Problems with jatropha? I had relatively high hopes for this one, time will tell:
TEESIDE, UK: Researchers have criticised BP and D1 Oils for bloating jatropha's promise as the next biofuel wonder crop, according to media reports.
Raymond Jongschaap, from the plant sciences group at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, questioned the partners' "optimistic" estimates on jatropha's yields. Jongschaap said BP and D1 Oils have based their estimates on 20 to 30 year old trees, which will not be realistic for large commercial plantations.
He also criticised D1's plans to cultivate jatropha in areas with poor quality soil. "The plant will grow in marginal soils. It survives under those circumstances but it does not produce under those circumstances," he said.
In absence of proper research, farmers have been misled to plant the crop based on the estimates, the Times Magazine reported, citing an industry consultant. A Filipino government official also told Time Magazine farmers in the country have abandoned nurseries after struggling to get a good yield and buyers for the harvest.
A D1 spokesperson however, defended the company's investment in jatropha plantations during an interview. "We a have always been very conservative about the yields. I don't believe D1 has ever said jatropha is a miracle crop. We have always said it requires care, maintenance and the application of good science. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't believe it would work."
D1-BP Fuel Crops, the joint venture between D1 and BP, previously aimed to plant one million hectares of jatropha primarily in India and Africa by 2011. |
