Jaipur.
Mar 10-12: Team of NGOs, supported by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, receives training in sustainable agriculture at Basudha.
Mar 8: Prof. T. Pradeep arrives in Basudha to discuss on collaborative research in rice.
Mar 4: Deb prepared land and arranged sowing of four indigenous rice varieties were on Kalikapur organic farm land.
Feb 28 – March 2: D. Deb participated and talked on sustainable agriculture and folk crop diversity conservation at the National Organic Farming Convention at Chandigarh.
Feb 24: D. Deb received the Ananya award (অনন্য পুরস্কার) from TV channel 24 Ghanta for his contribution to rice genome conservation.
Feb 15: Community Revival Foundation and Basudha organized an open Slow Food Festival at Kalikapur, Kolkata. A dozen of heirloom rice varieties, and a plethora of varieties of eggplant, beans, millets, dioscorid tubers, etc were showcased, sold, and cooked for tasting by everyone.
Feb 7: Community Revival Foundation and Basudha organized an open Food Diversity Fair at Kashipur Kishor Bharati School, where dozens of varieties of rice, millets, aubergines, beans and tubers were displayed and cooked for tasting.
Feb 6: Community Revival Foundation and Basudha organized a traditional music and dance festival, with Jhumur, Baul songs and Chhou dancers from different parts of Bengal.
2014
Dec 26: In his keynote address, D. Deb shared his experience with representatives of 9 tribal societies from 6 districts of Odisha, organized by Action Aid and others.
Dec 19: This year’s 3rd and the last phase of National Rice Conservators Training was completed at Basudha on the 19th December.
Dec 12: Deb presented a new study “Forest as Food-producing Habitat” on wild and uncultivated foods in tribal societies of southern Odisha – the first quantitative estimation of the role of wild foods in food security among forest tribes of Odisha. Basudha and Living Farms presented a grand exhibition of uncultivated foods in Delhi (held from 12 to 14 December). The study report can be downloaded here.
Nov 30: Deb attended the Scirarindi Festival on the 29th – 30th November and gave speeches to school students, journalists and activists. A report (in Italian) on Deb’s participation in the Festival is here.
Nov 26-28: D Deb was invited to give a keynote speech in a Conference on Computational Sustainability at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz . He was introduced by Dr. Jörg Lässig and Dr. Marius Kloft of Berlin University.
Nov 22: D Deb visited the Bruderhof community prior to the conference, and interviewed the Bruderhof community members about their communitarian ethos.
Oct 18: D Deb presented at Kuminda Festival, held at Voltoni del Guazzatoio, Pilotta, Parma. See Detail of Kuminda Festival here.
Oct 17: D Deb spoke on Ecological Agriculture at Parma University.
Oct 16: D Deb presented, and participated in a fierce debate on GMOs, at Milan Politecnico University. Deb explained with multitude of examples the inherent uncertainties in transgenics, and unpredictable risks from hastily resealed GM crops in agriculture.
Oct 16: D Deb was invited to talk on sustainable agriculture model of Basudha at the Agricultural School of Parma, Italy.
Oct 14: D Deb was invited to present Basudha’s work in folk rice conservation and community revival around agroecology, at Cervi Institute, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Oct 11: D. Deb was invited to share his experience of crop genetic diversity conservation and ecological agriculture, with farmers at Bologna, Italy.
Oct 3: D. Deb, Chair of Basudha, was invited to present Basudha’s work in folk rice germplasm conservation at Jungwon University, Goesan County, Korea.
Sep 24 – 26: Basudha gave training in rice conservation techniques on-farm to 32 participants from 11 States. This was the Phase II of the National Rice Conservators’ Training.
August 12: Basudha’s Biotechnology Laboratory for Conservation was inaugurated in Kolkata. Read media report here.
June 22 – 23: Basudha gave field training in on-farm rice conservation techniques to 32 participants from 11 States. This was the Phase I of the National Rice Conservators’ Training.
May 10 – 30: Basudha distributed folk rice seeds from its seed bank at Kerandiguda to 470 farmers, who arrived from 4 States. Basudha accommodated all these farmers in different phases, and distributed seeds of 270 varieties of rice.
April 26- 30: D. Deb talked on the science and politics of Golden Rice in Asia in Quezon City, the Philippines. This symposium was held by the Asian Farmers’ Alliance against Golden Rice, and hosted by MASIPAG.
March 7-8: National Seed Savers’ Meet was held in New Delhi, where D Deb discussed the need of protection of the seed germplasm and farmer IPR from biopiracy by statutory institutions and seed companies. He emphasized the need of seed savers’ awareness and independence from institutional endorsement and support for their conservation activities.
