Refinery boost to jatropha farming

Jatropha fruits and (top) a farm with Jatropha plants

Feb. 17: A bio-diesel refinery is all set to give jatropha farming a new meaning in this central Assam district, two years down the line.

D1 Williamson Magor Bio Fuel Ltd, a joint venture of D1 Oils Plc, UK and Williamson Magor Group, India, is setting up the refinery at Balipara in Sonitpur. The refinery will be commissioned in 2012.

The new development is a part of the district administration's recent joint sitting with the company for a buyback policy.

Bio-fuel development centres mainly on the cultivation and processing of seeds of jatropha, a bio-fuel plant, which is very rich in oil. Jatropha oil has been used as bio-diesel to cater to the fuel requirements of remote rural and forest communities. The oil can be used directly after extraction in diesel generators and engines.

A senior official of the district administration said after preliminary rounds of discussion with the company, the latter had agreed to provide technical support to the farmers for the first three years and accept the buyback arrangements. "We will carry out the plantation on government land under the NREGA scheme with the help of panchayats and self-help groups," the official said.

Sonitpur DRDA project director Mahadananda Hazarika said initially 100 hectares under three development blocks of the district — Bihali, Sakomotha and Baghmara — would be covered under jatropha cultivation. Plantation in the other development blocks would follow.

Preference will be given to self-help groups and panchayati raj grassroots-level organisations while individual requests from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and families living below the poverty line would also be considered.

"In accordance with the Centre's guidelines, we basically cover degraded forest areas and wasteland. Sandy soil and highlands of both Karbi Anglong and Sonitpur are most suitable for the purpose," said D1 Williamson Magor senior manager (administration) D. Borgohain.

Materials imported from western Africa will be used for the new plantation drive under NREGA and all possible technical assistance will be provided by the company to the farmers, he added.

"There will be as many as 2,500 jatropha plants in one hectare. Each plant will bear over 3kg seeds. We hope to make substantial profits, as the life of such a plant is 40 years. We expect to start generating revenue from the third year of the plantation," Borgohain said.

"The new proposal is acceptable to all of us as the local administration has assured to work as a bridge between the company and farmers," Budhin Bora, a resident of Biswanath Chariali, said.(The Telegraph)