Indian arid zone occupies an area of about 0.3 million sq. km.  90 percent of which about 2,70,000 sq. km. is confined to north west Indian covering most of Western Rajasthan, part of Gujarat and small portions of Punjab and Haryana.  India has over 180 million of wasteland out of which 90 million ha is uncultivable. The degraded and denuded lands arise due to soil erosions as well as secondary salinizations.

The state of Rajasthan is situated between 23°3’N and 30°12’ N latitude and 69°30’ and  78°17’  E longitude. The total land area of the state is about 3,42,239 km2, out of which about 1,96,150 km2  is arid and rest is semi-arid. This arid and semi-arid wasteland of is rich in biodiversity. During present investigation studies were conducted on characterization of bio-energy resources in the semi arid region of Rajasthan.

Scientific Name Cinnamomum verum Presl ( syn C.zeylanicum Bi)

Family Lauraceae

Used Part Bark



Distribution Area A tree native to Sri Lanka and cultivated in South India for its aromatic bark and also found to a limited extent in eastern India.

Scientific Name B. monosperma (Lam.) Taub. syn. B. frondosa  Koenig ex Roxb. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Ginseng Araliaceae



Panax pseudoginseng Wall. Family Araliaceae is a very rare 30-60 cm tall erect herb distributed in the interior temperate mountainous regions of Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and China, recorded in the Western Himalayas from Pithoragarh district in Uttar Pradesh.



The root of Asian ginseng contains active chemical components called ginsenosides (or panaxosides) that are thought to be responsible for the herb's medicinal properties. The root is dried and used to make tablets or capsules, extracts, and teas, as well as creams or other preparations for external use.