Integrated Research on Jatropha Curcas Plantation Management

Abstract

This paper will present the interactive research of expert team on Jatropha curcas plantation management to obtain high productivity in terms of dry seed weight per cultivation area. Set of experiments were designed and performed on randomize central block design and triplicate data were collected. The spacing was the important factor along with the cutting management program for long time cultivation. Therefore, the 3 different spacing (2x2, 2x3 and 3x3) were tested. The results show that 2x3 and 3x3 m spacing gave high yield of 129.2 and 127.1 kg/rai for the first cultivation year. In addition, types of insect and pest were surveyed in the Jatropha plantations and the ranking of the most found insect and pest was proposed. Mealy bug, Aphids and coccus were the most found insects in the Jatropha plantation. In the mean time, leaf spot, fungus infection, was the most sever in many areas in Thailand. Then the harmless chemical and biological treatments were tested to control those insects. The harmless chemical such as sodium lauryl sulphate and consumable products (tooth paste, shampoo etc) were used. In case of biological control, the natural predator, green lace wing, of the first top three insects was introduced and tested in the field. On the other hand, the number of insect pollinator was recorded at the Jatropha plantation responding to the Sun direction and time of the day. Interestingly, pollen germination also depends on the Sun direction. On the other hand, Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the transesterification of Jatropha oil to obtain the high fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) percentage. The results show that at the mole ratio of methanol and oil of 9:1, catalyze of 1.5%, reaction time of 72 min and temperature of 60 o C was the optimum condition and 99.0% of FAME was obtained. For the seed cake utilization, different rates of the seed cake (1,600, 800, 400 kg/rai) were applied to the cultivation of Chinese kale, tomato and potato. It was understandable that the mix of chemical fertilizer and Jatropha seed cake (1,600 kg/rai) gave the highest plant performance and no phorbol ester residue left in the cultivation soil and harvested vegetable.

Variación fenotípica y rendimiento de Jatropha curcas L. introducida a Túnez

“…The planting of this species was motivated by the belief that it grows easily with minimal management requirements, but soil restoration and water conservation techniques improve the growth and survival rates on degraded soils (Kagamèbga et al, 2011;Iiyama et al, 2012). In plantation, spacing was the important factor along with the cutting management program for long time cultivation (Srinophakun et al, 2011). Thus, the productivity of J. curcas varies with genotypes, varieties and ecological conditions (Sosa-Segura et al, 2012).…”

Chemical Composition, Bio-Diesel Potential and Uses of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L. (Euphorbiaceae)

“…It is popularly reported that pests and diseases do not pose a significant threat to jatropha, due to the insecticidal and toxic characteristics of all parts of the plant. However, incidence of pests and diseases such as collar rot, leaf spots, root rot and damping-off, may be controlled with a combination of cultural techniques (for example, avoiding waterlogged conditions) and fungicides are widely reported [2]. In Nicaragua (Pachycoris klugii) and India (Scutellera nobilis), causes flower fall, fruit abortion and seed malformation.…”

“…One liter of J. curcas L. oil comes from about 4 kg of seed which will give about 3 kg of the seed cake, a pressed seed cake, left after oil extraction [2].…”

“…The results demonstrated that inhibition of both mycelial growth and sporulation may be due to an inhibitory effect of curcin on protein synthesis. It was reported that by providing physical barriers, jatropha can control grazing and demarcate property boundaries while at the same time improving water retention and soil conditions [2,18,25].…”

“…Jatropha curcas Linn is commonly known as 'physic nut' is a non-food bioenergy plant and currently considered as alternative substitute to fossil [1]. It is perennial shrub belongs to Euphorbiaceae family same as rubber and cassava trees [2,3]. Originally, Jatropha curcas was native tree in South America and was induced to Thailand about 200 years ago by Portuguese who produced soap from Jatropha oil.…”