During the year of 2006-2007 Utthan organized following seminars and conferences: -

National Seminar on Jatropha Cultivation and Bio-diesel Production on 27-28th January 2007 at Shambhunath Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jhalwa, Allahabad.

This Seminar was attended by more than 200 participants including scientist, researchers, policy makers, oil company managers, railway engineers, farmers, NGOs, and traders. In four sessions the subject was discussed as under: –

Session I	Policy perspective & present scenario for Jatropha cultivation.
Session II	Challenges and sustainability issues and investment climate.
Session III	Road map for Jatropha cultivation and bio-diesel production.
Session IV	Conclusion and Recommendations.

Utthan has raised Jatropha plantation over an area of 735 ha in most degraded wasteland which was visited by the delegates and highly appreciated and admired. In the last session following recommendations were made: -

§ Bio-diesel has the potential to provide economic benefits to struggling rural communities in India and the world.

§ In India where more than two thirds of the population works in agriculture sector, a transition to biofuel (ethanol and bio-diesel) could bring profound changes.

§ Since an estimated 50 percent of the operating cost of a diesel engine goes towards buying the fuel, jatropha oil will help keep financial resources with in the community.

§ Jatropha grows in marginal soils and wastelands and also enriches the soil through nutrient cycling.

§ Bio-diesel could provide an important leapfrog opportunity enabling the country to bypass many of the economic, environment and social costs of petroleum, which we are facing.

§ India is not rich in petroleum reserves, but being a tropical country has extensive wastelands, plenty of rains, long growing reason and cheap labour, hence have advantage to produce bio-diesel.

§ SHGs, farm cooperative and remote villages should plant Jatropha, produce bio-diesel, generate electricity and attain energy security without much investment.

§ Policy makers must ensure that benefits of bio-diesel economy are maximized and risks are minimized

§ To be prosperous energy farmers, we have to tend our fields patiently and responsibly.

§ Auto manufacturers faced with increasingly stringent emission standards should seek bio-diesel as a possible solution.

§ Majority of known and economically extractable fuel resources are concentrated in unstable and hostile regions or in those countries using oil as a political leverage, hence for our national security we must produce our own ethanol and bio-diesel.

It was convened on 9th-10th December 2006 at Utthan headquarter in Allahabad. Nearly 156 people with various expertise attended this conference. It made the following recommendations: -

§ Rainwater harvesting and storage of water on farms, in tanks, rivers and charging of ground water for sustained water availability.

§ To ensure adequate energy supplies for all by tapping alternatives sources of energy and cultivation of biofuels.

§ Reduction in consumption of petroleum products and coal for reducing emissions of GHG and mitigating climate change.

§ Agriculture should diversify, adopt organic farming, agroforestry and ecologically sensible crop rotations and production of biofuels.

§ Forests and wastelands should be greened for increasing production, economic and environmental gains.

§ Industrialization should be based on technology, low consumption of natural resources, low environmental pollution and optimum utilization of human resources.