Dr. Mekonnen Hagos, President of Medco Bio Medical College and Vayugrid Marketplace Services plc signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the pilot production of the Pongomia plant trademarked and market as Vayusap.
The joint development agreement includes acquiring land for the pilot project to plant the pongomia trees for producing the Vayusap, with a plan to obtain additional land with the success of the pilot said Ashok Sharma, Vayugrid Coordinator for Africa.
The agreement stipulates that the cost of the project and the cost sharing mechanism of the two partners will depend on the lease price of the land to be acquired and the type of land that will be allocated noted Sharma.
The Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of evaluating the suitability and the viability of the pongomia farm he added.The land previously acquired by Vayugrid to develop Jatropha for use as bio fuel has been of particular interest for the joint venture.
Vayugrid Marketplace Services Plc. has been engaged in pongomia plantation projects in neighboring Djibouti, the gulf country of Kuwait and the US states of Arizona and Texas. The company claims that the pongomia plant it develops is a genetically superior plant with high yield and resistance to a range of weather conditions and low quality soils.
Source: Capital