2013
Dec 25 – 28: Basudha hosted and gave training to 34 farmer-conservators from 9 States, in the National Training for Rice Conservators – Phase III on Basudha farm.
Nov 20: Basudha held a farmers’ workshop on Sustainable Agriculture Methods at Bissamcuttack for indigenous farmers.
Oct 29 – Nov 01: Basudha hosted and gave training to 34 farmer-conservators from 9 States, on Basudha farm. This was the Phase II of the National Training for Rice Conservators.
Oct 11 – Basudha organized a talk on Indigenous Farming Systems for Agrobiodiversity Conservation to tribal farmers from Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Navrangpur and Kalahandi districts at a farmers’ program Koraput.
Sep 24 – Basudha participated in a farmers’ Seed Fair in Patna, organized by GM Free Bihar Movement.
Sep 10-12 – Basudha organized a field training to farmers in preserving genetic purity of folk rice varieties in two villages of Jeypore Block, Koraput district.
Sep 2 – Deb gave talk for environmental activists in Paschim Banga Khet Majur Samiti at Badu on ecological agriculture.
Aug 28 – 29 – D. Deb participated in Open Source Seed Systems workshop in Hyderabad, organized by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
Aug 9 – Basudha participated in the “Monsanto, Quit India” program at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, organized by the National Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture.
July 19 – Deb organized a training program in Muniguda, Odisha to a team of students for a collaborative study on Uncultivated Food in Indigenous Societies.
July 10: Basudha initiated a Quantitative Study of Wild and Uncultivated Foods in Tribal Societies in Rayagada District, Odisha, in collaboration with the Living Farms.
June 22 – 23 – Basudha held National Training (Phase I) in techniques of maintaining genetic purity of rice landraces, to 22 folk rice conservators. This training was organized by OFAI.
June 18 – 20 – Deb conducted a survey in Koraput district, Odisha to record, collect and rescue rare indigenous rice landraces.
May 10 – 30: Basudha distributed folk rice seeds from its seed bank at Kerandiguda to 240 farmers, who arrived from 3 States. Basudha accommodated all these farmers in different phases, and distributed seeds of 230 varieties of rice.
Apr 24 – Deb conducted survey to record and collect rare rice landraces from indigenous farmers in Jeypore Block of Koraput.
March 8 – 10 – Basudha participated in Seed Fair at Sompet, Andhra Pradesh, and displayed 200 rice varieties adapted to dryland farm conditions.
Mar 6 – Deb held a Farmers’ Seed Fair in Bissam Cuttack block, Rayagada district, Odisha.
Feb 28 – Deb gave orientation training to farmers and students at Dibugarh University, Assam.
Feb 27 – Deb gave training in techniques of seed saving and genetic purity maintenance to farmers from Digboi area, Assam.
Feb 26 – Trustees of Basudha opened a seed bank in a primary school and a high school in Jorhat, Assam.
Feb 23 – 25 – Deb conducted training in rice germplasm conservation methods in Shillong, Meghalaya.
Feb 3 – Basudha organized and conducted a Nature Study Camp in Bishnupur block of Bankura District, West Bengal.
Jan 07 – 09 – Deb gave talk on “Water in Agriculture and Development” at IIT Chennai.
2012
Dec 14 – 17 – Organized a Cultural Trip of a group of Baul singers from Bankura and Chhou dancers from Puruliya to Indira Gandhi National Museum of Mankind, Bhopal, to participate in the National Sacred Groves Festival.
Nov 6 -7 – Chairman, Basudha gave orientation speeches on Farmers’ Rights and responsibility to Save Folk Crop Seeds at the OFAI Fourth Biennial Organic Farmers Convention held in Bhubaneswar.
Oct 28 – 30 – Participated in a seminar on Challenges before Farmers organized by Shetkari Shet Majoor Sabha at Pune, Maharashtra.
Oct 5 – 8 – Chairman, Basudha gave speech on Traditional Agricultural Knowledge, Folk Rice Varieties, and Food Security, at the Conference on Knowledge Diversity for Sustainability at Albukhary International University, Malaysia.
Sep 25 – 26 – Basudha participated in a Farmers Conference at Sambalpur, Odisha on Ecological Agriculture for Food Security.
July 22 – 23 – A team of delegates from Bangladesh visited new Basudha farm, and received training in seed conservation and ecological architecture.
