Date:25/11/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/11/25/stories/2004112502750500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

State initiative sought for bio-diesel plantations

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, NOV. 24 . The Government should take the lead in bio-diesel plantations and prove it cost effectiveness instead of asking farmers to raise jetropha and pongamia. If there is loss, the Government can bear it but not farmers, said K. Gnaneshwar, Chairman, Zilla Parishad, Ranga Reddy district.

Chairing the 60th governing body meeting of the District Rural Development Agency here on Wednesday, Mr. Gnaneshwar wanted the Government to take up bio-diesel plantations on a large scale in its forestland. He said everything now was in initial stage and therefore farmers were apprehensive about it.

G. Ram Babu, Project Director, DRDA, said that the Government had proposed to take up bio-diesel plantations in 25,000 hectares in the district. A subsidy of 90 per cent would be provided under the drip irrigation. Identification of 10 acres of Government land for demonstration nursery was under process.

The governing body meeting was attended by the district Collector, L. Premchandra Reddy, and MLAs -- K. Harishwar Reddy (Pargi), M. Narsimha (Ibrahimpatnam) and M. Narayana Rao (Tandur).

Watershed development

The meeting felt that watershed development programmes should invariably have a component of capacity building. User groups should have a clear idea about how the project was going to help improve soil conservation and raise the water table. It was decided to conduct training to farmer users. At present the district had 242 watersheds.

The NABARD-funded Comprehensive Land Development Project (CLDP) also came up for discussion. The general body felt that a thorough debate was necessary before finalising blocks of assigned lands for development.

The Pargi legislator, Mr. Harishwar Reddy, suggested extending the Deepam scheme to all members of self-help groups irrespective of the below poverty line (BPL) criterion.