India-Africa farm ties can feed entire world: Unido chief
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) India-Africa ties in agriculture have the potential to feed the entire world, especially in the current global context of rising prices and stagnant productivity, the chief of a UN agency has said. “A collaboration between India and African countries can create granaries for the entire world,” said Kandeh K. Yumkella, director-general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
“This is, indeed, possible. India has the capacity and technology and Africa has land and labour,” Yumkella, who is here for an international conference on agro industries and its role in development and poverty reduction, told IANS.
According to the Unido chief, the Indian green revolution of the 1970s and 1980s had demonstrated how technology can boost productivity could push production of food grain in a short period of time.
“But the huge advances brought about by the continuing green revolution must be accompanied by similar advances in processing efficiency, reductions in post-harvest losses and improvements in quality levels of products.”
Accordingly, he said, the importance of agro-industry in terms of post-harvest activities of processing and preserving agricultural products for intermediate or final consumption should be self-evident.
“If half the harvest is spoilt in transit, the result will be gross inefficiency in processing and low-quality products - a socio-economic and business failure,” he added.
Speaking about the current scenario where world was facing food shortages and rising commodity prices, Yumkella said the reason for this was a sharp decline in global food stocks that were the lowest since 1980.
“One way to go is to definitely reduce post-harvest losses,” said the former trade minister of Sierra Leone and a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois.
Yumkella, who is also chairperson of UN-Energy, an initiative of the agency to address energy security, said the Unido was proposing to jointly host with the Indian government a global conference to address all concerns in the area.
“This conference will see the participation of as many as 18 UN organisations. It is proposed either next year or in 2010 and will look at issues like energy efficiency, conservation, new technology, green energy,” he said.
The Unido chief also maintained that there was also the need for econometric modelling to examine the relationship between food and fuels to find out how much and how adversely the land use patterns were changing.
“There is a close link between ‘energy poverty and ‘income poverty’. We need to find that out.”
Source: www.thaindian.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
India world leader in Bamboo
UN project to make India world leader in bamboo industry
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) An ambitious and innovative four-year UN project that aims at boosting India’s role as a world leader in the cane and bamboo industry was launched here Wednesday. Mani Shankar Aiyar, union minister for development of northeastern region (Doner), launched the project in the presence of Kandeh Yumkella, director general, UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
The project will be implemented by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), North Eastern Council (NEC), Unido, development commissioner (handicrafts) as well as coordinating agencies, according to a statement released by the UN agency.
The project, costing $2.3 million, will start May 2008. The donor contribution of India towards the project is $1.8 million, while Unido will contribute $196,000, the statement said.
India has one of the highest concentrations of bamboo in the world and it is a vital element in the economy of the northeastern region, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
It is a lifeline resource that generates jobs, and economic well being, while contributing to environmental enhancement and rural development.
Describing bamboo as a promising agro-commodity, Yumkella said the project would be an excellent opportunity to strengthen long-term partnership between Unido and India.
He said bamboo could be a major vehicle for rural livelihood development.
The Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) in Guwahati, Assam, would be developed as an international hub and service provider for the global cane and bamboo sector.
The project complements the strategies of the National Mission on Bamboo Applications and the North-Eastern Regional Bamboo Mission, the statement said.
The project aims to contribute to rural livelihoods by creating partnerships between cane and bamboo farmers and producers, extending supply chains from plantation management and pre-processing to industrial processing and marketing.
Unido has been involved in numerous bamboo projects in developing countries, the statement said.
Source: www.thaindian.com
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) An ambitious and innovative four-year UN project that aims at boosting India’s role as a world leader in the cane and bamboo industry was launched here Wednesday. Mani Shankar Aiyar, union minister for development of northeastern region (Doner), launched the project in the presence of Kandeh Yumkella, director general, UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
The project will be implemented by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), North Eastern Council (NEC), Unido, development commissioner (handicrafts) as well as coordinating agencies, according to a statement released by the UN agency.
The project, costing $2.3 million, will start May 2008. The donor contribution of India towards the project is $1.8 million, while Unido will contribute $196,000, the statement said.
India has one of the highest concentrations of bamboo in the world and it is a vital element in the economy of the northeastern region, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
It is a lifeline resource that generates jobs, and economic well being, while contributing to environmental enhancement and rural development.
Describing bamboo as a promising agro-commodity, Yumkella said the project would be an excellent opportunity to strengthen long-term partnership between Unido and India.
He said bamboo could be a major vehicle for rural livelihood development.
The Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) in Guwahati, Assam, would be developed as an international hub and service provider for the global cane and bamboo sector.
The project complements the strategies of the National Mission on Bamboo Applications and the North-Eastern Regional Bamboo Mission, the statement said.
The project aims to contribute to rural livelihoods by creating partnerships between cane and bamboo farmers and producers, extending supply chains from plantation management and pre-processing to industrial processing and marketing.