July 12 – Basudha participated in a session on “Climate Change and Food Security” at the Sub-Regional Workshop on Climate Change, held by RCDC at Bhubaneswar. The session was chaired by Basudha’s Chairman, Dr. D Deb.
June 19 – Chairman of Basudha participated in a meeting of Agrobiodiversity Expert Committee of the National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai.
May 15 – Basudha Distributed salinity-tolerant rice seeds to 5 farmers organizations in Sunderban for dissemination on saline farms.
May 7 – 11 – Basudha conducts a survey of Balangir forest division to assess the stock of bamboos and other flora of economic importance to local villagers.
Apr 6 – 7 – Deb inaugurated Rice Seeds Fair at Vasava Bhavan, Bengaluru.
Apr 4 – 5 – Deb gave training to farmers in rice seed improvement and maintaining genetic purity at VC Farm, Mandya and Karnataka.
Apr 3 – Deb participated in a Roundtable on Farmers’ rights and IPR laws at United Theological College, in Bengaluru. The program was organized by ASHA.
Mar 12 – 13 – Deb gave intensive training to farmers from Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput districts in ecological agriculture and seed saving, at Kerandiguda, Odisha.
Mar 10 – Deb held orientation seminar for farmers and students for conversion to ecological farming at Dignagar, Bardhaman district, West Bengal.
Feb 27 – Chairman of Basudha presented before the President’s committee on sustainable agriculture at Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc, Bangalore, to uphold the merits of biodiversity-based ecological agriculture to ensure food security.
Feb 23 – Chairman of Basudha attends and participated in Agrobiodiversity Expert Committee meeting at National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai.
Feb 20 – 21 – Deb conducted a survey in Barbara Reserve Forest, Khurda district, Odisha for assessment of forest ecosystem services to the Arang and Kadalibari villages.
Feb 16 – 17 – Participated in a farmers’ caravan in Cochin for sustainable agriculture, and addressed to farmer organizations and political leaders.
Feb 4 – Held a public lecture on “Traditional Resource Use Modes and Sustainability” at Panchakot College, Puruliya.
2011
Dec 22 – 23 – Dr. D. Deb, Chairman of Basudha attends and talks at the National Biodiversity Authority meeting in Bengaluru to discuss legal issues related to Community Biodiversity Registers.
Nov 10 – 16 – D. Deb took 2 Baul singers from Bankura to Kusthia, Bangladesh for a cultural exchange between the two Baul schools. [Video by Andrew Weeks]
Sep 25 – New handbook on organic rice farming techniques (Sustahyee Dhan Chash, in Bengali) published by ENDEV, Kolkata for free distribution among indigenous farmers.
Aug 2 – Held Basudha Study Circle (Topic: The Philosophy of Mathematics. Speaker: Dr. Marius Kloft).
July 30 – 31 – Members of Basudha Trust visited Bali Island in Sunderban and oversaw the cultivation of the indigenous salt–tolerant rice varieties, which had been distributed to farmers in 2009.
June 3-10 – After a decade of working in West Bengal, Basudha’s activities shifted to Rayagada district of Odisha. All its work – demonstration of zero-external input agriculture, folk rice diversity conservation and characterization, promotion of forgotten indigenous sports and musical traditions, non-formal education for the rural youth – has ceased in Bankura, although the adobe farm house and the farm land still exist.
May 30 – Basudha opened a stall on agrobiodiversity conservation at Mugberia Book Fair, held at Mugberia Kanya Vidyalaya, East Mednipur, where Chairman of Basudha gave a public lecture on natural resource conservation.
May 23 – Basudha held a workshop with 5 community organizations of the Sunderban area on conserving traditional salt-tolerant rice varieties. This program aimed at training the activists in distributing and conserving the seeds of salt-tolerant rice varieties, which would be collected from Vrihi.
May 14 – Basudha held a one-day farmers’ workshop on sustainable agriculture in Umran, Meghalaya. This program, sponsored by NEHU, begins a project for conservation of local crop genetic diversity in Meghalaya.
Mar 23 – Organized a presentation on Agricultural Restructuring to ensure food security at the National Seminar on Agricultural Strategies Vis-a-Vis Environment: Vision 2025 at the Agro-Economic Research Centre, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
Mar 15 – 16 – Basudha held a training workshop on seed saving and setting up of rice seed bank in Rayagada, Odisha. The program was held by Living Farms. Deb also explored prospective farm lands for this year’s plantation of Vrihi’s rice seeds.
Mar 5 – Held a farmers’ workshop on conversion to organic agriculture at Galsi, district Bardhaman.
Feb 15 – 16 – Held 3 Farmers Training Workshops in Malekan Ghumti and Ramapur of Sunderban’s Hingalganj block.
