Agriculture

Of its several wings, Agriculture is the most outstanding pillar of Arpa Son Paryavaran Suraksha and Manav Vikas Samiti. An ace in the field of agriculture, environment preservation and forestry, we have an experience of 15 years of cultivating and collecting biofuel and medicinal plants. Starting with 100 tonnes of biodiesel seed collection, we collected a whopping 400 tonnes of biodiesel seeds in the year 2017. Having participated in several science conferences and technological programmes, we have proved time and again that our agricultural practices are backed by scientific principles.

Inedible seeds are found in plenty in all areas of the state of Chhattisgarh. Our NGO works for the collection, delivery and utilization of these seeds. The prime goal is to increase the sale of these seeds to foster an eco-friendly approach for fuel and bring an abound rise in income and employment of the locals. These seeds comprise of the valuable jatropha seeds among many other varieties of seeds. Due to lack of awareness amongst farmers, there is under-utilization of Jatropha seeds. If they get the seeds at an optimum price and are able to exchange it for good money, they will be motivated to work in this field. We safeguard the farmers by preventing their exploitation and safeguarding them. This encourages them to include their families and collect maximum seeds. With the same strategy of optimum pricing we had increased the collection of Jatropha from 100 tons in 2013 to up to 300 tons in 2017. Our region is an explored treasure of Jatropha seeds and the collection could be extended to up to 500 tons with proper collection centres.

The region of Penndra, Marwahia and Gaurela has 4 crores Jatropha plants out of which 2 crores are well alive to produce seeds. If we base our calculation on a minimum of 200 gms of Jatropha seeds from one plant in a year then the collection could go up to 5000 tons. On proper management and planning an average of 1 kg seeds can be produced from one plant which is equal to 20,000 tons of Jatropha seeds in one year from our region of Pendra, Marwahi and Gaurela. These statistics take into consideration only Jatropha seeds, excluding other seeds. Harvesting of biofuel from these seeds can make the whole city of Raipur pollution free in just a single day. We have resources and skills to make this work possible in the best way. Jatropha seeds from the region of pendra have been recognized by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), a premier R&D organization of the country, as superior-most quality and with maximum oil percentage. Proving the authenticity and dedication of our work, we are proud to be accredited as biodiesel seeds supplier to Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority (CBDA) and Mahendra & Mahendra .

Jatropha is a perennial plant that grows well in all types of soil. Rightly called Nature’s Magic, this plant has an oil content of over 37%. Found in the green belt of Asia, extending from Mandala to Amarkantak districts of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the seeds of this plant are very rich in biodiesel properties. A plant that does not require extensive irrigation ; that could grow even on infertile soil; does not seem to astonish scientists who have already proven that each part of the plant is useful. While studies have repeatedly shown the rich biofuel properties of its oil, the remnant seed cakes make for an excellent fertilizer. Moreover, Jatropha plantation helps in conservation of natural resources by increasing the level of water table in the area of cultivation, making the soil more fertile within 5 years of Jatropha cultivation, absorption of harmful radiation by Jatropha leave and providing the best quality natural fertilizer.

At Arpa Son Paryavaran Suraksha and Manav Vikas Samiti, we encourage people to cultivate this plant for these various reasons. We provide genuine aids and technical support to groups and individuals opting for Jatropha plantation. The cultivation of the plant is very simple and requires minimal aids. You do not need to store Jatropha seeds in a cold storage, these tough and resistant seeds survive well in normal temperature and thrive well on minimal irrigation and fertilizers. While the low cost hybrid variety can be planted between November and January and cultivated thereafter, with some agricultural innovations and efforts, the crop can be harvested up to 3 times in a year. Our objective is to strive through hard work, dedication and innovation to bring out the best results in biofuel and medicinal plants. Visitors are welcome to visit our demo plant at the heart of Amarkantak region to get a better insight into our accomplishment and experiments.