Category Archives: Video

Vancouver marches against Monsanto

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“Hell no Monsanto – we don’t want your GMO”

The chant reverberated across the open grounds before the art gallery in Vancouver, in pouring rain, and over a sea of umbrellas. I had never met Laura (NoEnbridge) Yates face to face before. And in a few minutes, she became one of my heroines.

In a strong and unflinching voice, she started the gathered crowd going, raising the level of passion till the protesters matched her in full throated cry – hell no Monsanto, we don’t want your GMO.

There were quite a few people with massive TV cameras wrapped in waterproof covers. Some were likely from the media. But what I saw in the TV later on, they missed the point, and the passion. Monsanto was just a news item, nothing more. But for the people gathered, it was far more than having fun shouting around in the rain. It was a call at arms for protection of farmers, farm produce and the very food we chose to eat.

At the end point of the march, at BC place, we finally got the mini-group picture – of the four musketeers that joined hands with the thousands in Vancouver and millions around the world, to bring down the evil empire. Thats pocket dynamo and march coordinator super volunteer, Laura (NoEnbridge) Yates, with Tony (citizen journalist) Mitra, Phil (leading GE free Surrey) Harrison and Tony (leading GE free Vancouver) Beck.

Clip 01 : Laura Yates addresses the protesters

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And now, we have the second clip of the event, going all the way to the end of the march, to present a very original rap music by Swami G – named MONSANTROCITY. Borrowing from the farmer suicide catastrophe in the GMO cotton belt of India, the song combines the sad and alarming story of naive farmers falling for the sales gimmick of Monsanto and getting ever deeper into a spiral of debt resulting in hundreds of thousands of farmers committing suicide by drinking the very pesticide sold by Monsanto.

Clip 02 : Swami G on MONSANTROCITY

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In clip 03 we see that, even when joining a global protest against a single corporation, a first ever event for this planet, one can do it with rhythm, rhyme, music and dance. We do not know the names of the impromptu dancers on the street and are thankful for their spontaneous exuberance. They show us how to send off MONSANTO with a song and a dance.

Tony, Heather, Phil & Jeff

Tony, Heather, Phil & Jeff

Included also is a still photo of Phil, Jeff, Heather and Tony, not just cause they are friends, but because Tony and Phil are actually engaged in trying to have Vancouver and Surrey declare themselves GMO free sometime in near future, and we should wish their efforts all success and extend a helping hand where possible.

Clip 03 : Monsanto sent off with a song and a dance

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Bobbie Blair of Ge free Langley, was introduced by Shyanne and took the mic, representing not a scientist or and expert on GMO, but as a concerned mother, and touched a sympathetic chord among the listeners. As he urged people to reconnect with their food source, and support local farmers, so the community can get good food on one side, and local farmers can survive the same time – she got a thundering applause. Well said – Bobbie. Keeping GMO away calls for a multi faceted approach, one where we ourselves need to change the way we source our food.

Clip 04 : Bobbie Blair addresses the crowd

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Jas Singh in God’s Little Acre Farm

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Jas Singh has been working at God’s Little Acre farm for three years, and every year, he increases the amount of land under the plough, and along with that, comes increased yield. For a small farmer with minimal machinery and gadgets, and with little cash injection, Jas runs the farm like a small farmer. And, smartly, he keeps cost down by staying away from pesticides, fertilizers and patented GMO seeds.

Jas Singh

Jas Singh

He started the farm while doing a second job of driving a truck long distance, and working on the farm on off days. He hopes, as the farm grows, he will need less trucking and more farming.

Helped by a lot of his friends and neighbours that volunteer at his farm, free of charge, Jas’s farm produce is to support local food banks and the surrounding community. A clean, chemical free sustainable farmer with a social responsibility, Jas Singh has been invited to the Cloverdale Rodeo this year to hold a stall and be the star attraction among the farmers.

This seven and half minute video was shot today, and rendered today, designed to be shown at his stall at the Rodeo this weekend.

Jas Sing in God’s Little Acre Farm

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A talk with Leo Saldana

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Leo Saldana

Leo Saldana

Leo F. Saldanha is full-time Coordinator of Environment Support Group (ESG). He has gained wide-ranging experience in the areas of Environmental Law and Policy, Decentralisation, Urban Planning and a variety of Human Rights and Development related issues, working across many sectors for over a decade. He is a keen campaigner on critical environmental and social justice issues and has guided several campaigns demanding evolution of progressive laws and effectiv action. He has creatively supported various distressed communities to secure justice through public interest litigations and advocacy efforts. He has argued as party in person several public interest litigations, many of which have resulted in remarkable judgments.

One of the more important court cases his organization initiated is to do with Monsanto and its Indian partner Mahyco, and a possible violation of an Indian law that could amount to biopiracy.

I had called him to learn more about it, and have converted the first part of that talk into a short video clip and an 11 minute podcast, linked at the bottom of this page. You can also find the podcast on iTunes. Search “Tony Mitra” for my podcasts. The rest of the conversation will come up in subsequent parts.

Leo Salndana of ESG, Part 1

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Dr. Thierry Vrain on faulty science behind GMO technology

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Presenting an audio podcast and a series of video clips about Dr. Thierry Vrain, organic farmer and retired genetic engineer. He explains how the GMO technology is based on a faulty assumption that has since been proven wrong by more recent study of genome ecosystem of living organisms.

Tony, Thierry & Chanchal

Tony, Thierry & Chanchal

Thierry lives in lovely Comox Valley on the east coast of Vancovuer Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

In these video clips, myself, Anu, and Peggy visit the Innisfree farm, or Thierry Vrain and Chanchal Cabrera. Chanchal was busy teaching a class in her farm.

Dr. Vrain with Peggy and Tony in his farm

Dr. Vrain with Peggy and Tony in his farm

Thierry took us around Chanchal’s Teaching garden, and later around his organic farm and discussed how and why of organic farming.

The talks covered chemical free organic farming, sensible gardening practices, as well as a lot of science and experience. Peggy added value to the tour by adding her knowledge and experience into the discussion, including pointers to how things are in Assam, India and how things need to improve, so that pesticides can be taken out of the equation and healthy soil can be preserved and nourished without the need for factory produced toxic chemicals or fertilizers.

Thierry has been many things in his professional life. But for us, his most notable knowledge comes from plant pathology, molecular biology and his experience as a genetic engineer, along with his knowledge that the GMO science is based on old and wrong perceptions of the nature and function of genes. This knowledge is not discussed in this opening section of the video. You need to stay tuned and watch the rest as they are edited and put up.

Thierry Vrain – Part 1 : Thierry  talks to us on medicinal gardens, plants and food.  If chosen well, how our food and lifestyle can cure some decease, even repress or slowdown Cancer. Cancer, which might be considered a decease of old age, is coming up more frequently among the young, and is related to stress, though it has a genetic base. The stress can be from harmful chemicals, physical stress, emotional trauma, could be related to how one lives his/her life, etc.  Then Thierry goes on to describe the garden and its mulch, and how he makes compost out of rotting hay, seaweed, dead leaves etc. And then he shows us how to use natural ingredients to conserve soil health, and explains his own training and work background.

There are many more video clips to be added shortly, so watch this space.

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Thierry Vrain – Part 2: We get a tour around the farm, starting with the meditating labyrinth that they made in the corner which is full of gravel and not suitable for growing vegetables. The adjacent pond is blue-green from the minerals in the clay at the bottom of the pond. Moving on to the vegetable garden, Thierry explains how some medicinal plants are also good as source for mulch that keeps the sun from drying out the soil, and helps growth of micro organisms to work on the fallen vegetation and turn it all into soil nutrient. There is also a fast scene of Thierry’s cat surviving an eagle attack.