Feb 12 – Basudha held a presentation on Sacred Groves at the National Conference on Conservation of Sacred Groves, organized by the CPR Environmental Educational Centre, Chennai.
Feb 7 – Chairman of Basudha gave talks on “Rainwater and Dew harvesting designs” and “Ecological sanitation designs” on a course in ecological Architecture, organized by MACE.
Jan 17 – Chairman of Basudha gave public lecture on “Ecological architecture incorporating natural landscape elements”, on a course in ecological Architecture, organized by MACE.
Jan 14 – Basudha held a public lecture “Architecture and Aesthetics” on a course in ecological Architecture, organized by MACE.
2010
Dec 12 – 13 – Basudha held a Farmers’ Training in Sustainable Agriculture at Rangabelia of the Sunderban.
Dec 5 – 10 – Basudha held an intensive training in Sustainable Rice Production on Basudha farm in Bankura district, West Bengal for farmers from Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha.
Dec 4 – Basudha Study Circle (Topic: Sir P C Roy & the Scientific Attitude in India; speaker: Dr. Subhasis Maiti).
Nov 19 – 20 – Basudha hosted the Bengal Chapter of Kishan Swaraj Yatra (Farmers’ Freedom Tour), with 40 farmers-activists from different States. Organized Farmers’ March for Freedom and Food Security around 5 villages.
Oct 30 – 31 – Basudha Festival VIII held at Basudha, Over 120 delegates, including scientists, educators, artists, farmers and writers from 6 districts of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Chattisgarh as well as from France, Italy and UK participated in the Fest.
Oct 3 – 5 – Basudha’s workers attended a National Program on Ecological Farming at Thane, Maharashtra, organised by Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas.
Sep 25 – Trustees of Basudha gave public lectures on the Traditions of Bioethics and Conservation, on the National Seminar on Biodiversity Conservation Scenario in India, at Bankura Christian College.
Sep 8 – 9 –Basudha Participated in a Regional Policy Workshop on “Green Revolution in Eastern India: Which Way Forward?” where Chairman of Basudha gave a talk on “Hybrid Rice Economies in Asia” at Bhubaneswar, organized by Living Farms.
Aug 7 – Basudha held a public lecture on “GM Crops and Food Security for the Poor” in the National Convention on Right to Food Network, at Rourkela.
Jul 18 – Basudha organized an orientation workshop for farmers on risks from transgenic rice in Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
Jul 17 – Chairman of Basudha gave an orientation lecture on Ecological Economics and Inclusive Freedom at Radical Humanist hall, Kolkata.
June 29 – Basudha organized a training to farmers of Gobardanga in in situ maintenance of folk rice varieties.
June 18 – Basudha hosted farmers’ training workshop on Basudha campus, organized by Bankura District Assistant Director of Agriculture and Bishnupur sub-division’s Agricultural Development Officer.
Jun3 13 – Held a farmers’ workshop at Tipligheri village (Gosaba block), South 24 Parganas, hosted by WWF-I.
June 12 – Held a farmers’ workshop at Dhuchnikhali village (Sandeshkhali-2 block), North 24 Parganas, hosted by Youth Development Centre.
June 11 – Held a farmers’ workshop at Bhaduria village (Basirhat-1 block), North 24 Parganas, hosted by Swanirbhar; and at Jogeshganj, North 24 Parganas, hosted by Paschim Sridharkati Unnayan Sangha.
June 10 – Held a farmers’ workshop at Mamudpur village (Hingalganj block), North 24 Parganas. The event was hosted by local farmers.
June 9 – Held a farmers’ workshop at Andhar Manik village (Baduria block) North 24 Parganas. The event was hosted by Swanirbhar.
June 6 – Held a “Picnic for Degrowth” in Basudha, where the global movement of DeGrowth was discussed in detail. Basudha is the only place in Asia where this Picnic 4 Degrowth took place.
June 5 – Celebrated the World Environment Day with a bicycle rally, involving village youth, scientists and activists in the morning from Chhandar to Basudha (14 km). Over 250 farmers, students and village youth participated in the program.
May 22 – Celebrated the International Day of Biodiversity, with public lectures and exhibit of posters. Farmers, students and environmental activists from 5 districts attended the program.
Mar 7 – Basudha Study Circle (Topic: Science Frauds. Speaker: Debashis Bhattacharya).
Feb 28 – Basudha Study Circle (Topic: The Chemistry of Memory. Speaker: Abhro Chakraborty, Discussant: D. Deb).
