YIELD AND PRODUCTIVITY
Jatropha requires specialized nursery techniques to raise the saplings in the nursery. The first step in Jatropha plantation is to plant the seeds to raise the nursery, which is very vital and requires guidance of professionals. Jatropha can also be propagated vegetative from cuttings.
Seeds are best sown during mid-February to mid-march and the seedlings 60-75 cm.tall can be transplanted to the prepared field.
Ideal planting pitch has been found to be 2m x 2m. thereby resulting in 2500 plants per hectare. Wider spacing would give larger yields of fruit @794 Kgs./Hac. Like all perennial plants, Jatropha shows vigorous growth in youth that tails off gradually towards maturity.
1Kg. of good Jatropha seed will give around 1100 seeds.
Germination time under good nursery care is 10-21 days.
In equatorial regions where moisture is not a limiting factor, Jatropha can bloom & produce fruit throughout the year.
Although Jatropha is adapted to soils with low fertility & alkalinity, better yield can be obtained on poor quality soils if fertilizers containing small quantity of nutrients are for first 2 years which is considered to be vital for their growth.
Jatropha starts yielding seeds from the end of first year & the economic
yield stabilizes from the end of 3rd year onwards.
Under Indian condition, the yield varies from 6-10 MT Near from the end
of 3nl year under proper care & supervision.
The plantation cost per hectare inclusive of site preparation, plant, material, maintenance for one year, overheads etc. shall be in the tune of Rs.30000/Hectare
Ripe fruits are plucked from the tree and the seeds are sun dried. Ripe fruits are decorticated manually or by decorticator.
To prepare seeds for oil extraction, the seed should be solar heated for several hours or roasted for 10 minutes. Overheating is to be avoided.
Oil can be extracted from seeds by mechanical extraction, solvent extraction
etc.
For a yearly plantation of 200 Hectares,we propose to raise a nursery
of 20 Lakh seedlings to be developed initially and then to raise 10 lakh
nursery every year. This figure can be pegged up and down in discussion
with you.
The income from the plantation at the end of 3rd year is around Rs.60,000/-
per Hectare.
THE FOUR MAIN BENEFITS OF JATROPHA CULTIVATION:
(1) Renewable Energy
(2) Erosion Control and Soil Improvement
(3) Promotion of Women employment
(4) Poverty Reduction.
