The Hindu Business Line : AP to encourage ethanol plants

THE Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to promote establishment of 10 to 12 units of ethanol production plants that would use the sweet sorghum varieties developed by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat).

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who visited Icrisat here on Tuesday, said that there was lot of scope for production of ethanol from the sweet sorghum varieties developed by the institute. Hence, a decision was taken to encourage entrepreneurs to set up ethanol production plants in the State.

Icrisat is stated to have developed a range of high yielding sorghum varieties whose stems are thick and juicy with high sugar content and thus useful in producing good quantity of ethanol.

The Chief Minister has asked the Icrisat authorities to supply large quantity of sweet sorghum seed to farmers through seed companies in the State.

His Government would also develop "Seed Villages" for which technical guidance and foundation seed would be provided. He also wanted establishment of a kiosk on the lines of ITC's e-chaupals in every village for the benefit of farmers.

Emphasising the need for promoting dry land farming, Dr Reddy called for a coordinated effort among the institutes such as the Icrisat, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture in development of new varieties that were suitable for cultivation in rain shadow areas of the State. The State Government would also play a pro-active role in this regard.

Apart from sorghum, the Chief Minister said that the State Government would encourage cultivation of soyabean and sweet beet as alternative crops.

He said that the farmers should go for crop diversification As alternative crops have to be raised instead of paddy. Similarly, farmers have to diversify from cultivation of groundnut, the productivity as well as the support price of which have not increased over the years.

The Icrisat's Director-General, Dr William Dar, said that the institute had already made a difference in Andhra Pradesh with improved varieties and hybrids of mandate crops.

The recent initiatives of the Icrisat included research on bio-diesel production, agri-science park and the virtual academy for the semi-arid tropics.

The Icrisat also said its chickpea varieties have resulted in an addition of Rs 271 crore to the State Domestic Product while the sorghum farmers have gained an annual income of Rs 86 crore.

More Stories on : Cultivation | Non-conventional Energy | Andhra Pradesh

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