High School Students' Project Jatropha Benefiting Environment, Reducing Poverty in Rural India

Two California top academy ancestors are alteration lives with their grassroots action to abetment Indian farmers accepted in poverty. Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan founded Project Jatropha to animate the development of farmer-owned crops of Jatropha, a continued living, economically applicable brier with seeds that can be adapted into biodiesel.

Oakland, Calif. -- Two top academy acceptance of The College Preparatory School, Adarsha Shivakumar (age 15) and Apoorva Rangan (age 14), accept just alternate from India afterwards auspiciously finishing the aboriginal appearance of Project Jatropha, an adorning mission aiming to accompanying save the environment and addition the rural Indian economy. Adarsha Shivakumar launched the grassroots action endure year, as a top academy freshman, with the advice of his eighth-grade sister, Apoorva Rangan.

Project Jatropha

Project Jatropha's capital ambition is to accredit farmers and women's cocky advice groups accepted in abjection to abound Jatropha either as a barrier crop or in intercropping on an economically applicable scale Carbon dioxide emissions are local, but their accoutrement are global. Even admitting this beginning activity has started on a baby scale, our eyes is that this is the alpha of a accumulation movement area baby farmers coact with environmentally agog adolescence who will accede the world. In his book 'Hot, Flat, and Crowded,' Thomas L. Friedman gives four archetype that any biofuel have to meet: It have to accept a ample absolute activity input, not abort biodiversity-rich land, have to not absolution ample amounts of carbon dioxide if grown, and have to not break one botheration alone to actualize another. Jatropha meets all these criterion, authoritative it an ideal crop Promoting Jatropha will animate farmers to move abroad from tobacco by accouterment an adorable alternative, accompanying eliminating the charge for firewood, which will advice bottle adjacent Nagarahole civic esplanade and the copse in their own farms. "Project Jatropha's capital ambition is to accredit farmers and women's cocky advice groups accepted in abjection to abound Jatropha either as a barrier crop or in intercropping on an economically applicable scale," Adarsha Shivakumar says. "Carbon dioxide emissions are local, but their accoutrement are global. Even admitting this beginning activity has started on a baby scale, our eyes is that this is the alpha of a accumulation movement area baby farmers coact with environmentally agog adolescence who will accede the world."

Jatropha curcas is a baby deciduous brier with a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. The seeds it produces accommodate 30 percent oil, which can be adapted into biodiesel. When Indian railways and alley carriage corporations started application Jatropha biodiesel, Jatropha became accepted in India. However, the industry's advance is belted to massive plantations endemic by clandestine for accumulation area companies; baby farmers cannot possibly access abundant acreage to attempt with massive plantations.

Project Jatropha is amid in a rural belt of Karnataka, abreast Hunsur Taluk, Mysore commune area a cogent amount of baby farmers accomplish a active by growing tobacco for export. To a lot of affluence farmers, this is the alone crop that brings them money. Farmers cure the raw tobacco leaves in barns application firewood taken from the forest, the abolition of which is harming bounded biodiversity. The Indian government afresh active the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control with the goals of acid tobacco agronomics by at atomic bisected by 2020 and weaning farmers abroad from growing tobacco by alms advantage packages. Nevertheless, this band-aid will not be sufficient, as the money would run out and the government is announcement no addition bartering crops.

"In his book 'Hot, Flat, and Crowded,' Thomas L. Friedman gives four archetype that any biofuel have to meet: It have to accept a ample absolute activity input, not abort biodiversity-rich land, have to not absolution ample amounts of carbon dioxide if grown, and have to not break one botheration alone to actualize another. Jatropha meets all these criterion, authoritative it an ideal crop," Adarsha Shivakumar says. "Promoting Jatropha will animate farmers to move abroad from tobacco by accouterment an adorable alternative, accompanying eliminating the charge for firewood, which will advice bottle adjacent Nagarahole civic esplanade and the copse in their own farms."

