Jatropha is a champion of survival, and the plant is highly resistant to drought and pests. A palm oil tree lives for 20 years — the Jatropha plant life expectancy is about 50 years. Oil-bearing seeds are available in a small first crop during the second year of plant growth. Well maintained, 1 hectare can produce on average 2.5 tonnes of oil, which is 4 times more than soybeans and 10 times more than corn. For instance, 20 000 hectares of Jatropha plantations are the equivalent of 3 MW, which can provide electrical power to 5000 homes. However, these Jatropha sta­tistics are derived from small-sized plantations. Contrary to soybeans and corn, sufficient data derived from large-scale Jatropha plantations are not available yet.

A country like India is well suited for mass production of Jatropha biofuel. Despite monsoons and droughts, many parts of the country have a favorable cli­mate to grow Jatropha, there is an abundance of marginal lands, and labor costs are cheap. The Indian government has allocated about 40 million hectares of land to grow Jatropha — that would allow India to replace 20% of India’s diesel con­sumption in 5 years.

The optimal growing conditions for Jatropha are:

• Latitude: 30° north-300 south in a band around the equator.

• Average temperature: 20-30°C.

• Average annual rainfall: 600-2400 mm.

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