The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Need for tie-up between farmers, industry stressed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Need for tie-up between farmers, industry stressed

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI, JULY 14. Participants who spoke at the training programme on jatropha cultivation, sponsored by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Sirugamani, near here recently underlined the need for evolving a tie-up between the farming community and the industry for the mutual benefit of both sectors.

The participants said the absence of marketability was mainly responsible for the poor acreage of the crop. The tie-up formula, if evolved, would increase the economy of the industry and assure returns to the farmers.

I. Mohamed Iqbal, Professor and Head of the Kendra, said jatropha cultivation was gaining popularity among the farmers but the acreage was not commensurate with the potential and the adaptability of the crop during natural calamities, especially drought, extreme temperature and poor soil conditions. He appealed to diesel-based industries, both under the private and government sectors, to enter into a tie-up with the farming community and also encourage a contract-farming procedure for the assured supply of seeds.

Speaking of the efficacy of the jatropha oil extracted from the plants' seeds, P. Masilamani, a scientist attached to the Kendra, said this bio-diesel was eco-friendly, contrary to the conventional diesel. Jatropha could be cultivated either using seeds or through the stem-cutting process and could be harvested for about three decades. It could be grown in wastelands too as it was a drought-tolerant variety suited for any type of soil except clay. The plant can also withstand high temperatures.

Explaining the ways of planting the crop, Dr. Masilamani said there should be adequate spacing between the plants. On an average, 1,000 plants could be raised in an acre. Stem cuttings should be planted directly in the field.

He said the crop was gaining popularity as an alternative crop especially in drought-prone areas, since the plant had a high rate of profitability, and yielded an average of three to five kg of seeds a tree from the fourth year.

C.T. Devados, Dean of the Kendra, presided over the training programme.

Farmers from Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Karur, Namakkal, Perambalur, Tiruvarur and Dindigul districts participated in the programme. The farmers were also taken to Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Kumulur, near here where a practical session was held on issues like handling farm implements, soil conservation, and water management techniques for raising jatropha.

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