Jatropha curcas is a plant grown in central America that produces oil-bearing nuts which can be pressed to produce fuel oil similar to diesel. Jatropha is an important feedstock for the production of biofuels. Its widespread use in India and Egypt is gaining popularity as a quick growing source of oil-bearing nuts that can be pressed to produce biodiesel products.
Jatropha has also been a crop of choice in development programmes in Africa where local villages have grown Jatropha on small plots of land and have hand-pressed the oil for use in generators, sewing machines, flour mills and diesel engines. Bio-diesel can be blended with 20 per cent normal diesel. As a result the dependence on imported fuel can be reduced by quite a wide margin.
Good fuel
It is also a good fuel for household lamps and stoves. These facts indicate that landless hard core poor people of Bangladesh who lives in the rural areas or char areas has a chance now to enhance their livelihoods. They can cultivate Jatropha in khas lands and extract oil from its seeds. This oil will save their cost of household fuel for lamps and stoves. They can also make soap at home and earn by selling them to the local market. They can also sell the Jatropha oil in the local market as a biofuel for diesel engines. Barren khas land, which is available in vast amount in the char areas of Bangladesh, can be used to eradicate poverty by Jatropha cultivation.
Glycerin, a byproduct of Jatropha oil, can also be used to produce soap. Jatropha has also been proven to have strong anti-erosion qualities which make it suited for use in Haiti. A recent study on watershed preservation commissioned by USAID this year reinforced this fact, adding that it was more effective than the tree-planning efforts that have been used to help reforest Haiti.
We know that energy is a matter of national security as the volatile Middle East affects the world supply with most developing countries struggling with heavy oil import costs. For many countries, the question of trying to achieve greater energy independence one day through the development of biofuels has become one of ‘when’ rather than ‘if,’ and, now almost every day a biofuel programme is being launched somewhere in the developing world.
Jatropha curcas originates from Central America and was distributed by Portuguese seafarers via the Cape Verde Islands to countries in Africa and Asia. It is a drought-resistant plant which is widely cultivated in the tropics as a living fence. The seeds are toxic to humans and many animals. Since it is not consumed by animals and it is not tasty to human, it is safe. The Jatropha plant is a small tree or large shrub which can reach a height of up to 5 m. Pollination is by insects. A non-toxic variety exists in Mexico which is used for human consumption after roasting. The life-span of the Jatropha curcas plant is more than 50 years.
The most interesting and economically viable use of the Jatropha oil is soap production. Jatropha gives a very good foaming white soap with positive effects on the skin, partly due to the glycerin content of the soap. Jatropha oil is used for soap production on an industrial scale in India. Soap production from oil is a very simple process. It is an appropriate technology for villages, where the entire value added then benefits the village community. Selling the soap for the same price as industrially manufactured soap brings a high profit for seed harvesting, oil extraction and soap production.
Caustic soda is a limiting factor for soap production in rural areas. All other necessary tools or material can be found at village level. Caustic soda should thus be available in all district towns and in the shops of the bigger villages. A list with the addresses of shops where caustic soda is available should be prepared and distributed in the districts.
The biodiesel association in Malawi has been contracted to implement a Jatropha curcas planting programme by D1 Oils Africa (Pty) Limited, headquartered in the United Kingdom. “We are currently on a nationwide campaign sensitizing rural communities through district commissioners, senior chiefs, and right now we have already conducted meeting with over 600 chiefs,” said the Biodiesel Agriculture Association Director of Operations Osman Ibrahim in an exclusive interview with ENS in the commercial industrial hub of Kanengo in Lilongwe.
Ibrahim is a former Emergency Operations Coordinator for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique where he initiated the food for work program. Ibrahim said, “The program has secured substantial land rights through contract farming amounting to 13,000 hectares to plant Jatropha.”
Notable points
Here are some points to be noted on this crop:
* After the first five years, the typical annual yield of a jatropha tree is 3.5kg of beans.
* Jatropha trees are productive for up to 30-40 years.
* 2,200 trees can be planted per hectare (approx 1,000 per acre).
* 1 hectare should yield around 7 tonnes of seeds per year.
* The oil pressed from 4kg of seeds is needed to make 1 litre of biodiesel.
* 91%+ of the oil can be extracted with cold pressing.
* 1 hectare should yield around 2.2-2.7 tonnes of oil.
* Press cake (seedcake) is left after the oil is pressed from the seeds. This can be composted and used as a high grade nitrogen rich organic fertilizer (green manure). The remaining oil can be used to make skin friendly soap.
* Bio-diesel can be blended with 20 per cent normal diesel. As a result the dependence on imported fuel can be reduced by quite a wide margin.
According to a news item published in Dhaka on 22 March, the Energy Division’s feasibility study has recommended cultivation of Jatropha trees in Bangladesh.
