Profile: Devinder Sharma and the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security

Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security - New Delhi, India
Speaker: Devinder Sharma

The Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security is an independent collective of agricultural scientists, biotechnologists, economists, farmers, and policy makers based in New Delhi, India. Its work focuses on the controversial technology of genetic engineering (GE) in food crops and the effects of GE on small farmers. It has engaged in policy work with the Prime Minister, which resulted in the initiation of a high-level enquiry into the dubious role of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Ministry of Science and Technology in supporting, promoting and hastily pushing the controversial genetically modified crops onto gullible Indian farmers.

Devinder Sharma is an award-winning journalist, writer, thinker and researcher respected for his views on food and trade policy. His writings focus on the links between biotechnology, intellectual property rights, food trade and poverty. He is a regular contributor to leading national print publications. He is keenly involved with AgBioIndia, a daily email bulletin to bring the politics of food, agriculture and trade to the people. His recent works include two books: ”GATT TO WTO:SEEDS OF DISPAIR” and "IN THE FAMINE TRAP."

(Some information taken from www.indiatogether.org, last accessed September 24, 2009).