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The editorial “Promoting Biofuels” (Business Line, September 19) stated that at least 2.2 million hectares of land would be required for even a 5 per cent blend and asks “Where is this land?”.

The Government of Tamil Nadu lists 0.5 million hectares as “barren and uncultivable”, 0.7 million hectares as “current fallow lands” and 1.5 million hectares as “other fallow lands”.

The neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are substantially larger geographically, with huge semi-arid swathes.

While there are many hurdles to promoting biofuels, finding suitable land is certainly not one of them, since jatropha thrives in semi-arid areas that are ill-suited for cultivation of other crops or for afforestation.

It should also be borne in mind that the monetary yield from a hectare of jatropha is far greater than that from many of the primary crops grown in the Southern States and a promotional programme can be structured to benefit landless agricultural labourers and marginal farmers.

All that is needed is the political and environmental will.

N. Bala Ganesan Chennai

More Stories on : Letters | Non-conventional Energy

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