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Thierry Vrain – Part 3: We spend 21 minutes out in Thierry’s farm and learn about soil biology and the role played by bacteria, fungi, and how photosynthesis was invented by the bacteria before implanting themselves into evolving trees that had the chloroplast. He and Peggy join talks with Tony in explaining how the sunlight and CO2 are worked on by the trees along with nutrients from the soil, and how the tree takes and also gives back into the soil sugars and proteins for the bacteria and fungi that in turn give the plants the minerals it needs. It is necessary to understand the relationship, so that agriculture can be understood and why industrial chemical or GMO are not the solution to either improve plant biology, or soil condition or nutrition value in our food.

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Exposing the faulty science behind GMO

Thierry Vrain – Part 4: In this video of under 12 minutes, Dr. Thierry Vrain comes to describe his profession as a soil biologist turned genetic engineer, and explained how, since the human genome project was completed in 2002, it dawned on folks on the complexity of genes that shattered the old idea of a one-gene one-protein theory. This also meant, the GMO technology used by the biotech industry was based on a faulty assumption of how genes work, and how dangerous the consequences of that faulty science can be.

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PODCAST : At bottom of this page, and also on iTunes, is the 12 and half minute audio podcast of the above video #4, on GMO.

A vote for Wally

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Wally Martin, our good friend from Langley, BC, has decided to contest the coming provincial election in May from his constituency, on the Green Party platform. A self employed small businessman with an inclination to believe in long term sustainable solutions rather than the current trend of politicians, offering instant short term fixes for everything.

A committed environmentalist and a decent human with an inclusive political outlook to life focussed on sustainability and long term goals, he hopes to serve his community and the Canadian people into refocussing and looking generations into the future, instead of looking for solutions that last for a month or a season.

I spoke with Wally on phone on 11th of April 2013, about his decision to stand for election in a 3 minute statement. Then on April 16th, Wally read out another statement about himself, in another short talk. Both of these were recorded and have now been converted to podcast, linked below.

Wally Martin - Measure once, cut twice

On 18th of April, I followed Wally as he went knocking on doors in is constituency, drumming up support for his candidacy. That was covered in the video below.

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Good luck – Wally.

Lana on BC Agriculture

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Lana Popham  and Craig Keating met with people of North Vancouver at Buddha Full Organic cafe, to talk about BC’s agriculture. Craig introduced Lana first.ACT024_Lana_NVan1

Lana, incumbent MLA from Sanich South, and an agricultural critic for the BC Government, made a twenty five minute presentation, taking only occasional cue from her notebook. Coming from an agricultural background and having run an organic farm before becoming a politician, she described the need to place Agriculture one of the front and centre issues for the province, with a basic three point program. These three points are:

  1. Grow BC
  2. Feed BC
  3. Buy BC

ACT025_LanaTony1Below is a recording of the talk, with introduction of Craig Keating. Craig is the city councillor for North Vancouver and is standing for the provincial election this time, along with Lana Popham.

From us, the “No GMO” team, we had Wally, his wife and daughter, Phil and his son Jeff, myself and Anu. We took pictures, like the one above with Lana.

In the short video clip below, North Van councillor and NDP candidate Craig Keating introduces Lana to the crowd at the Budhha Full organic cafe.

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Then Lana made her speed, which I recorded on audio. Listen to her speech in the podcast link below.

Genetically Modified Crop and you

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In my effort to collect video material within Utube that helps us understand the long term effects of Genetically Modified food, I have created this blog listing a series of very good videos called Genetically Modified Crops and you.

 

Genetically modified crops and you 1/10

Uploaded on 7 Mar 2010

Between 1997 and 2005, the total surface area of land cultivated with GMOs had increased by a factor of 50, from 17,000 km2 (4.2 million acres) to 900,000 km2 (222 million acres).

Although most GM crops are grown in North America, in recent years there has been rapid growth in the area sown in developing countries. For instance in 2005 the largest increase in crop area planted to GM crops (soybeans) was in Brazil (94,000 km2 in 2005 versus 50,000 km2 in 2004.) There has also been rapid and continuing expansion of GM cotton varieties in India since 2002. (Cotton is a major source of vegetable cooking oil and animal feed.) It is predicted that in 2008/9 32,000 km2 of GM cotton will be harvested in India (up more than 100 percent from the previous season).

