January 30, 2007

 

Indian firm ties up with Philippine farmers for ethanol production

 

 

An Indian company has tied up with a local farmers group for the supply of US$9 million worth of sweet sorghum for ethanol production.

 

The Rusni Distilleries, the leader of the Ethanol Distilleries of India, can process 40,000 litres of ethanol per day from sweet sorghum planted by some 15,000 farmers allocating one hectare each from their average farm of 2.1 hectares.

 

Dr. William Dar, Director-General of International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said this will be the first time that farmer federations will engage in agro-industrialisation.

 

Dar said farmers can fully own processing plants.

 

Sweet sorghum is similar to grain sorghum with sugar-rich stalks.

 

Being a water-use efficient crop, sweet sorghum has the potential to be a good alternative feedstock for ethanol production.

 

During the rainy season, upland farmers can plant sweet sorghum in the mountainsides to provide the feeds stock needed by the ethanol plant while waiting for the rice farmers in low lying areas to harvest their rainy season crop.

 

The sweet sorghum is a sturdy plant that can resist drought conditions and can be planted as a second and third crop for agrarian reform communities.

 

Farmers will be encouraged to engage in sweet sorghum production because they will own the ethanol plant.

 

The funds will come from government agencies and financing institutions willing to help the farmers integrate their farms for the high value crops.