Calotropis procera is a potential plant for bioenergy and biofuel production in semi arid regions of the country. At the global level, according to recent estimates by FAO the annual tropical deforestation rate for the decade 1981 to 1990 was about 15.4 million ha (Mha). According to the latest data published in 1994 for the assessment period 1989-1991, the total area under forests is 64.01 Mha accounting for 19.5 percent of India's geographic area. The fact that nearly 90 percent of the worlds population will reside in developing countries by 2050 probably implies that biomass energy will be with us forever unless there are drastic changes in the world energy trading pattern. Calotropis procera of the semi-arid region have shown great potential of bio-fuel production during the last 17 yrs. of our investigations and efforts are underway to undertake their large scale cultivation and improvement semi-arid region of Rajasthan.
Calotropis procera is a potential plant for bioenergy and biofuel production in semi arid regions of the country. At the global level, according to recent estimates by FAO the annual tropical deforestation rate for the decade 1981 to 1990 was about 15.4 million ha (Mha). According to the latest data published in 1994 for the assessment period 1989-1991, the total area under forests is 64.01 Mha accounting for 19.5 percent of India's geographic area.
