Hi Sumit Jatropha seems to be something of the flavour of the month in India at the moment, and for awhile - I've been getting more and more enquiries about it from there. Might have something to do with this:
"NEW DELHI: The Government is mulling investment of over Rs 17,500 crore to undertake a comprehensive programme for extracting oil from Jatropha plantations for blending with diesel." Business online - Monday, December 9, 2002 http://www.hinduonnet.com/bline/blnus/14091304.htm Jatropha curcas is a good option, but there are many other good options. The idea that it's the best option just doesn't take into account how development projects work, if they work at all, and this type of "best technology" thinking is one reason they often don't work. Almost any locally grown crop would have more going for it, regardless of Jatropha's yield and general usefulness. That's no reason not to use Jatropha, but it has to be fitted in properly, and once again full local involvement is essential for that to happen. For more re which please see: http://journeytoforever.org/community.html http://journeytoforever.org/community2.html Community development: Journey to Forever I cross-posted a message on jatropha in India from Dr A.D. Karve some time ago: > I have conducted field experiments on both castor and Jatropha. I had >already mentioned in a previous E-mail, that Jatropha was tested rather >widely in India and was given up because it was not found to be as high >yielding as the traditional oil crops in India. I do not know how it >behaves in other countries, but under our agroclimatic and edaphic >conditions, Jatropha produces much more vegetative matter than fruits. At >harvest, one has to search for the occasional fruit hidden behind all the >foliage that this plant produces. It is found all over India as a wild >plant. India has some 25 uncultivated species of trees that yield >non-edible oil. The seed of the wild trees is collected by villagers and >sold to merchants attending the weekly village markets, but no farmer would >ever think of growing them as a crop, because all of them are lower yielding >than the cultivated oil plants such as peanut, soybean, sunflower, >safflower, sesame, various mustards and rapes, coconut, etc. Among the >seasonal oilseeds, hybrid castor is the highest yielding (2.5 tonnes oil per >ha), but it is not an edible oil. The highest yield of edible oil, also >about 2.5 tonnes per ha, is obtained from coconut. Oil palm, which yields 6 >tonnes of oil per hectare in Malaysia, was tested and given up as low >yielding under Indian conditions. >Yours A.D.Karve http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?view=17993&list=BIOFUEL You should read these two previous messages: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/19667/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] - musings http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/19671/ Re: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - musings Don't get too carried away by yield figures - yield isn't everything, and focusing on it can obscure other factors that could be more important. Best wishes Keith Addison Journey to Forever >Jatropha, > > Based on the information I've seen the seed oil yeild is >0.21. under normal cultivation there is a yeild of around 2,000 litres of >oil per hectare. Cetane on the oil is 64-67 making it more efficient than #2 >Diesel. Although the trees bear fruit in 6 months, does anyone know what >the hectare yeild on the fruit at 6 months growth. Life expectancy is also >low at 15 years, does anyone know when the tree reaches maturity and how >long it will bear fruit? I also understand that the oil cakes cannot be >used in animal feed, is this due to toxicity levels? Does anyone know? >There would be around 8 tonnes of oil cake per hectare. Is there any other >use of the oil cake other than as fertilizer? What is the nitrogen content? > > Neem oil can also be used as biodiesel but is normally >used as a pesticide. Does anyone know how long it takes before a neem tree >bears fruit? Does anyone know what the yeild will be per hectare at this >stage? Oil cakes can be used in feed after going through a solvent >extraction process, does anyone know what the process is. > > I noticed that some of you have done research on the >biodiesel oils are there any suggestions on two crops one for short term >economically viable yeilds and another on the long term. My understanding >is that Palm trees can produce 5,000 litres per hectare of oil but I don't >know what the growth period is before palm trees start to bear fruit. > > We intend to start up a site in Jarkhand which will be run by rural >Santhal people and want to look at ways to allow them to produce fuel oil >cash crops within a one year period plus have additional higher yeild crops >that will produce economically viable fuel oils within 2-3 years. Any >recommendations? I'm also concerned about the oil cakes that will be >produced and would appreciate advice on what plants to avoid when dealing >with the disposal of the cakes. > > Are there any persons who would like to consult on this topic with >regards to plantation, extraction, yeild and processing rates. Installation >of extraction and processing equipment and training? > >Best regards, > >Sumit > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- rajesh sk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --------------------------------- > > i AM FROM iit DELHI PRESENTLY WORKING ON PROJECT ON > > Biodiesel PRODUCTION FROM jATROPHA. Jatropha is a > > treee born oil seed. The tree grows 4 to 5 meter and > > it grows in developing countries like india, Zambia, > > and other countries. Jatrpha plant also has madicinal > > value. If u need further details u can contact me > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Sumit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi All, > > > > Are there any members out there who know much about > > Jatropha > > and it's processing requirements. > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > Sumit Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. 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