Dietmar Brandes (2005): Calotropis procera on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Fuerteventura.

SOME POTENTIAL PLANTS FOR BIO-ENERGY ASHWANI KUMAR AND AMIT KOTIYA Bio-Technology Lab,Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur - 302 004 Energy Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center. Email. msku31@yahoo.com

PRODUCTIVTY OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS OF RAJASTHAN AND ITS USE AS RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY Ashwani Kumar, V.R. Kumar Energy Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center. Department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur – 302004, India. E-mail: msku31@yahoo.com ABSTRACT India has over 180 million of wasteland out of which 90 million ha is uncultivable. The degraded and denuded lands arise due to soil erosions as well as secondary salinizations. However Calotropis procera is a potential plant for bioenergy and biofuel production in semi arid regions of the country because it is able to grow on such lands. The plant has a growth potential of 2 dry tones

BIODIVERSITY OF INDIAN DESERT Amit Kotia and Ashwani Kumar Biotechnology Lab, Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur – 302004 INDIA ABSTRACT

ASPARAGUS RACEMOSUS WILLD. Systematic position Kingdom Plantae Division Spermatophyta Class Monocotyledonae Subclass Coronarieae Order Liliales Family Asparagaceae Genus Asparagus Species Asparagus racemosus Willd. English name : Asparagus Indian name : Shatavari (Sanskrit / Marathi), Satavari, Shakakul (Hindi) Habitat : The plant grows best in tropical and subtropical dry and deciduous forests.

Plant growth is a sum total of anabolic and catabolic reactions with addition of dry matter. The plant growth is regulated by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. There are several other factors promoting growth and productivity of food crops, fibres and oil yielding plants (Kumar et al., 1995 and Kumar and Roy, 1996). The plants used in ayurvedic drugs were mostly collected from the field conditions and this has resulted in considerable loss of biodiversity and endangering several plant species. Conservation of these valuable plant species has become imperative (Dhar et al., 2000) due to interest in herbal medicines for healthcare all across the world (Franz, 1993).