Unido has been involved in numerous bamboo projects in developing countries, the statement said.
Source: www.thaindian.com
Indian Biodiesel
SRIPHL MAKES INDIA WORLD LEADER IN JATROPHA BIODIESEL
Visit http://www.jatrophaworld.org for further information.
Rajasthan-based SRIPHL is targeting to cultivate 1,00,000 hectares of jatropha all over India in the next few years making India World leader in production of jatropha biodiesel.
In India 16 percent of the world’s population is struggling to survive on only 2.4 percent of the planets land mass. The pressure of this intense land utilisation is causing more and more forests and agricultural land to deteriorate into useless wasteland. In 2000, India’s Ministry of Land Use classified nearly 63 million hectares of the subcontinent —about one fifth of its entire territory — as wasteland out of which 33 million hectares of wasteland have been allotted for tree plantation. According to the Indian government, 174 million hectares — more than one half of the country’s territory — are suffering to a greater Or lesser extent from land degradation. But this process of deterioration is not the result of a law of nature. But the icious circle of erosion, soil deterioration and poverty can be broken by jatropha cultivation as this technology has a huge potential for replication nation-wide, improving the livelihood of many more.
Can fuel be “cultivated”?
Evergreen Solar. The Smallest Carbon Footprint
India has the potential to be a leading world producer of diesel, but the rural farmers still need to get comfortable with the idea that diesel fuel can be “harvested,” but they understand one thing very clearly that they can use jatropha plants as a source of extra earnings. Farmers need to know that there is going to be a good market for what they produce. SRIPHL is very keen to build that confidence and promote jatropha cultivation by assisting planting, buying the seeds for refining and providing the refining technology to enable growers to make their own biodiesel."
In this context The SRPHL a non-profit non-government organization, working in the field of rural developments and is the leading promoter of jatropha and providing production technology for the biofuel crop has established Center For Jatropha Promotion & Biodiesel(C J P ): with an aim to use the fruit of the jatropha bush to produce biodiesel and thus offer local farmers a new source of income
The centre says: "Jatropha is a valuable multi-purpose crop to alleviate soil degradation, desertification and deforestation, which can be used for bio-energy to replace petro-diesel, for soap production and climatic protection, and hence deserves specific attention
"Jatropha can help to increase rural incomes, self-sustainability and alleviate poverty for women, elderly, children and men, tribal communities and small farmers. It can as well help to increase income from plantations and agro-industries."
India is aiming to become a world leader in producing bio-diesel from Jatropha curcas.
The centre notes that Jatropha curcas produces seeds with an oil content of 37 percent that can be combusted as fuel without being refined while by-products such as the press cake are good organic fertilizer and oil also contains an insecticide.
The Centre Support, assist, represent, advise, negotiate, manage and train participating farmers in all matters, to successfully plant and harvest Jatropha Curcas for the production of bio fuel "Diesel" and affiliated products in India and World wide. The center provides technology and support for the propagation of seeds and seedlings, evaluation of tissue culture and soil evaluation through to plantation and harvesting
SAFE AND SMALL INVESTMENT
The CEO Mr. A. Maharshi says "We are not in favor of the implementation of a high-tech agrarian concept that warrants for maximum input and delivers bumper crops. Contrary, we are looking for a practicable type of cultivation that is compatible with the routines and possibilities of local farmers, so that the jatropha plantations can be profitable for the rural cultivators with a minimum input of men, money and materials".
The SRIPHL experts working on the jatropha plantation have developed the best method of cultivating these plants, one, which requires the lowest possible investment of money, labor and materials.
By cultivating these energy-producing plants, processing them and finally producing biodiesel, C J P is creating new sources of income for the rural farmers
Looking towards the interest and awareness grown out through out the country SRIPHL is confident of achieving its mission “To Cultivate 100 000 hectares of land within INDIA to produce up to 1 Million metric tons of Oil”
Bio-Diesel" from Jatropha has the ability to lift many people from poverty to financial independence, from despair to respect and unemployment to business owners
The use of pure plant oil has benefits for farmers and their communities, people living in cities, companies involved in transport, and the environment
Source: earthtoys.com
Visit http://www.jatrophaworld.org for further information.
Rajasthan-based SRIPHL is targeting to cultivate 1,00,000 hectares of jatropha all over India in the next few years making India World leader in production of jatropha biodiesel.
In India 16 percent of the world’s population is struggling to survive on only 2.4 percent of the planets land mass. The pressure of this intense land utilisation is causing more and more forests and agricultural land to deteriorate into useless wasteland. In 2000, India’s Ministry of Land Use classified nearly 63 million hectares of the subcontinent —about one fifth of its entire territory — as wasteland out of which 33 million hectares of wasteland have been allotted for tree plantation. According to the Indian government, 174 million hectares — more than one half of the country’s territory — are suffering to a greater Or lesser extent from land degradation. But this process of deterioration is not the result of a law of nature. But the icious circle of erosion, soil deterioration and poverty can be broken by jatropha cultivation as this technology has a huge potential for replication nation-wide, improving the livelihood of many more.
