Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Market point soon to buy bio-fuel material

GULBARGA: The Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board (HKDB) and Gulbarga University have decided to establish a market point for the purchase of Jatropha seeds and other raw material required for bio-fuel production, at the bio-diesel technology park on the Gulbarga University campus here.

Chairman of the Task Force on Bio-fuels Y.B. Ramakrishna will inaugurate the market point on November 10.

Secretary of the HKDB Shalini Rajneesh Goel, who was instrumental in persuading Gulbarga University to earmark land for the technology park in July this year, said here on Monday that establishment of the market point was mainly to create awareness and confidence among farmers cultivating bio-fuel plants. The market point would also help link farmers with leading bio-fuel manufacturers in India.

She said farmers and institutions having dry Jatropha seeds were invited to sell their produce on cash-and-carry basis at a rate of Rs. 10 a kg. The Mysore-based Labland Biotech had agreed to purchase any amount of dry Jatropha seeds with less than 10 per cent moisture content on the spot.

The technology park is an innovative project started by the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Centre and was established as a joint venture of the Gulbarga University and the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board.

Five different bio-fuel plant species (Jatropha curcas, Madhuca indica, Pongamia pinnata, Simarouba glauca and castor) have been planted for demonstration and trial on a 30-acre area. The university has started experiments for evaluation of growth, productivity, stress and disease resistance, apart from mass propagation and marketing.

Linkages have been established for obtaining high-yielding varieties of seeds, with national laboratories and private firms.

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