Indian national average cotton yields of GM cotton were seven times lower in 2002, because the parental cotton plant used in the genetic engineered variant was not well suited to the climate of India and failed. The publicity given to transgenic trait Bt insect resistance has encouraged the adoption of better performing hybrid cotton varieties, and the Bt trait has substantially reduced losses to insect predation. Though controversial and often disputed, economic and environmental benefits of GM cotton in India to the individual farmer have been documented.

In 2003, countries that grew 99% of the global transgenic crops were the United States (63%), Argentina (21%), Canada (6%), Brazil (4%), China (4%), and South Africa (1%). The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimate that 75% of all processed foods in the U.S. contain a GM ingredient. In particular, Bt corn, which produces the pesticide within the plant itself, is widely grown, as are soybeans genetically designed to tolerate glyphosate herbicides. These constitute “input-traits” are aimed to financially benefit the producers, have indirect environmental benefits and marginal cost benefits to consumers.

In the US, by 2006 89% of the planted area of soybeans, 83% of cotton, and 61% corn were genetically modified varieties. Genetically modified soybeans carried herbicide-tolerant traits only, but maize and cotton carried both herbicide tolerance and insect protection traits (the latter largely the Bacillus thuringiensis Bt insecticidal protein). In the period 2002 to 2006, there were significant increases in the area planted to Bt protected cotton and maize, and herbicide tolerant maize also increased in sown area.

Information here from Wikipedia.org
Other useful sites:
http://www.thetruthaboutgmos.com/
http://www.gmofoodlabel.org/
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Publi…
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component…
http://www.saynotogmos.org/
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetica…

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Genetically modified crops and you 2/10

Uploaded on 7 Mar 2010

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Genetically modified crops and you 3/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 4/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 5/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 6/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 7/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 8/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 9/10

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Genetically modified crops and you 10/10

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Canadian Farmer’s Testimonials on GM Alfalfa

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Published on 16 Jan 2013

Farmers from across Canada describe how genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) alfalfa would affect them. Do farmers need GM alfalfa? This year there is a new industry push to pave the way to introduce GM alfalfa into Canada. The company Forage Genetics wants to sell GM alfalfa seeds in Canada (seeds with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready herbicide tolerant trait). Its not legal to sell GM alfalfa seeds in Canada until Forage Genetics gets variety registration. In October 2012, the industry group called the Canadian Seed Trade Association began to push a plan for “co-existence” of GM and non-GM alfalfa, to pave the way to introduce GM alfalfa in Canada via Ontario. However, “co-existence” is not possible – GM alfalfa cannot be controlled but will contaminate farmers’ fields across the country. Take action today or find out more info at www.cban.ca/alfalfa Thank you to the National Farmers Union for these testimonials and to the NFU Youth for producing this video.

Farmer suicide in India – the unfolding of a genocide

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Cotton For My Shroud: The documentary reveals the effect of Genetical Modified (GM) crops in India and how it has changed the landscape of Agriculture in India. The documentary highlights 5 years of footage in crisis hit Vidarbha region of India. User discretion is advised because of graphic contents.

Cotton For My Shroud received 2012 National Film Awards of India for best documentary script. National Film Awards honors exceptional movies and documentaries in India, most of them not affiliated with Bollywood film industry.The 2011 census of India confirmed the figure of more than 200,000 farmer suicides in India related to faulty policies of the administration and other social issues.

Association for India’s Development (AID) along with it’s partner have been working over a decade on sustainable agriculture. AID is also part of the alliance ASHA, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture. AID participated in anti Bt Brinjal campaign, a move by GM companies to push GM Brinjal into India.

Since 70% of India’s population is directly related to agriculture, distress in this area has given rise to many other problems across India including slums, poverty, sex trafficking, etc.

