Jatropha development is moving forward as Abundant Biofuels Corp. offers long term contracts and D1 Oils plc refocuses its business.
Recent advances in plant biotechnology: Applications in Agriculture.
Ashwani Kumar
Professor of Botany,
Department of Botany and P G School of Biotechnology
University of Rajasthan
Jaipur 302004.
msku4@hotmail.com Tel 0141 2711654 ( Off) 0141 2654100 ( Res) Mob (0) 9414057484
Abstract:
Around 80% of the population lives in rural areas which primarily utilize biomass for their energy requirement. Depending on the agroclimatic zone by diversity and plant productivity the biomass utilization varies in different parts of the country. A large number of laticiferous plants have been reported to yield hydrocarbons which could be converted into petroleum like substances. Initially E. abyssinica J.F. Gmel.
The state of Rajasthan is situated between 23º3’ and 30º12’ N latitude and 69º30’ and 78º17’ E longitude . The total land area of the state is about 3,24,239 km² , out of which about 1,98,100 km² is arid and rest is semi arid. The physical features are characterized mainly by the Aravallis and to the some extent by the vindhyan formation, and the Deccan trap. A major portion of western Rajasthan has desert soils and sandy plain. Sand dunes occupy a greater part of western Rajasthan ( 1,20, 983 km²). The soils of the desert plains are loamy sand to loam and eastern part has alluvial soil which support good forests and agricultural crop. Occurrence of saline soils with pH up to 9.0 is a common feature in sandy area of Rajasthan.
A large number of hydrocarbon yielding plants like Calotropis procera, Euphorbia antisyphilitica have been
reported to yield bio-fuel products. Attempts have been made to increase their growth and hydrocarbon yield potential.
Present study was aimed to increase latex yield in Euphorbia antisyphilitica. It was observed that GA3 supported maximum above ground plant height and fresh weight and biomass yield of the plant while the auxins (NAA and IAA) promoted growth and biomass yield over control and the hexane extractables and concluded that the application of growth regulators on Euphorbia antisyphilitica is beneficial to obtain raw material.
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