Indian entrepreneurs look to sorghums and pearl millet as biofuel feedstock

In India, the Government of India’s concerted efforts to replace 20% fossil fuels with ethanol blends by 2025 is attracting agricultural entrepreneurs to invest in renewable energy. This week, Lalit Jhawar and Mayank Gupta, two young IIT graduates running a profitable farming venture in Maharashtra, accompanied by biofuel experts YB Ramakrishna and Divakar Rao, visited ICRISAT headquarters in Hyderabad to learn about cultivation of sweet sorghum, high-biomass sorghum and pearl millet for use as biofuel feedstocks.

ICRISAT scientist, Dr A Ashok Kumar, in his presentation gave an overview of ICRISAT’s research on sorghum innovations suited to 1G and 2G biofuels and for biogas production. He said that there were options to choose from for biomass requirement in addition to gains from nutritious fodder and grain. He highlighted the fact that sorghum is ratoonable and is a highly water-efficient crop. He said that a package of agronomic practices developed by ICRISAT foster the best crop growth and offer protection against insects and diseases.