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Agricultural Land Utility
The use of ethanol, a potential alternative
high-octane fuel source, could help three major policy
goals:
• Improved environmental quality: Ethanol, splash-blended
with gasoline (splash-blended means it is mixed at the
wholesaler), increases the amount of oxygen in gasoline,
which reduces carbon monoxide emissions. The blend also
reduces emissions of toxic chemicals that are known to cause
cancer.
• Enhanced energy security: Ethanol, produced from
domestically grown grains, could displace some imported
crude oil and refined oil products.
• Stabilized farm income: Ethanol creates an additional
market for jowar, bajra and maize. Due to lack of irrigation
facilities and rain dependency in the backward regions of Maharashtra like North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha,
farmers in these regions mainly produce crops like jowar,
bajra, maize, etc. Many a times, due the irregular rain
fall, these grains become spoiled and are not good for human
consumption. These grains do not fetch good price in the
market and hence the farmers are in loss. In order to
increase the ethanol production from grains and to avoid
losses of farmers, it has become very much essential to
promote and encourage distillery units which produce ethanol
from grains.
Social Rural Benefits:
• Ethanol contributes to
regional economic
growth and job creation, particularly in rural communities.
• Ethanol exports will boost economic growth and sustainable
rural development, while simultaneously helping to curb
global warming by helping the world reduce its dependency on
fossil fuels.
• It would help in reformation of dry land farming which
includes effective water management strategies by
construction of DAM.
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