6.1 Biofuels in India: How and Why
125
6.1.1.2 Agri-Food Context
India’s agri-food context is marked by high population density in rural areas, limited
availability of arable land and freshwater, and tight or insufficient domestic supplies
of sugar and edible oil.
Around two-thirds of India’s population—or more than 850 million people—live
in rural areas (Directorate of Economics and Statistics 2019). Population density
is very high, and most of the country’s arable land is already under cultivation.
There is, therefore, growing attention to combating desertification and to landscape
restoration. Agriculture in India generally depends on seasonal monsoon rains, being
thus vulnerable to climate change. Irrigation is increasing, but this in turn adds
pressure on India’s fragile water security (Mulder et al. 2010). Sugarcane cultivation,
in particular, has 95% of its cropland irrigated, contrasting with an average of 49%
for all crops in India (Directorate of Economics and Statistics 2019, p. 33). With the
country’s groundwater being rapidly depleted and polluted, severe problems of access
to water have emerged, and there is a pressing need for careful water management
(Kerr 2009; Mulder et al. 2010; Suhag 2016).
India’s context is also limiting concerning its supply of key agricultural commodities used in the bioeconomy. In the case of edible oil, while domestic production has increased over the years, there is a widening gap between supply and
demand. More than 60% of the country’s edible oil consumption comes from imports,
mostly palm oil from Southeast Asia (Aradhey 2019b). As the world’s top edible
oil importer, India has shied away from using it as biodiesel feedstock. Similarly,
it for years avoided diverting sugarcane away from sugar production and towards
ethanol. Although the country is the world’s second-largest sugar producer, it has a
large—and growing—domestic demand forecast to increase by 12% between 2020
and 2030 (NITI Aayog 2018). Moreover, India’s sugarcane cultivation is marked
by strong cyclicality, meaning that bumper harvest years are usually followed by
years of low yields (Landes 2010). As such, its condition has shifted back and forth
between that of net-importer and net-exporter of sugar, though usually trading only a
small margin compared to what is produced and consumed domestically (Directorate
of Economics and Statistics 2019).
6.1.2 Biofuel Production and Consumption Chains
6.1.2.1 Ethanol
Although other feedstocks (e.g., sweet sorghum) have been tested, commercial
ethanol production in India still relies exclusively on sugarcane. The crop is native to
South Asia, and its use has long been established for the production of sugar and nonfuel ethanol for human consumption, industrial or medical applications in the country.
Unlike Brazil, India has over six million smallholders as part of the sugarcane sector,
125
6.1.1.2 Agri-Food Context
India’s agri-food context is marked by high population density in rural areas, limited
availability of arable land and freshwater, and tight or insufficient domestic supplies
of sugar and edible oil.
Around two-thirds of India’s population—or more than 850 million people—live
in rural areas (Directorate of Economics and Statistics 2019). Population density
is very high, and most of the country’s arable land is already under cultivation.
There is, therefore, growing attention to combating desertification and to landscape
restoration. Agriculture in India generally depends on seasonal monsoon rains, being
thus vulnerable to climate change. Irrigation is increasing, but this in turn adds
pressure on India’s fragile water security (Mulder et al. 2010). Sugarcane cultivation,
in particular, has 95% of its cropland irrigated, contrasting with an average of 49%
for all crops in India (Directorate of Economics and Statistics 2019, p. 33). With the
country’s groundwater being rapidly depleted and polluted, severe problems of access
to water have emerged, and there is a pressing need for careful water management
(Kerr 2009; Mulder et al. 2010; Suhag 2016).
India’s context is also limiting concerning its supply of key agricultural commodities used in the bioeconomy. In the case of edible oil, while domestic production has increased over the years, there is a widening gap between supply and
demand. More than 60% of the country’s edible oil consumption comes from imports,
mostly palm oil from Southeast Asia (Aradhey 2019b). As the world’s top edible
oil importer, India has shied away from using it as biodiesel feedstock. Similarly,
it for years avoided diverting sugarcane away from sugar production and towards
ethanol. Although the country is the world’s second-largest sugar producer, it has a
large—and growing—domestic demand forecast to increase by 12% between 2020
and 2030 (NITI Aayog 2018). Moreover, India’s sugarcane cultivation is marked
by strong cyclicality, meaning that bumper harvest years are usually followed by
years of low yields (Landes 2010). As such, its condition has shifted back and forth
between that of net-importer and net-exporter of sugar, though usually trading only a
small margin compared to what is produced and consumed domestically (Directorate
of Economics and Statistics 2019).
6.1.2 Biofuel Production and Consumption Chains
6.1.2.1 Ethanol
Although other feedstocks (e.g., sweet sorghum) have been tested, commercial
ethanol production in India still relies exclusively on sugarcane. The crop is native to
South Asia, and its use has long been established for the production of sugar and nonfuel ethanol for human consumption, industrial or medical applications in the country.
Unlike Brazil, India has over six million smallholders as part of the sugarcane sector,