Growing Jatropha on fences for fuel project carried out by Social Policy Research Institute , Jaipur in collaboration with Humana People to People India with aid from World bank has resulted in vast awareness in Jaipur districts and over 2,75000 plants of Jatropha has been raised on fences. However Subsidies and quotas for biofuels are wreaking social and environmental havoc and in many cases actually exacerbating climate change, says a new Christian Aid report. The report ‘Growing pains: the possibilities and problems of biofuels’ calls for a radical overhaul of governments’ multi-billion dollar support for biofuels, so that only crops which offer genuine greenhouse gas savings and wider social benefits are encouraged.

DECENTRALIZED biofuel production, or small-scale factories built on degraded or underused lands, has the potential to provide energy to half a billion people living in poverty in rural Asia. However the plant selection has to be based on the agroclimatic conditions and plant associations play important role in it. Growing Jatropha without applying much basic knowledge could be a disaster to environment and local flora. It can be grown in areas with rainfall more than 300 mm and sandy loam to loamy soils. It will need irrigation for two years at least at monthly intervals. The yield could be promoted by providing some level of stress also. Flowering and fruiting could be increased by experimental manipulations.

The Jatropha plant or shrub like tree can grow in a wide variety of climates. Its seeds contain about 40% oil that can be extracted for energy as feedstock for renewable biodiesel production. Currently, the early stage Jatropha emerging market is growing at 18% annually. This promising biofuel feedstock receives about $600 million invested annually in targeted Jatropha developments. Today, there are 242 Jatropha cultivation projects worldwide totaling roughly 930,000 hectares. The plantation production capacity is rapidly growing and should reach 13 million hectares exceeding well over $1 billion invested annually by 2015.

Scientific Name Solanum surattense Burm. f. syn. S. xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl. Family Solanaceae Used Part Seeds and fruits Distribution Area Throughout India, in dry situtations as weed on roadside and wastelands

Scientific Name Curcuma zedoaria Rosc. Family Zingiberaceae Used Part Rhizome Distribution Area A species growing wild in eastern Himalayas and in the moist deciduous forests of the coastal tract of Kanara.

Scientific Name Caesalpinia bonduc (Linn.) Roxb. emend. Dandy & Exell; Baker (Fl Br Ind) syn. C. bonducella (Linn.) Flem.; C. jayabo Naza; C. rista L. Family Fabaceae Used Part Seeds Distribution Area An armed liana found wild throughout the plains of India and up to an altitude of 1,000 m in the Himalayas; it is also found in the deltaic regions of western, eastern and southern India.