Feb 14 – Held a public lecture on Food Security at Dignagar on the 75th Anniversary of Hat-tala Institution, Bardhaman.
Jan 13 – Basudha Trust sent formal letter of opposition to Bt-Brinjal, on behalf of 12 NGOs, to Sri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forest.
2009
Dec 29 – Chairman of Basudha gave a presentation on Nature Worship, Communitarian Ethos and Sustainability: Sacred Groves and Sustainable Living in South Asia at Revolution Books, Berkeley.
Nov 1 – Basudha organized the Day of Rice Action on Basudha campus.
Oct 30 – 31 – Basudha Festival VII held on Basudha campus in Bankura district. 300 farmers, 120 students and 30 environmental activists participated in the program.
Aug 28 – Basudha held the first Trustee Meeting after registration of the Trust.
Aug 15 – Basudha Study Circle (Topic: The Mystery of Netaji’s Disappearance; Speaker: Dr. M S Pal).
Aug 7 – 13 – Basudha team visited 7 Panchayats in 3 blocks of Sunderban to supervise the cultivation of salt tolerant rice varieties that had been distributed to farmers after the storm Aila in early June.
2008
September 5-14: CIS held Sacred Groves exhibitions and seminars in Bankura, Birbhum and West Medinipur districts, and organized guided tours to selected sacred groves and ponds. The program was sponsored by IGRMS, Bhopal. [Read Report here]
June 20: D. Deb attends Regional Consultation (orgd. by Biotech Consortium India Ltd) to oppose the National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill 2008.
June 7: Basudha Study Circle (Topic: Global Environment and Local Action. Spekaers: Dr. Dipak Dam, Mr. Anupam Paul & Dr. D Deb).
June 4: D. Deb gives training in “Risks from GE in Agriculture” in Digha.
June 3: D. Deb talks to farmers’ on saving folk rice varieties in Bajkul.
May 29 – June 1: Dr. Rajarshi and Dr. Abhik Roy conducts a survey of sacred groves in Sonamukhi block.
May 27: D. Deb speaks in an Organic Farmers’ meeting in Bologna.
May 21-22: D. Deb participates in Terra Futura conference in Florence.
May 19: Meeting of D. Deb and Giancarlo Camerrini with Dr. Kakoli Ghosh and Dr. Nguu Van Nguen of FAO in Rome.
May 12-17: D. Deb participates in Planet Diversity conference and the Convention on Biological Diversity MOP 9 in Bonn.
April 27: Basudha Study Circle (Topic: The Heart and Its Diseases. Speaker: Dr. Subhashis Patra).
April 26: Sacred Grove survey in Sonamukhi block, with Dr. Rajasri Roy; police harassment on suspicion of terrorism.
April 25: Dr. Rajasri Roy arrives for sacred grove work.
April 20-21: Rahul Vaswani’s visit to Basudha.
April 13-15: Dr. Rajasri Roy and Abhik Roy visit to Basudha.
April 12-16: Dr. Anna Marie Nicolaysen’s visit to Basudha.
April 6: D. Deb’s leaves for IGRMS Core Group Meeting on Sacred Groves at Bhopal.
April 1: D Deb gives training to farmers in a workshop at Raydighi.
March 28-29: D. Deb gives a talk on Biodivetsity in Visva Bharati University.
March 27: D. Deb speaks at NIF Orientation Wksp at DRCSC: 10 am-4 pm.
March 25: D. Deb gives a talk on Globalisation and Agricultural Sustainability at Netaji Institute of Asian Studies.
March 23: D. Deb gives a talk on Ecological Complexity at W.B. University of Technology.
March 19: D. Deb’s meeting with Academy of Biodiversity Conservation.
March 18: Sara leaves from Basudha.
March 16-17: D. Deb visits Raydighi with AKG on consultancy for Lutheran World Service.
March 9: Basudha Study Circle (Topic: M N Roy: The Revolutionary Humanist)
March 7: ABC scientists visit Basudha for PBR work.
March 4: WWOOFer Sara from Italy arrives in Basudha.
February 27: D. Deb leaves for SRISTI meeting at Ahmedabad.
February 25: Anirban Dharitriputra takes D. Deb’s interview at Barrackpore.
February 24: Meagan leaves from Basudha.
February 22-25: Dave Rowe and scientists Darryl and Angela stay in Basudha.
February 16-18: Training of village kids at Basudha for preparing People’s Biodiversity Registar.
February 15: ABC team of scientists arrive in Basudha.
February 12: D. Deb attends Sunderban consultation meeting at ENDEV.
