Jatropha Economics

Basing the propagation method on rainfall conditions plays a decisive role in the survival and properties of the plant in field.

Intended utilization of the plantation

Direct seeding, precultivation of seedlings, easily propagates the Jatropha transplanting of spontaneous wild plants and direct planting of cuttings. Seed should be collected when capsules split open. Use of fresh seeds improves germination. Intervals of presoaking and drying, or partial removal of the testa, are more successful than presoaking alone. With good moisture conditions, germination takes 10 days. The seed shell splits, the radicula emerges and 4 small peripheral roots are formed. Soon after development of the 1st leaves, the cotyledons wither and fall off. Further growth is sympodial

Climate

Can withstand severe heat. Likes heating and doing well in warmer areas. When cold will drop its leaves. It can withstand light frost but not for prolonged periods. The older the tree the better it will withstand. Black frost will almost certainly kill young plants and severely damage older plants

Quality of the soil

Best in sandy well-drained soils. Can withstand very poor soils and grow in saline conditions All the actors in the Jatropha sector suggest, anyway, using organic fertilizer in order to obtain higher yield.

Irrigation

It handles dryness very well and it is possible to live almost entirely of humidity in the air. - See Cape Verde where rainfall is as low as 250 mm a year. Differences are expressed in what is optimum rainfall as some readings say 600 mm and some say 800 mm whilst some areas in India report good crops with rainfall of 1380 mm. Under irrigation 1 500 mm is given.

500 - 600 mm of rainfall is the limit. Below it the production depends on the local water condition in the ground

It will also stand for long periods without water - up to 2 years – and then grow again when rains occur again.

Weeding

Standard cultural practices are timely weeding (4 times a year), proper fertilization, surface ploughing and pruning. With these management practices a yield around 15-20 kg of fruit per tree can be obtained even if the plants did not reach full maturity.

Use of fertilizer

Although Jatropha is adapted to low fertility sites and alkaline soils, better yields seem to be obtained on poor quality soils if fertilizers containing small amounts of calcium, magnesium, and Sulfur are used. Mycorrhizal associations have been observed with Jatropha and are known to aid the plant’s growth under conditions where phosphate is limiting It is recommended that 1 kg of farmyard manure/ plus 100 g of Neem waste for every seedling, with a recommendation of 2500 plants per ha this comes up to 2.5 t organic fertilizer per ha.Besides it after transplantation and the establishment of the plant fertilizer such as N, P and K should be applied. Twenty gram urea + 120 g SSP and 16 g MoP should be applied annually

The possibility to return the press-cake (or part of it) to Jatropha fields should be carefully considered.

Crop density

References recommend spacing for hedgerows or soil conservation is 15cm - 25cm x 15cm-25cm in one or two rows respectively and 2m x 1.5m to 3m x 3mm for plantations. Thus there will be between 4,000 to 6,700 plants per km for a single hedgerow and double that when two rows are planted.

Satisfactory planting widths are 2 x 2 m, 2.5 x 2.5 m, and 3 x 3 m. This is equivalent to crop densities of 2500, 1600 and 1111 plants/ha, respectively. Distance OF 2MX2M BE KEPT FOR COMMERCIAL CULTIVATION

Wider spacing is reported to give larger yields of fruit.

Genotype

Little genetic research seems to be performed, as Information related to the project seems to be rather restricted.

Pruning

Pruning – 1st prune
The plants need to produce side shoots for maximum sprouting and maximum flowers and seed. Between 90 and 120 Days top of all plants at 25 Cm. Cut the top off cleanly and cut top to produce 8 – 12 side branches.

It is considered good practice. In order to facilitate the harvesting, it is suggested to keep the tree less than 2 meters.

Inter-cropping

Specific intolerance with other crops was not detected. On the contrary the shade can be exploited by shade-loving herbal plants; vegetables such red and green peppers, tomatoes, etc.

Picking

We have developed the harvest methodology between wet and dry seed crush costing applicable has been compared.

CROP YIELD

It appears very difficult to estimate unequivocally the yield of a plant that is able to grow in very different conditions.

Yield is a function of water, nutrients, heat and the age of the plant and other. Many different methods of establishment, farming and harvesting are possible. Yield can be enhanced with right balance of cost, yield, labor and finally cost per Mt

Seed production ranges from about 2 tons per hectare per year to over 12.5t/ha/year, after five years of growth. Although not clearly specified, this range in production may be attributable to low and high rainfall areas.

Some Indices for Jatropha Cultivation