THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Along with the project to make spirits from tapioca and use it to make weak liquor, by-products including raw materials for fodder will be brought to the market. The research will be carried out by the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute in Sreekaryam in Thiruvananthapuram and the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) in Pappanamcod, with a budget allocation of Rs 2 crore.

It costs Rs 62 to make a litre of spirit from sugarcane while it costs Rs 48 even to make a quarter of a litre spirit from tapioca. Principal scientist MS Sajeev said they will also study whether any other products can be made like noodles. Preliminary studies have found this to be possible. The Tuber Crops Research Centre holds a patent for the technology to make spirit from tapioca.

There is also criticism that making spirits from tapioca is not profitable on an industrial scale. It takes about 6 kg of tapioca to make one litre of spirit. You have to procure tapioca at the rate of at least Rs 10 per kg. In addition to the acid and enzyme costs to make glucose and fermentation of starch, the cost per plant is close to one crore. One hundred people will get jobs.

Three steps

• The tapioca is dried, starched, boiled at 150 degrees and pulped
• After the glucose is chemically processed, yeast is mixed and fermented to 30 degrees
• Spirit is made by distilling it in a machine.

Agriculture will be on 7 lakh hectares

Yield per hectare - 45 tons

Tapioca farmers - 22 lakhs