Other States - Orissa   

Great potential for jatropa plantation seen

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Eco-friendly: Director of the Institute for Mineral and Material Technology B K Mishra pours bio-ddiesel into a vehicle as Director of Mineral Chemical Research Institute Pushpito Ghosh looks on in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as emphasis is laid on production of bio-fuels to reduce dependency on petroleum products, scientists have seen great potential for jatropa plantation on overburdens in mined out areas of Orissa.

Pushpito Ghosh, Director of Gujarat-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), which was instrumental in devising technology to extract fuel from jatropa seeds in the country, said jatropa could be grown in big way in mined out areas.

An initiative by Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals had shown good results of jatropa plantation on mined-out land and it could be replicated in Orissa too, Dr. Ghosh, who was here for demonstration of use of bio-diesel in car, said.

B.K. Mishra, director of Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Mineral and Materials Technology (IMMT), said the institute had already made progress in growing jatropa in mining areas. "Jatropa cultivation would help create green cover over the land where mining activities had taken place. We have to reclaim those area first," Mr. Mishra said.

IMMT had carried out jatropa plantation on overburden of graphite mining at Temrimal in Bolangir district. "We have got very encouraging results from the experiment," M. Brahman, senior scientist with IMMT, said.

Earlier Dr. Ghosh said the bio-diesel extracted from jatropa seed was like normal diesel and no engine modification was needed to use the fuel.

Daimler-Chrysler had undertaken vehicle tests using two Mercedes Benz C 220 CDI vehicles without engine modification with biodiesel developed by CSMCRI in 2004 and covered 6000 km, he claimed. The senior scientist said the bio-diesel would not emit polluting gases while extraction of the fuel from jatropa seeds had zero-effluent. On Tuesday, CSMCRI drove the Toyota Qualis car using biodiesel to demonstrate its efficiency in the city.

Dr. Ghosh also met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and secured latter’s consent to put two demonstrative plant for de-salanisation technology.

It would help desalinising sea as well as brackish water and could be used for irrigation in coastal region.

The CSMCRI assured chief minister to help enhance salt production in the state.

While salt production in the country was 19 lakh metric tonne annually, Orissa produced only 25,000 metric tonne compared to demand of 3 lakh metric tonne in the state, the senior scientist said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Theatre groups come a long way
Training camp for NCC cadets
Carom meet concludes
Great potential for jatropa plantation seen
Gelatin sticks seized
140 kg of ganja seized; four arrested
BJP to revive demand for river-linking
Puja panels steal limelight
Three-day children’s writers’ convention inaugurated
Vendors firm against Reliance Fresh
Naveen’s plea to Manmohan

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu