Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Aug 30, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Aug 30, 2004 |
||
|
|
||
|
Agri-Biz & Commodities
-
Sugar Sick sugar units urged to use sorghum to make ethanol Our Bureau
Hyderabad , Aug. 29 THE Andhra Pradesh Government would take a proactive role in the revival of sick sugar units by encouraging them to use sweet sorghum for production of ethanol, according to the State Minister for Agriculture, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy. Mr Reddy told a meeting on `Utilisation of Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Production' here on Saturday that subsidy would be given for farmers for purchase of rain guns to be used in the cultivation of sweet sorghum. Use of rain guns would conserve water like in the case of drip and sprinkler irrigation and hence the same subsidy being extended for the installation of the latter two systems would be extended for installation of rain guns. The Minister expressed the hope that sweet sorghum would emerge as an alternative to water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane. The sugar industries could also process sweet sorghum by making minor modifications to their existing processing plants. The meeting was organised by the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) at the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture here to have an interface with the private sector with regard to the production of ethanol from sweet sorghum. Representatives of 35 sugar industries took part in the daylong meeting. The National Director of the Rs 992-crore, World Bank supported NATP, Dr S.L. Mehta, said that 50 litres of ethanol could be produced per tonne of sweet sorghum. As per the pilot production made by Renuka Sugars of Karnataka, the cost of production would be Rs 13.45 per litre as against Rs 15 per litre for production of ethanol from molasses. He, however, said that sweet sorghum farmers should go in for contract farming and enter into buy-back arrangements with the sugar industry for obtaining maximum benefit from cultivating the crop. As far as seed was concerned, the National Research Centre on Sorghum (NRCS) would ensure that there would be no shortage. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research had also developed a hybrid, which would be released this year. Dr Mehta said that last year, 11 sugar factories have taken seed for cultivation of sweet sorghum. Many other sugar units were coming forward to procure seed this year. A representative of Sagar Sugar Industries of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh said that company had cultivated sweet sorghum in 950 acres this year and the trial production of ethanol would be started in October. The company was also currently going in for contract farming to bring 25,000 hectares under sweet sorghum crop.
More Stories on : Sugar | Non-conventional Energy | Sick Units
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|