Economic viability of jatropha questioned, as new study cites low yields

In the Philippines, an article in the Inquirer questioned the economics of jatropha cultivation. The article concluded that, without government subsidy support, jatropha-based biodiesel was only economically viable if crop yields exceed 50,000 kilograms of jatropha seeds per hectare, or the price of diesel reaches $12.51 per gallons.

The poor yields from Philippine soil were cited as a potential risk, as well as the lower yields that could be expected from planting jatropha in non-optimal land. The article strongly questions the viability of jatropha production for Philippine farmers, and strongly criticizes figures from the Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp. that predict income of $2,600 per acre from jatropha, based on a two-year investment cost of $2,600; the article suggests that seedling costs alone would reach $1900 per acre.

Jatropha has been widely cited as a strong alternative for biodiesel not only because it is not a non-edible but because the yield is high and the plant can be grown in marginal areas not suitable to most food stocks. But jatropha cultivation has been made commercially successful to this point only in India, and the article points out that the economics must be carefully studied based on yield results in each country.

Two recent studies have pegged plantation production yields at 6-8 metric tons of seeds per hectare, translating into 309 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Corn yields are currently more than 380 gallons of ethanol per acre in the United States. Jatropha promoters in the Philippines have been predicting yields of $433 per acre, which translates into a farmer’s price of $1.40 per gallon. This appears to be feasible based on the current soybean oil price of more than $2.50 per gallon.

However, the actual jatropha yields, by country, are not yet known, and the biodiesel yield is far lower than some promoters have suggested.

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