Akalmand Government Promoting Poisonous Jatropha!!!

Friends,

I waited for the detailed response of Nand Kumar, a Chemical Engineer.

There were already few articles in the press pointing to economics and environmental issues. It is scandalous in a democracy, GOI led by rocket scientist completely ignored it. I presume his office was getting Deccan Herald.

My language is hard because I find people in government drawing salary from public accounts are grossly incompetent, corrupt and crooks.

Nand Kumar, don’t you find decision to plant 30 million hectares of land with poisonous Jatropha that will create biomass of over 600 million tones of poisonous seeds, stems, bark, pollen etc., ought to have been taken after thorough examination its environmental damages and exploring alternate options.

Why city bred akalmand people think that farmers from every hectare of land are entitled to earn only Rs. 10,000/- only by growing poisonous jatropha? Farmers in Punjab raise 4 T of paddy per hectare in 100 days earning about Rs. 25,000/-. Sugarcane farmers earn Rs.75,000/- to Rs. 1,00,000/- per hectare.

Why do you want Indian farmers to remain poor and produce fuel to run the cars of the rich?

Why you think farmer should grow a poisonous crop that none of it cattle & goat will eat? And he may have to import fodder from Punjab costing more than revenue earned from cultivation of poisonous Jatropha.

Why you think all farmers may get cancer/ asthma etc. so as to run the cars of the rich?

Why farmers were informed about the poisonous nature of Jatropha and not consulted before taking this decision?

Do you know what is asthma? My nephew, now in USA was getting seasonal attacks due to dust of pollen / wheat harvesting. But dust of Jatropha leafs will damage lungs of all our farmers in Jatropha cultivation area 24X365 hours in a year.

This could lead to monumental health hazards unprecedented in history of this planet just because of few akalmand people- here akalmand means retarded brains.

Ravinder Singh

The Jatropha rush for bio-fuel

By Pandurang Hegde

There is a need for a cautious approach in the growing of the Jatropha plant in the country

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul192005/editpage1712302005718.asp

The President has grown the Jatropha plant in the Moghul Gardens, after realising the benefits of this plant. He has given a call to farmers to grow Jatropha on farms and wastelands to be used as a source to generate bio-fuel from the seeds of the plant to save the country from an impending oil crisis. Everyone from the President to policy-makers claim that this crop is a panacea for alleviating poverty and solving the energy crisis of the country.

With 63 million hectares of barren land in the country, the prospects of planting Jatropha seedlings on barren land to generate employment for 30 million farmers, engineers and agricultural experts seems like a dream that can really come true. It will reduce diesel imports and save the country foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 60,400 crore.

In addition to solving the energy problem it can address two other issues of modern day crisis: alleviate the poverty of farmers and reduce the emission of vehicles by reducing global warming. It is claimed that the crop does not require irrigation and with one acre of planting 1,200 plants of Jatropha, the farmer will get Rs 21,600 after two years. For the next 50 years the farmer can just keep on harvesting the seeds and get an assured income! As the cattle do not graze this plant, it does not require even fencing.

Subsidy promised

The government has promised a subsidy of 30 percent for the farmers for growing this plant. No wonder, farmers are attracted about the prospect of cultivating this magic plant on a massive scale.

Before jumping into the bandwagon, it is pertinent to ask some basic questions about the plant. Jatropha oil is closely linked to skin cancer. The oil possesses tumour-promoting substances. When the oil comes in contact with human beings there are high risks of getting skin cancer. In Thailand where the incidences of skin cancer due to Jatropha are high, a study was conducted to ascertain the facts.

The results of this research ‘Presence of Tumour promoter in the seed oil of Jatropha curcas from Thailand’, were published in the Japanese Journal of Cancer Research. Alarmed by these findings many countries have taken the precaution to halt the spread of this plant in respective countries. Jettisoning these findings, the bio-fuel lobby as well as agricultural scientists are asking the farmers in our country to grow this plant on a large scale.

