Sudheer Shetty is founder of the first plant biotech company of Mysore which has been successfully running since 1994. He is Chairman and MD of Labland Biodiesel company which is focussed on Jatropha-based biodiesel activities. He has built a strong technical team that supports the International Jatropha Technology Centre centred at Mysore, India. The company has been recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for carrying out tissue culture work on Jatropha. The National Accreditation Agency, Govt. of India, have certified the tissue culture and biotech unit of the company. Labland Biodiesel has been short-listed as the technology partner of a few international companies for carrying out research and establishing Jatropha plantations in different parts of the world.

About Labland Biodiesel
Labland Biodiesel is a Mysore based Private Limited Company. Since the year 2002, the Company is active in Biodiesel and Jatropha curcas-based Research and Development activities headed by its Chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Sudheer Shetty. The Company is reinforced with a strong dependable, sustainable technical team with a focused vision and mission to achieve its goals. The Company’s main emphasis has been to develop improved and newer varieties of Jatropha curcas needed for successful energy plantation globally.

The Company has set up an International Jatropha Technology Center (IJTC) to cater to the global demand for high quality planting material. A strong team of well-experienced scientists and researchers form the backbone of IJTC. The Technology Centre is carrying out exhaustive research on various aspects of Jatropha curcas and other oil yielding crops, which focuses on development of appropriate agronomical techniques, disease management methodologies, seed science and technology for production of certified seeds, selection of pure/parental lines for genetics and breeding work, hybrid seed production etc.

The Company is in the process of collecting Jatropha curcas accessions from different agro climatic zones from within and outside the country. At present about 375 accessions are available in its experimental plot. The selected accessions are being used for developing pure line selections as well as development of hybrids. Establishment of a Jatropha curcas germplasm bank under in vitro conditions is also under progress.

The IJTC of the Company is imparting training in seed quality testing, establishing a healthy nursery, nursery management, setting up large plantations, cultivation methods, disease diagnosis and management methods, type of pruning, harvesting and storage.

Clonal propagation of Jatropha curcas of global selections is being carried out through advanced techniques of Plant Tissue Culture. Jatropha curcas plants are being produced by axillary shoot proliferation method and direct organogenesis. The technique is also being adopted for clonal improvement, hybrid development and establishing a Jatropha curcas germplasm bank.

JatrophaWorld 2008 Jakarta Speaker
Day 1 - Wednesday, 23rd January, 2008
14:40 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVED PLANTING MATERIAL AND PLANTATIONS
• Selection of quality planting materials
• Clonal propogation using tissue culture
• Professional plantation management: Disease control, Irrigation, Pre/post harvest management of seeds
• R&D in progress: Increase in the seed yield & oil content; Disease resistance; Value addition to the by-products

The above mentioned expert shared his insights at JatrophaWorld Jakarta 2008, which was held on 23-24 January 2008 & welcomed over 350 Jatropha experts, industry players and entrepreneurs from 40 countries, making it the single largest Jatropha business forum in the world. JatrophaWorld Miami 2008, the second conference in the series will be held on 9-11 June 2008 in beautiful downtown Miami. Visit www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/attend to REGISTER TODAY for this exciting second conference in the series.