Gujarat govt eyes jatropha cultivation tie-up

To get seeds from Chattisgarh to plant in wastelands

The Gujarat government plans to tie up with its Chattisgarh counterpart to commence jatropha cultivation in its waste lands.

As per the deal Gujarat would procure jatropha seeds from Chattisgarh and plant them in its waste lands on a large scale. Jatropha can be used to derive biodiesel, an alternate source of fuel. In fact, the state road transport corporation launched its biodiesel-driven bus service on Saturday.

"Gujarat will soon come out with an integrated policy for the use of wastelands in the state. We are in talks with the Chattisgarh government for procuring good quality jatropha seeds to be used for deriving biodiesel," chief minister Narendra Modi said.

"Gujarat is an ideal place for Jatropha plantations with over 1600 kilometres of coastal area. The first commercial production of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel derived from Jatropha seeds has already started in the state," he added.

Modi is expected to meet the principal secretary in the Chattisgarh government to finalise the deal shortly.

Gujarat has already been identified as an ideal destination for jatropha plantation by the committee on development of bio-fuel of the Planning Commission.

Meanwhile, the University of Hohenheim, Germany "" Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics (which already has experience in other jatropha projects) and the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute have already been identified as partners for a project for the commercial production of jatropha in the state. Daimler Chrysler will provide financial and technical support for the project.

According to a study, a jatropha plant yields over five kilograms of seeds, and 2500 plants can be grown per hectare. If 10 million hectare of wasteland is brought under jatropha cultivation, it can yield 15 million tonnes of seeds, which after extraction yields four million tonnes of oil.