In June of 2008, Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan brought calm Parivarthana, a non-governmental alignment that helps farmers, and Labland Biotechs, a bulb biotechnology aggregation that grows high-quality Jatropha seedlings as collaborators to deliver 1,000 high-quality Jatropha seedlings to the farmers. Their plan has been featured in the "Times of India" because of their contempo appointment to India, area they extracted 35 liters of biodiesel from 100 kg of seeds and broadcast the oil to bounded farmers. Adarsha Shivakumar and Apoorva Rangan aswell formed partnerships with two rural top schools in the area. Callie Roberts, a green in The College Preparatory School, has abutting the duo for the additional appearance of the project.

The Rotary International in Hunsur accustomed Adarsha and Apoorva for their adorning project, and abounding newspapers and bounded TV channels accept featured their work.

For added advice about Project Jatropha, appointment www.ProjectJatropha.com.

Contact:
Adarsha Shivakumar
Founder and Executive Director, Project Jatropha
925-935-6522
Adarsha at ProjectJatropha dot com

Plantings And Adoption Of Genetically Modified Crops Increase In 2007

Online Video Summarizes Key Results and Statistics

St. Louis, MO -- In a new online video and podcast appear today, Clive James, administrator and architect of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), shares the after-effects of his afresh appear 2007 address on the all-around cachet of genetically adapted crops.

Conversations about Plant Biotechnology

And what we see in the 12th year of commercialization, which is 2007, is that we witnessed a 12 percent access in acreage on a all-around basis. And this has benefited 12 actor farmers about the globe That’s a actual cogent increase. And decidedly important is that of that 12 actor farmers, 11 actor farmers were ability poor farmers in developing countries. They represent some of the atomic humans in the world. Of the 23 countries, 12 were developing countries and 11 were automated countries. So the advance that we are seeing is in the developing countries of the apple area this technology can accept its better impact And this agency that you are authoritative a actual important addition to the advancement of poverty. According to the report, genetically adapted crops were buried on 282.4 actor acreage (114.3 actor hectares) in 2007, absorption a 12 percent access over 2006 and the additional accomplished across access in the accomplished 5 years.

“And what we see in the 12th year of commercialization, which is 2007, is that we witnessed a 12 percent access in acreage on a all-around basis. And this has benefited 12 actor farmers about the globe,” says James. “That’s a actual cogent increase. And decidedly important is that of that 12 actor farmers, 11 actor farmers were ability poor farmers in developing countries. They represent some of the atomic humans in the world.”
   
In 2007, farmers in 23 countries buried genetically adapted crops including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, the United States and Uruguay.

“Of the 23 countries, 12 were developing countries and 11 were automated countries. So the advance that we are seeing is in the developing countries of the apple area this technology can accept its better impact,” continues James. “And this agency that you are authoritative a actual important addition to the advancement of poverty.”

According to the report, acceptance of genetically adapted crops a allotment of resource-poor farmers is carrying aberrant allowances that accord against the Millennium Development Goals of abbreviation abjection by 50 percent by 2015. The abeyant in the additional decade of genetically adapted crop commercialization (2006-2015) is enormous.

This new video summarizing the key after-effects and statistics of genetically adapted crops in 2007 can be viewed, downloaded or anchored into addition Web website from the Conversations about Plant Biotechnology Web site.

The complete address on the Global Status of GM Crops in 2007 is accessible on the ISAAA Web site. This address is absolutely adjourned by the Rockefeller Foundation, a U.S.-based altruistic alignment associated with the Green Revolution; Ibercaja, one of the better Spanish banks headquartered in the maize-growing arena of Spain; and the Bussolera-Branca Foundation from Italy, which supports the open-sharing of ability on biotech crops to aid controlling by all-around society.

The Conversations about Plant Biotechnology is advised to accord a articulation and a face to the farmers and families who abound GM crops and the experts who analysis and abstraction the allowances of biotechnology in agriculture. The Web website contains added than 70 two- to three-minute, acutely candid, aboveboard and acute video segments with the humans who apperceive the technology best. The Web website is hosted by Monsanto Company — a arch all-around provider of technology-based solutions and agronomical articles that advance acreage abundance and aliment quality.

Contact:   
Ranjana Smetacek
314-694-2642
ranjana.smetacek @ monsanto.com