Large-scale plantations of any single species are going to have disastrous ecological consequences on the land. We have had the history of such plantations of teak, eucalyptus, and acacia plantations. Thousands of hectares of these monoculture plantations exist causing numerous problems of destruction of diversity as well as being affected by pests and disease. Similarly, if we start growing Jatropha plantations on thousand of hectares, it is bound to cause ecological disruption. In order to grow from the soil, it will take one chemical element and give back the same contents to the soil.

It is essential to remember that for a balanced ecosystem, it is better to have numerous species of plants and animals. If we cultivate Jatropha, which is not consumed by cattle nor birds will eat its fruits, what function does it have for the ecology? We should not think of only getting bio-fuel as the single objective of wasteland reclamation. It should address the issue of ecological rehabilitation.

Consideration needed

Considering these facts, it is essential that before propagation of these plants, the government should try to ascertain the issues involved with its cultivation and the effect on human health. It can establish trial plots as well as get the information from concerned scientists in other parts of the world who have done research on this plant. In any scientific experiment the trial is done before implanting the experiment on a large scale. However, in India we are going ahead with large-scale plantation without even conducting the necessary field trials. It is like playing with the life of millions of farmers.

But who is going to respond to the basic questions that have been raised? It is essential that policy makers should strive to remove these doubts before enticing farmers into the bandwagon. We need to evolve a cautious approach to the issue based on facts and experiences from the rest of the world.

The madness of fuelling the cars of the rich with bio diesel and depriving the health of the poor farmers is going to accelerate poverty. The poverty of farmers is very much related to the structural issues of farm credit, irrigation and assured prices for the produce grown by farmers. Without addressing these basic issues it is futile to find answers in a magic plant like Jatropha to solve the problem of farmers and the energy crisis.

Cultivation of Jatropha begins

DH News Service Mysore:

The firm that tied up with farmers would give Rs 4,500 for per metric tonne of Jatropha seeds.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may92005/district20529200558.asp

The State’s first contract cultivation of Jatropha, whose seeds are used to extract biodiesel for blending with fossil fuel for minimising emission levels, was launched here on Sunday.

Mr Mark L M Quinn, founder and managing director, D1 Oils, UK launched the contract cultivation by symbolically handing over a Jatropha plant to farmer A S Naik, at a function organised by Labland Biotechs, which has diversified its operations into the arena of biodiesel, here. Incidentally, D1 Oils and Labland have entered into a partnership for producing biodiesel.

The company has envisaged to involve educational institutions at the taluk level for the successful operations of the contract cultivation.

Labland Biotechs MD Dr Sudheer A Shetty said the company-recognised institution ‘Jatropha Information Dissemination Centre (JIDC)’ will depute personnel to Labland to get training in cultivation and maintenance of Jatropha. The trained personnel of the institution will, in turn, prepare a team of enthusiastic students to impart training to farmers at various phases in the successful cultivation and maintenance of Jatropha at field levels.

Sahyadri Science College, Shimoga has come forward to work as ‘JIDC’ in Shimoga taluk. Likewise, the company aims to start JIDCs in other taluks of the State, he said.

He said the contract period with farmers for Jatropha cultivation will be for 15 years. “We have offered Rs 4,500 per metric tonnes of Jatropha seeds to farmers. On an average, six tonnes of seeds can be produced in one hectare,” he says.

Mr Mark L M Quinn says Jatropha yield depends on how well the plants are maintained. Jatropha is not necessarily be cultivated as a prime crop. It can be cultivated as a secondary crop along with vanilla, pepper, ginger etc. If this is followed, the potential value per hectare becomes high.

According to Dr Shetty, commercial cultivation of Jatropha should be done under irrigation to make the plantation viable and profitable. An acre of land can hold 1,200 plants. The plants begin to yield from the second year with an average of about one tonne/acre in the second year. Every year an increase in the yield is expected. The yield stabilizes in the 7/8th year. Jatropha can be grown in any kind of soils with good drainage.

Dr G Arumugam, Group Science Director, D1 Oils, UK, Dr Geeta Singh, executive director, Labland Biotechs, Dr N G K Karanth, director, R and D, Labland Biotechs and Ms Sapna Shetty, director, Labland Biotechs were present. Copyright: 2004 The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G. Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001

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The Jatropha rush for bio-fuel

Cultivation of Jatropha begins