Can fuel be “cultivated”?
Evergreen Solar. The Smallest Carbon Footprint
India has the potential to be a leading world producer of diesel, but the rural farmers still need to get comfortable with the idea that diesel fuel can be “harvested,” but they understand one thing very clearly that they can use jatropha plants as a source of extra earnings. Farmers need to know that there is going to be a good market for what they produce. SRIPHL is very keen to build that confidence and promote jatropha cultivation by assisting planting, buying the seeds for refining and providing the refining technology to enable growers to make their own biodiesel."
In this context The SRPHL a non-profit non-government organization, working in the field of rural developments and is the leading promoter of jatropha and providing production technology for the biofuel crop has established Center For Jatropha Promotion & Biodiesel(C J P ): with an aim to use the fruit of the jatropha bush to produce biodiesel and thus offer local farmers a new source of income
The centre says: "Jatropha is a valuable multi-purpose crop to alleviate soil degradation, desertification and deforestation, which can be used for bio-energy to replace petro-diesel, for soap production and climatic protection, and hence deserves specific attention
"Jatropha can help to increase rural incomes, self-sustainability and alleviate poverty for women, elderly, children and men, tribal communities and small farmers. It can as well help to increase income from plantations and agro-industries."
India is aiming to become a world leader in producing bio-diesel from Jatropha curcas.
The centre notes that Jatropha curcas produces seeds with an oil content of 37 percent that can be combusted as fuel without being refined while by-products such as the press cake are good organic fertilizer and oil also contains an insecticide.
The Centre Support, assist, represent, advise, negotiate, manage and train participating farmers in all matters, to successfully plant and harvest Jatropha Curcas for the production of bio fuel "Diesel" and affiliated products in India and World wide. The center provides technology and support for the propagation of seeds and seedlings, evaluation of tissue culture and soil evaluation through to plantation and harvesting
SAFE AND SMALL INVESTMENT
The CEO Mr. A. Maharshi says "We are not in favor of the implementation of a high-tech agrarian concept that warrants for maximum input and delivers bumper crops. Contrary, we are looking for a practicable type of cultivation that is compatible with the routines and possibilities of local farmers, so that the jatropha plantations can be profitable for the rural cultivators with a minimum input of men, money and materials".
The SRIPHL experts working on the jatropha plantation have developed the best method of cultivating these plants, one, which requires the lowest possible investment of money, labor and materials.
By cultivating these energy-producing plants, processing them and finally producing biodiesel, C J P is creating new sources of income for the rural farmers
Looking towards the interest and awareness grown out through out the country SRIPHL is confident of achieving its mission “To Cultivate 100 000 hectares of land within INDIA to produce up to 1 Million metric tons of Oil”
Bio-Diesel" from Jatropha has the ability to lift many people from poverty to financial independence, from despair to respect and unemployment to business owners
The use of pure plant oil has benefits for farmers and their communities, people living in cities, companies involved in transport, and the environment
Source: earthtoys.com
Space You Can Use
India may now be the world leader in deploying satellites that assist practical work on the ground.
Nobody would mistake India for a leader in outer space. Many Indians are hopeful that the launch this week of the Chandrayaan I spacecraft, which will orbit the moon in search of water, will mark a turning point for the nation's space program. The Indian mission will carry instruments for the U.S. and European space agencies in addition to its own Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Judging from local media coverage, Indians are following the mission almost as closely as the gyrations of the stock markets.
The Indian space program is already far ahead in one respect: its use of space technologies to solve the everyday problems of ordinary people on the ground. For more than 20 years, India has been quietly investing hundreds of millions of dollars in its earth-sciences program with an eye toward helping farmers with their crops, fishermen with their catches and rescue workers with management of floods and other disasters. "India is leading the way in the approach towards the rationale for earth observation," says Stephen Briggs, the head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Observation Science and Applications Department.
Measured by the number and sophistication of their satellites, America and Europe may be ahead of India. But with an annual budget of about $1 billion—less than a tenth of NASA's—ISRO covers a lot of ground. It has built and launched 46 satellites, which provide data for at least nine Indian government ministries. Its 11 national communications satellites are the largest network in Asia, and its seven remote sensing satellites map objects on Earth at a resolution of less than a meter. These form the backbone of a series of practical initiatives that, according to a Madras School of Economics study, have generated a $2 return for every $1 spent. "We have clearly shown that we can give back to the country much more than is invested in the space program," says ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair.
