Indian jatropha plantations “not sustainable”, moratorium, five-year research program proposed
A report by the the Agro-Forestry & Wasteland Development Foundation of Nashik, India was the subject of a presentation by Syngenta on Jatropha oppotunities in South-Asia. Results from a 17-year, 2500 farmer trial were presented, with yields of 1.25 tons per hectare, below commercial feasibiluty, presented and discussed.
“The current plantations are not sustainable ,” said presenter Dilip Gokhale, who advised that a moratorium on further plantation for now would be followed by “a 5-10 year research program necessary for success in jatropha “.
The full presentation to the Advanced Biofuels Development Summit can be downloaded here.
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Joelle Brink | Apr 27, 2009 | Reply
This is a classic case of the “something for nothing” philosophy ending up with nothing. We can expect to see the same outcome with other non-food “weed” crops as well. The sad thing in the case of Jatropha is that there was already an exhaustively researched guide to successful cultivation and oil extraction as early as 1996– http://www.jatropha.de/.
Richard Ogoshi and Mike Poteet of the University of Hawaii– http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ctahr2001/TPSS/facultystaff/profiles/ogoshiR.html — have enlarged this knowledge base with soil science research on amending wasteland for successful Jatropha cultivation and controlled comparative studies of unirrigated vs drip irrigated productivity. Ogoshi got three seed crops a year with drip irrigation, even with his young trees. He is currently working on ammending disused Dole plantations for Jatropha cultivation.
The bottom line is that Jatropha is essentially an orchard crop. It needs to be started on suitable soil, pruned regularly, supplied with enough water for good production, and, at present, hand harvested. The good news is that the tree is exceptionally long-lived and, once well started, is fertilized by its own fallen leaves, which also contribute to pest control.