FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
Biofuel— meeting the needs of dryland farmers
M.J. PRABU
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The project provides livelihood and food security to landless ryots
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— Photo: M.J. Prabu
Good alternative: The demand for bio-diesel from Jatropha and Pongamia is steadily increasing.
Soaring prices of fossil-fuels and environmental pollution associated with their use, have resulted in an increased worldwide interest in the production and use of bio-fuel. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru in Andhra Pradesh, is playing a major role in bringing poor and marginal dryland farmers into the global biofuel revolution without compromising on food security.
Innovative research
Its innovative research on biodiesel from pongamia and jatropha plants, provides livelihood and food security to a number of ryots while reducing the dependence on fossil fuels.
Both Jatropha and Pongamia meet the main needs of dryland farmers, as they require little water, can withstand stress and are inexpensive to cultivate, according to Dr. Suhas P. Wani, Principal Scientist and Regional Theme Co-ordinator, ICRISAT.
ICRISAT’s research on bio-diesel from pongamia and jatropha crops, is not only ensuring energy, livelihood and food security to these dryland farmers, but also reduces the use of fossil fuels, which in turn can help in mitigating climate change, according to him.
Develop partnerships
The institute is working with governments and industry leaders to develop partnerships that can result in economic benefit for the marginal farmers of the semi-arid tropics, even while retaining the strong economic competitiveness for the industry.
The idea is to develop partnerships that link ICRISAT’s innovative research with farmers and markets. “We call this our pro-poor biofuels initiative for the dryland farmers without compromising on food security,” says Dr. William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT.
The path to success began in 2005 when small and causal farm labourers, were identified by ICRISAT for linking them with the global bio-fuel revolution, which has currently taken Andhra Pradesh by storm.
“These people are not landlords or ryots with large holdings. All of them are small-scale labourers, with some of them having only 30-50 cents of barren land,” said Dr Dar.
About 200 farmers were selected from Velchal and Kothlapur villages and asked to form 15 groups. Experts identified about 140 ha and 160 hectares of wastelands in the nearby areas.
Sapling procurement
With the District Collector’s permission, the eight groups, with technical inputs from ICRISAT, started growing jatropha and pongamia. Plant saplings were procured from women self help groups (SHGs) in Kothapally village, the Forest Department and ICRISAT nurseries.
The soil where the crops were planted was red in colour, rocky and unsuitable for any crop cultivation. Wild thorny bushes were occupying the entire area. Jatropha and pongamia were planted after removing the thorny bushes. Jatropha was planted in straight rows at a spacing of 2x2 mts and after every 50 rows of Jatropha one row of Pongamia was planted at a spacing of 4x4 mts.
Soil fertility
About 20 kg of urea and 10 gm of DAP (Diammonium phosphate) were applied as fertilizer to each plant. Small pits were also dug in between the plant rows and dry weeds and grass were constantly mulched into the pits to improve the soil fertility.
The pits also served as efficient water harvesters during monsoon. In Welchal village, intercrops such as pearl millet, pigeon pea and castor were also grown by the labourers.
With fuel prices increasing globally there is a demand for bio-diesel from pongamia and jatropha. We believe that this provides a wonderful opportunity for dryland farmers to get more money from their farms and wastelands, explained Dr. Dar.
“This project was mainly intended to develop a sense of ownership among the labourers so that they work for the development of government wastelands.
The unskilled labourers took care of the plants as their own. All the groups were given complete rights to harvest the jatropha and pongamia trees,” said Dr Wani. Readers can contact Dr. Suhas P. Wani, Principal Scientist and Regional Theme Co-ordinator, ICRISAT, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh-502-324, email: s.wani@cgiar.org, phone: 040-3071-3466 and 3071-3071(extn) 2466.
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