February 10: Basudha workers and friends organize a Nature Study Camp at Rajar Bandh.
February 9: Basudha Study Circle (Topic: The Mahabharata & Indian Social Polity)
January 29-31: Martyn Brown & Australian visitors arrive in Basudha.
January 26: D. Deb holds a farmers’ workshop on seed saving and sustainable agriculture at Balagarh, Hoogly.
January 21: D. Deb attends meeting of environmental activists at Indian Association.
January 20: WWOOFer Iuna Rolland leaves for Barrackpore; WWOOFer Meagen Grundberg arrives in Basudha.
January 18: WWOOFers Matthew Punton & Hayley leave for Kolkata.
January 13: Basudha Study Circle. Topic: The Golden Ratio (Speaker: D Deb)
January 11: Pauline Orain leaves for Kolkata with American Center team.
January 9-11: Visit of Mr. Kelly, Director, American Center & Mr. Ramendra Sarkar to Basudha.
January 7: D. Deb attends US IVP Alumni Association meeting at American Center.
January 5: Basudha Study Circle (Topic: Ecological Economics & Conservation Ethic).
January 4: Guided tour to sacred groves and ponds with Iuna, Pauline, Eloise, Hayley & Matthew; Yuky arrives in Basudha; FM Radio talk on migratory birds.
2007
May 14-17: D. Deb visits to Kalimpong to train farmers.
April 20: D. Deb gives talk on Developmentality and Ethic at Shantiniketan.
March 23: Dr. Debal Deb talks at Coll. Teachers’ Refresher Course, Kalyani Univ.
March 5-10: CIS attends the Second Sacred Groves festival at IGRMS, Bhopal.
February 25: Talk at Breakthrough Sci. Soc., Creek Row.
February 18-19: Samar Bagchi’s visit to Basudha, training for schoolchildren.
February 13: Dr. Debal Deb speaks at public Convention on development, held by CPI(ML) & Nagarik Mancha in Kolkata.
February 7: Bhu Swaraj Conference against corporate land grab;
February 6: Dr. Debal Deb speaks at Anti-GMO conference, held by Navdanya in New Delhi.
February 3: Dr. Debal Deb gives seminar on Sustainable Development at George Hall, Kolkata.
January 26: Dr. Subhasis Maiti visits Basudha.
January 23: Majdiha farmers wksp at 3 pm; Mita accompanied.
January 20: Basudha participates in Anti-Development Strategy meet at Lake Town: 11 am; D. Deb addresses school students at “Meet the Scientist” at Hedua Park: 2:30 pm
January 19: CIS sends Debdulal Bhattacharya to attend Durgapur Sci. fair to open Vrihi stall.
January 14: CIS attends Natioal Meet on Forest Rights Act at Kolkata: 11 am.
January 7: Alex & Sanjay arrives at Basudha.
January 6: Return to Barrackpore; buy paper envelopes for rice panicles;
Dr. D Deb talks in an open seminar on developmentality at Baguiati.
2006
December 22-28: Visit of Alex of ISEC to Basudha.
December 9: Nagarik Mancha Seminar on the State nuke power stn. at Academy of Fine Arts.
November 26: Farmer workshop at Sagar island. Dulal accompanies.
November 23: Farmer workshop at Boreya, Block Tehatta II, District Nadia.
November 17-19: Basudha Festival.
November 3: CIS attends Nagarik Mancha convention on State agriculture & industry policy at Yuva Kendra.
September 9: Talk on Developmentality vs Sustainability in Kolkata
September 2: Dr. Debal Deb attends Nagarik Mancha Conference on Forest Rights Bill at Academy of Fine Arts.
August 30: Meeting with Dr. Heerak Ghosh, State Biodiversity Board on Folk crop diversity conservation program of CIS.
August 1-5: ISEC Conference on Anti-Develeopmentarianism at Leh.
June 19: WTO/ TRIPS wksp at Jadabpur Univ. at 10:30 am.
May 15-16: Dr. Debal Deb speaks at Bhubaneswar conference on Seeds Bill.
April 24: Dr. Debal Deb joins Panel discussion on Sustainable Agriculture at American Center, Kolkata.
April 22-23: Prof. Tapan Misra and Sudipto visit to Vasudha.
2005
December 20-22: Visit of Dr. A K Ghosh to Basudha.
December 10-11: Basudha festival.
December 8: Dr. Debal Deb talks at a Seminar on “Traditional Knowledge System” held in the Dept of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University.
December 4: David Rowe & Martyn Brown, educators visit to Basudha.
November 29: Dr. Debal Deb talks on WTO at Moulali Yuva Kendra, held by Hawker Sangram Samiti.
November 21-28: Inventory survey of SGs of Bishnupur block.
November 19-28: Dionissis Pomonis from Greece visits to Vsudha.
November 19: Dr. Debal Deb talks at the National Convention on Right to Food & Work held by Jana Samhati Kendra at Badu.
November 8-11: CIS training of Kalimpong farmers in seed saving and organic farming at Basudha.
September 29-Oct 01: CIS sends Sanjay Pal, Timir Chakrabarty and Anupam Paul to attend Navdanya seminar on Organic Farming in New Delhi.
September 22-30: CIS sends Mantu Jana and Sanjay Pal to attend Dilli Haat Organic Food festival.
September 15: Collaborative visit with Greenpeace India to Madhyamgram to investigate into GM crop cultivation in southern districts of West Bengal.
September 4: Talk on Development Against Democratic Rights at Chandannagore.
August 16: All India Radio interview of Dr. Debal Deb on GM foods.
August 1-2: CIS participates in the Indo-European Symposium on GE.
July 19: Dr. Debal Deb talks on anti-farmer laws of India held by Jana Samhati Kendra at Badu.
July 8-10: CIS invited in a conference at Nagapattanam, Tamil Nadu to advise on farming techniques to grow food in Tsunami affected areas..
July 5-7: Dr. Debal Deb participates in the Paddy Chain Symposium at Hyderabad.
June 10-11: Dr. Debal Deb invited in State Biodiversity Board meeting at Paribesh Bhavan.
June 6: Celebration of Environment Day program at Basudha.
June 5: Article on Seeds Bill 2004 published in Desh Hitaishi.
June 4: Dr. Debal Deb talks on Patents and benefit sharing of biodiversity at CUTS; on Seed Bill 2004 at DRCSC.
June 2: Farmer workshop at Bagmari, East Medinipur.
June 1: Farmer workshop at Tiorkhali, East Medinipur.
May 14-18: Dr. Debal Deb visits Jaipur to frame a curriculum for Tarun Jal Vidyapith.
May 13: Dr. Debal Deb talks on WTO, Agrculture & Farmer Rights at Rotary Sadan, organized by CUTS.
May 8-10: Farmer workshops in Bankura district: Janta, Khejurbedia, Layekbandh, Patpur.
April 18: Farmers wksp at Korashuli.
April 14-18: Poster & Banner demonstration against WTO at Panchal.
April 13: Citizens’ Discussion on WTO’s impact on agriculture, water, land and workers, held by Hawker Sangram Samiti at Federation Hall.
April 11: Sit-in and Street lectures at Esplanade and Sealdah, organized by Hawker Sangram Samiti.
April 10: CIS participates in a citizens’ procession against WTO from Subodh Mallick Square to Sraddhananda Park, Kolkata.
March 31-April 3: Dr. Deb talks in a Conference against GMO, organized by Navdanya in New Delhi.
March 13-19: CIS sent represemtatives Mantu Jana and Haru Roy to Dilli Haat with pottery items to participate in the Indigenous Biodiversity and Handicrafts Fair at Dilli Haat.
March 7: CIS and ENDEV organized a colloquium on the Seeds Bill 2004 in Bangla Academy , Kolkata. Dr. D Deb, eminent biodiversity expert Prof. A K Ghosh of ENDEV, patent expert Dr. Amarjyoti Basu were speakers. The colloquium was attended by civil society activists including Mr. Naba Dutta, Prof. Subhendu Dasgupta, Mr. Samar Bagchi, state agricultural officers, and a handful of political leaders. CIS presented a group of farmers who expressed their militant views on the anti-farmer Bill.
March 3-5: Dr. Massimo Spadoni from Italy visited Basudha in connection with a collaborative study on sacred groves in Bankura.
February 27-March 2: CIS participated in the Seed Bill conference in New Delhi, held by Navdanya.
February 24: Dr. Deb was invited to lead a workshop on Patents and Seed Saving at Development Research Communication and Services Centre, Kolkata. DRCSC would publish his lecture in English, Bengali and Oriya for the benefit of agricultural activists.
February 20: Dr. Deb gives an invited seminar on Indigenous Systems of Biodiversity Management at Medinipur Gope College.
January 25-29: CIS participates in a conference on sustainable agriculture. Papers presented were: “Mixed cropping of rice landraces with flowering asynchrony can maintain varietal purity” (D. Deb); “Medicinal and nutritional properties of selectes folk rice varieties (Mita Dutta); and “Do folk rice varieties yield really less than HYVs?” (Anupam Paul).
