05-05-2008, 02:31 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Burma's junta grabbing farm land for biofuel </b>
Bangkok: A plan by Burma's ruling military for large-scale growing of a promising but little-tested biofuel crop has turned into an agricultural debacle, claim Opposition activists.
A report prepared by them claims the policy hurts an already ailing agriculture sector. It came as biofuels draw intense scrutiny as to whether their benefits offset the resources they take from food production.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has suggested that biofuel crops may be causing staple food shortages and driving up food prices.
<b>"A draconian campaign by Burma's military to grow eight million acres of the jatropha tree for biofuel production is resulting in forced labour and land confiscation throughout the country, while evidence of crop failure and mismanagement expose the programme as a fiasco," </b>the report says.
The report, Biofuel by Decree: Unmasking Burma's bio-energy fiasco, has been produced by the Ethnic Community Development Forum, a self-described alliance of seven community development organisations from Burma.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bangkok: A plan by Burma's ruling military for large-scale growing of a promising but little-tested biofuel crop has turned into an agricultural debacle, claim Opposition activists.
A report prepared by them claims the policy hurts an already ailing agriculture sector. It came as biofuels draw intense scrutiny as to whether their benefits offset the resources they take from food production.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has suggested that biofuel crops may be causing staple food shortages and driving up food prices.
<b>"A draconian campaign by Burma's military to grow eight million acres of the jatropha tree for biofuel production is resulting in forced labour and land confiscation throughout the country, while evidence of crop failure and mismanagement expose the programme as a fiasco," </b>the report says.
The report, Biofuel by Decree: Unmasking Burma's bio-energy fiasco, has been produced by the Ethnic Community Development Forum, a self-described alliance of seven community development organisations from Burma.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->