The satellite network is the fruit of an effort begun in 1982 to connect India's remote—and often roadless—regions to radio, TV and telephone networks. By 2002, ISRO had expanded satellite TV and radio coverage to nearly 90 percent of the country, up from 25 percent.
India's investment in Earth observation satellites over the years comes to only about $500 million per satellite, about a tenth of the cost of its Western counterparts. After introducing a satellite service to locate potential fish zones and broadcasting the sites over All India Radio, ISRO helped coastal fishermen double the size of their catch. For the government's Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, begun in 1986, satellites have improved the success rate of government well-drilling projects by 50 to 80 percent, saving $100 million to $175 million. Meteorological satellites have improved the government's ability to predict the all-important Indian monsoon, which can influence India's gross domestic product by 2 to 5 percent.
Next, ISRO plans to roll out satellite-enabled services to hundreds of millions of farmers in India's remote villages. In partnership with NGOs and government bodies, it has helped to set up about 400 Village Resource Centers so far. Each provides connections to dozens of villages for Internet-based services such as access to commodities pricing information, agricultural advice from crop experts and land records. ISRO's remote-sensing data will also help village councils develop watersheds and irrigation projects, establish accurate land records and plan new roads connecting their villages with civilization as cheaply and efficiently as possible. One ISRO partner—the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation—has used satellites to conduct 78,000 training programs for more than 300,000 farmers in 550 villages, teaching them about farming practices like drip-and-sprinkle irrigation, health-care awareness programs for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, and information about how to access government services. Using satellites to guide reclamation of 2 million hectares of saline and alkaline wastelands is expected to generate income of more than $500 million a year.
The United States and Europe may have beaten ISRO to the moon, but India's vision might just show the way for mankind's next giant leap.
Source: Newsweek
Nobody would mistake India for a leader in outer space. Many Indians are hopeful that the launch this week of the Chandrayaan I spacecraft, which will orbit the moon in search of water, will mark a turning point for the nation's space program. The Indian mission will carry instruments for the U.S. and European space agencies in addition to its own Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Judging from local media coverage, Indians are following the mission almost as closely as the gyrations of the stock markets.
The Indian space program is already far ahead in one respect: its use of space technologies to solve the everyday problems of ordinary people on the ground. For more than 20 years, India has been quietly investing hundreds of millions of dollars in its earth-sciences program with an eye toward helping farmers with their crops, fishermen with their catches and rescue workers with management of floods and other disasters. "India is leading the way in the approach towards the rationale for earth observation," says Stephen Briggs, the head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Observation Science and Applications Department.
Measured by the number and sophistication of their satellites, America and Europe may be ahead of India. But with an annual budget of about $1 billion—less than a tenth of NASA's—ISRO covers a lot of ground. It has built and launched 46 satellites, which provide data for at least nine Indian government ministries. Its 11 national communications satellites are the largest network in Asia, and its seven remote sensing satellites map objects on Earth at a resolution of less than a meter. These form the backbone of a series of practical initiatives that, according to a Madras School of Economics study, have generated a $2 return for every $1 spent. "We have clearly shown that we can give back to the country much more than is invested in the space program," says ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair.
The satellite network is the fruit of an effort begun in 1982 to connect India's remote—and often roadless—regions to radio, TV and telephone networks. By 2002, ISRO had expanded satellite TV and radio coverage to nearly 90 percent of the country, up from 25 percent.
India's investment in Earth observation satellites over the years comes to only about $500 million per satellite, about a tenth of the cost of its Western counterparts. After introducing a satellite service to locate potential fish zones and broadcasting the sites over All India Radio, ISRO helped coastal fishermen double the size of their catch. For the government's Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, begun in 1986, satellites have improved the success rate of government well-drilling projects by 50 to 80 percent, saving $100 million to $175 million. Meteorological satellites have improved the government's ability to predict the all-important Indian monsoon, which can influence India's gross domestic product by 2 to 5 percent.
Next, ISRO plans to roll out satellite-enabled services to hundreds of millions of farmers in India's remote villages. In partnership with NGOs and government bodies, it has helped to set up about 400 Village Resource Centers so far. Each provides connections to dozens of villages for Internet-based services such as access to commodities pricing information, agricultural advice from crop experts and land records. ISRO's remote-sensing data will also help village councils develop watersheds and irrigation projects, establish accurate land records and plan new roads connecting their villages with civilization as cheaply and efficiently as possible. One ISRO partner—the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation—has used satellites to conduct 78,000 training programs for more than 300,000 farmers in 550 villages, teaching them about farming practices like drip-and-sprinkle irrigation, health-care awareness programs for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, and information about how to access government services. Using satellites to guide reclamation of 2 million hectares of saline and alkaline wastelands is expected to generate income of more than $500 million a year.
The United States and Europe may have beaten ISRO to the moon, but India's vision might just show the way for mankind's next giant leap.
Source: Newsweek
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