January 22: Vrihi activists held a farmers’ workshop at Radhanagar.
2004
December 26: CIS held a Nature study camp at Rajarbandh, where Dr. Debal Deb introduced about 30 participants to birds, butterflies, trees and medicinal plants in the wild, and discussed the ecological relationships among all beings with examples. Dr. Subhasis Patra and Debashis Mukherjee demonstrated many simple experiments in physics.
December 18-19: GIS training for school teachers.
December 14-18: CIS sent 2 school students from Arjunpur and Bhagaband and a science club activist from Panchal, to Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) for training for 5 days. The students were enthusiastic learners and demonstrated and explained different models at the science exhibition.
December 10: Dr. Deb gave an invited talk on Genetic Engineering at Ramananda College, Bishnupur.
December 9: Dr. Deb gives a slide-illustrated talk on identifying butterflies & frogs at at Panchal village. The talk was organized by Panchal Bigyan-O-Chetana science club.
November 30: The organic rice production and conservation at Basudha was telecast on Khoj Khabar channel of TV. Dr. Deb’s interview was telecast as an answer to the mainstream doubts about the success of organic farming to feed the hungry.
November 22-23: Dr. Debal Deb invited in the Meet the Scientist program at Bhagalpur, where he was a key resource person. Held every year by the Bihar State Committee of the Year of Science Awareness, the program enlisted active participation of more than 400 students from a dozen schools.
November 16: Dr. Debal Deb on behalf of CIS attended the District Watershed Development Team meeting in Bankura town and discussed how the district’s natural resources could be saved by promoting chemical-free biodiverse agriculture and mixed plantation of native flora.
October 20-23: CIS participated in Terra Madre Coference in Turin, Italy. CIS representatives were Dr. Debal Deb, Dr. Mita Dutta and Debdulal Bhattacharya.
October 1-7: CIS participated in Festival on Plants and People at Dilli Haat, organized by Navdanya.
September 19-21: Basudha Festival I. A traditional sports tournament was held on the first day. Both men and women partcipated in Kabadi and archery contests. Women from 3 villages participated in pitcher race, while young men from 6 villages participated in stilt race. On the second day of the festival, a discussion on nature conservation encompassed diverse topics ranging from community forestry to sacred groves, organic farming and crop genetic diversity. A science quiz and poster competition attracted over 80 children from 7 villages. The third day witnessed a resurging interest of local villagers in the vanishing forms of Baul music, performed by three bauls.
September 12: The Radical Humanist Association of Chandannagar invited Dr. Debal Deb to give a public seminar on Development. Dr. Debal Deb discussed in detail how the concept of development was hijacked by neoclassical economic theory, and went on to analyze its impacts on governance and freedoms. Apart from Dr. Deb, members of CIS who attended the seminar included essayist Karuna Prasad De.
September 9: Dr. Debal Deb of CIS was invited as advisor to the Bankura District Watershed Development Team at the District Magistrate’s office in Bankura town.
September 7: Dr. Debal Deb gave an invited lecture on GMO and Food Security at Kalyani University. This was the State’s first university seminar where politics of GM crop release were freely discussed.
August 27-28: Dr. Debal Deb from CIS attended a RFSTE meeting on Biodiversity and People’s Livelihoods at New Delhi.
August 15: CIS celebrated Independence Day with a call for a new freedom movement. A precession of Vrihi members (comprised of anti-GMO activists, students and farmers) marched on the streets of Beliatore at noon, with slogans against WTO and biotech corporations. Local farmers and citizens gathered at Panchayat office ground, where several packets of seeds marketed by Monsanto-Mahyco were burned as a token of protest to GM seed trials at the cost of farmers’ lives.
July 30-August 3: CIS participates in the Vasundhara program of Navdanya at Dehra Dun. CIS was represented by Dr. Debal Deb, poet and essayist Karuna Prasad De, agriculturist Anupam Paul and organic farmers from 3 districts participated in the program.
July 26: Dr. Debal Deb on behalf of CIS acted as a resource person to train 30 students of Ashurali village in South 24 Parganas district, for preparing a Community Biodiversity Register, documenting species and genetic diversity of crops grown in the village. This project was run by ENDEV Society for Environment and Development, Kolkata, which published 10 such PBRs.
June 5: Environment Day program celebrated at Vasudha. A Nature Quiz and poster contest for children was held, involving over 60 children from the neighbouring 5 villages.
Prof. T. Pradeep on ‘Nanotechnology and Water’ for