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The jatropha opportunity

It is self-evident that biofuels hold out the promise of significantly easing the impact of the ongoing oil crisis. They can lighten the energy burden on economies and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, besides bringing down carbon emission levels. In India, the use of sugarcane-based ethanol as an additive to petrol is on partially, and there are signs of a consensus over Jatropha curcas as the feedstock of choice for biodiesel. It is seen as a suitable tree-borne oilseed owing to its ability to thrive under a variety of geo-climatic conditions, low gestation period, and high seed-yielding potential. It also helps increase green cover and prevent soil erosion. It is claimed that jatropha cultivation on a mere 11 million ha — out of India's total extent of wasteland of some 63 million ha — has the potential to effect a saving of Rs.20,000 crore a year on the oil import bill, besides providing livelihood to millions of people. At the official level, both at the Centre and in the States, there have been signs of a positive thinking on this issue, notwithstanding the fears expressed by some environmentalists about diversion of potential farmland for cultivating jatropha and such other crops. There have been a series of exploratory forays and studies. A report by TERI on the National Mission on Biofuel, for instance, points to much valuable study having been done. But the Mission itself, proposed by the Planning Commission, has seen tardy progress. The identification by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research of a certain variety as the ideal one for commercial cultivation is one of the recent developments on the jatropha front.

Yet, in overall terms there is a lack of clarity with respect to the concepts and strategies. Several private players have launched serious pilot projects. At the governmental level, there is still no sign of a comprehensive policy initiative to examine the techno-economic viability and feasibility of large-scale production of feedstock based on jatropha. For the product to become a significant supplement to diesel, an analysis of its financial and operational viability in the long term will have to be undertaken. Its farming and production still remains a challenging, knowledge-intensive enterprise. If, at the end of a careful process of evaluation, the decision is to go for it, India should do that quickly, turning its vast wastelands into an opportunity. So far there have been only ad hoc measures and tentative forays. Some months ago, state-owned oil marketing companies were directed to set up collection depots to buy jatropha extract from producers at Rs.25 a litre. There has hardly been any movement on this. On another plane, large-scale commercial cultivation could be facilitated and encouraged. Unless private investment is forthcoming in a good measure, the critical mass that is required to take this option forward may be hard to build.

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