Biofuel co-products as livestock feed - Opportunities and challenges

339Chapter 20Status of biofuels in India and scope ofutilizing castor (Ricinus communis) cake –a biofuel co-product – as livestock feedS. Anandan, N.K.S. Gowda and K.T. SampathNational Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bangalore 560030, IndiaE-mail for correspondence: anandsrp@yahoo.co.inABSTRACTBiofuel policy in India is unique in that it has been clearly spelt out that feedstock must be based on non-foodsources, thus avoiding a possible food vs fuel conflict. Further, the policy views biofuels as a potential means tostimulate rural development and generate employment opportunities by using vast areas of land that are otherwiseunfit for agriculture. Although the policy has the ambitious target of achieving 20 percent biofuel blending by2017, currently less than 5 percent blending of petrol has been achieved. Based on current production levels, itis unlikely that India will fulfil the set targets. Major reasons include slow progress in establishing the area underjatropha (Jatropha curcas) cultivation; low productivity and poor market infrastructure for jatropha; land availabilityconstrained by sugar cane expansion; a plateau in productivity of sugar cane; the price structure for biofuels; andimport policy. Among the various co-products of biofuel, castor (Ricinus communis) cake is one of the potentialresources that could be used for feeding livestock. Although castor cake has high protein, its use in livestock feedingis restricted due to the presence of toxic factors and it is currently being used as organic fertilizer, leading tounder-utilization of a precious resource. Substantial research has been carried out to identify the nature of thetoxins, their toxicity, susceptibility to various treatments and production response of different livestock to feedingprocessed cake. In spite of all the efforts, castor cake has not found a place as a feed resource and continuesto be used as organic fertilizer, leading to its under-utilization. All the major castor producing countries – Brazil,China and India – have large livestock populations and big demand for protein supplements, so an appropriatedetoxification technology to make use of castor cake could add great value to the castor, to the benefit of livestockproducers and processing industries.INTRODUCTIONIndia is one of the fastest growing economies in the worldand energy is a critical input for socio-economic development.Fossil fuels will continue to play a dominant role infulfilling the energy needs of India in the next few decades.Provisional estimates have indicated that domestic crudefossil fuel oil is able to meet only about 25–30 percentof demand, while the rest is met from imported crude.Biofuels are globally considered sustainable and an ecofriendlysource of energy, and these also enhance nationalenergy security and decrease dependence on importedfossil fuels. The growing interest in and demand for biofuelshave resulted in diversion of grains, oilseeds, land andwater resources to biofuels which otherwise could havepotentially contributed to food and feed resources. For alarge country like India, with a billion-plus human populationand limited land mass, the role of biofuels has togo beyond the objective of achieving energy security andsustainability, towards addressing food and feed security.Choice of feedstock for biofuel production and efficient utilizationof biofuel co-products can to a great extent addressthese issues. In the light of the above, an attempt has beenmade here to review the present status of biofuels in India,and the available technologies for utilizing castor cake – apotential biofuel co-product – as livestock feed.STATUS OF BIOFUELS IN INDIAIndia is one of the largest users of hydrocarbons and it isimperative that the country has a biofuel policy in place toaddress the issues of the economy (import expenditure),environment and energy security. The Government of Indiais seriously looking for use of alternative fuels to meetenergy demand in a technically efficient, economicallyviable and environmentally sustainable manner. There aremany concerns and challenges to be overcome if biofuelsare to contribute positively to an improved environment aswell as to agricultural and rural development (FAO, 2008).The ‘National Policy on Biofuels’ of India, released in 2009,