This documentary is presented by Association for India’s Development and Real Food Hopkins.

There would be a discussion session followed by the screening.

The documentary is 75 minutes long.

Reference : https://www.facebook.com/nishikant

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The terrible story of farmer suicide in the Bt Cotton belt in Maharashtra.

“I Want My Father Back” – examines the crisis small farmers in India face as a result of globalization and government apathy. For the past ten years farmers have been committing suicide in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, as in many other parts of India. The main act of this tragedy started in mid 60’s with the introduction of the Green Revolution. Earlier, farmers saved their own seeds and practiced organic farming. The money they invested on their farms was very little. But with Green Revolution farmers were asked to buy seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, forcing them to borrow, mostly from private money lenders at exorbitant interest rates. With every farming season their debt increased and over the course of years it led to a loan trap. The second phase of this tragic situation can be directly attributed to ‘globalization’. Under the WTO (World Trade Organization) regime, which favors wealthy industrialized countries, the Indian government has eliminated or reduced its support to farmers, while Indian agriculture is invaded by multinationals. The introduction of BT cotton has created havoc in Vidarbha. The cost of these seeds is exorbitant and, contrary to the claims of the seller (Monsanto), the yields have fallen and the level of pesticide use has not dropped. The film raises these issues through interviews with ordinary farmers and activists and traces the lives of some of the farm families affected by suicides within the family.

I WANT MY FATHER BACK PART 1

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I WANT MY FATHER BACK PART 2

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BT Cotton is killing sheep in north India

Uploaded on 25 Feb 2011

This shepherd lost his sheep due to grazing in BT Cotton farms last year.
This shepherd was interviewed in Village Balak, District Hisar, Haryana State, India. He tells about increased rates premature delivery in animals and deaths of offspring since BT cotton came in his area.

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Dr. Pushpa Bhargava on GM food in India

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Now that we can embed U tube videos directly into the blog, I am using this blog to record some of the key speeches, for example Dr. Pushpa Bhargava talking at Kolkata University about GM crop in India. These are short videos, some under 3 minutes while some going up to 9 minutes. If you are short of time, check #8, and if you have more time, check the ones after #8.

Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 4

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 5

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 6

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 7

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 8

Here Dr. Bhargava focuses his attention on Monsanto.

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 9

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 10

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 11

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 12

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Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava speaks in Kolkata on GM Crops 13

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A few videos about Debal Deb

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Dr. Debal Deb on Golden Rice. Dr Debal Deb is the true essence of a scientist. A scientist turned farmer who has the ability to understand issues and environments not only on an intellectual level but as importantly, on an emotional one. He understands what is taking place globally and has come to his own conclusions in how best to correct the damage taking place, scientifically and practically. He understands that science can be used as a solution to our food crisis, just that it needs to be functioning holistically, working with the natural systems and almost as importantly, with the farmers and their generations of agricultural knowledge.

This maverick scientist working against the corporate and institutional grain, dedicating his life to scientifically prove that nature already had the answers and what we were being sold has little to do with sustainability and everything to do with control. Debal, I was told, was one of four scientists working on what is known as the ‘Food Web Theory’. Rather than trying to destroy life around agriculture, Debal argues that we need to understand and then simulate an efficient bio-diverse environment, a more holistic approach to agriculture, one that has existed for many thousands of years. He is involved in preservation of over 1,000 strains of rice, apart from training others how to do so.

I decided to include here a few videos uploaded on U tube on my talks with Debal, that deserve to be on my blog. These are

1. Dr. Debal Deb – on Golden Rice

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2. Dr. Debal Deb on GM crop – part 2

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3. Dr. Debal Deb on GM crop – part 3

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4. Dr. Debal Deb on Rabindranath Tagore, Santiniketan, and the corrosive effects of Bengaliana

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And now I shall include below a video on not created by me, but also of Debal Deb talking about food security and against Golden rice. The video is titled – Asian Farmers Say No to Golden Rice.

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Tonu (তনু)