Developing a Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Value Chain

Abstract

Sweet sorghum is a fascinating crop by virtue of its rapid growth, high biomass production potential, and adaptability to a range of conditions, high water use efficiency and its multipurpose use. Although scientists have been working on sweet sorghum for many years, the focus was mainly on its fodder value and use. Recognition of its utility as biofuel feedstock is a recent development. Considering the energy requirements, particularly of a rapidly growing economy like India and its ethanol blending commitments, attention to sweet sorghum as an alternative feedstock for bioethanol production is a perfect choice. Keeping this in view, a sub-project on ‘Sweet sorghum ethanol value chain development’ was developed with the help of consortium partners that included the Directorate of Sorghum Research (DSR), Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Sri Venkateshwara Veterinary University (SVVU) and Rusni Distilleries, which was eventually approved for funding by the National Agricultural Innovation Project under the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (NAIP (ICAR)). Taking a cue from the on-going genetic and crop management research on sweet sorghum, the sub-project was built on developing a sustainable sweet sorghum ethanol value chain by exploring the various options to increase onfarm productivity, enhance the harvest window, plug loopholes in the supply chain, increase the juice extraction efficiency and its storage, mechanize sweet sorghum production and processing, and efficiently utilize the by-products. These major activities were shared among the partners based on their competencies, and were implemented in letter and spirit to build a successful sweet sorghum ethanol value chain. The economic competitiveness of sweet sorghum vis-à-vis other feedstocks; economics of sweet sorghum for ethanol production, and the biofuel policy of India are also discussed in detail. The progress made in this endeavor, the experiences gained and lessons learned are thoroughly documented and presented in this book. A few critical issues include favorable policy intervention in terms of stalk pricing (subsidizing raw material cost to the industry) and ethanol pricing (subsidizing current ethanol production cost at an optimum level until the initial teething problems are overcome) and institutional support to help the industry to scale up the processing of sweet sorghum for bioethanol production more rapidly. xi This is a joint work of all the partners in the consortium and we have cherished working together. We thank the NAIP (ICAR) for funding this work and providing us an opportunity to work together to provide a road map for promotion of sweet sorghum towards ethanol production. We are confident that this report gives a realistic depiction of state-of-the-art technologies, the progress made in developing sweet sorghum, the opportunities and issues involved and the way forward to make the sweet sorghum ethanol value chain successful and sustainable