Jatropha Curcas L is the best alternative to anticipate the expensive and extinct fuel for poor people

PREFACE

The fertile country, Indonesia, is only in memoriam. Indonesia has been independent for 63 years. Unfortunately the marginal people still never feel being independent and being treated unfair, especially in distributing natural resources evenly. If we relate to UUD 45 section 33, the government is supposed to conduct with production that covers people needs and arrange the economic system fairly. In order to make the marginal people happy , not crying for economy difficulty. On the other side, the minor people (rich people) can smile and enjoy the resources which are supposed to belong to all Indonesian nations. The question is ‘will the poor people go back to the past when Indonesia had not been independent?’

e.g. look for woods to make fuel, meanwhile the gas conversion and the direct fund (BLT) and all kinds of real help, do not solve the problem yet ( the high cost of petroleum or solar)

The fact is that Indonesia is a big country. It has many islands. It also has tropical climate where it rains a lot. It means, Indonesia has more than enough place and technology to conduct agribusiness of easy and cheap plants that the marginal people can reach.

The current problem is crisis of energy, especially fuel which is inducted by the world fuel cost increasing. This makes our people look for alternative fuel that can be developed in Indonesia. One of the plants that has fuel potential is Jatropha Curcas L. Indonesian has known about this plant as a fence, but we never manage it to more serious business.

Agronomic ally, Jatropha Curcas L can adapt to Indonesia agro climate. It also can grow better in dry soil (rainfall < 500 mm per year) or in low fertility soil (marginal soil and critical soil).

The Jatropha Curcas L is considered as easy grow plants, however, the problems are that we have not got the best variety / clone, we have limited seeds, we have not had good cultivation technology and we have not had good marketing and standard prize.

Indonesia critical soil is more than 20 million hectare. Most of them is out of forest area, which is not optimally used or even abandoned.

Recognizing the potential of Jatropha Curcas L as an alternative fuel, it gives fresh air for the agribusiness development. The profit of Jatropha Curcas L cultivation will be; 1. Support the soil conservation effort. 2. Provide work opportunity that implicate the increasing of farmer income. 3. Provide the solution of fuel problem (biofuel).

SPECIES AND VARIETY OF JATROPHA PLANTS IN INDONESIA

There are many species and varieties of Jatropha plants in Indonesia. Eg. Jarak kepyar (Ricinus Communis), Jarak bali (Jatropha Podagrica), Jarak ulung (jatropha Gossypifolia L), and Jarak pagar (Jatropha Curcas L ). Among these varieties, Jatropha Curcas L is the one that produces biofuel. This plant has been known by Indonesians since it was introduced by Japanese in about 1942, when people were instructed to plant it in their home yard.

Jatropha Curcas L has different names in different places in Indonesia. E.g. it is called Jarak Kosta and Jarak Budeg in Sunda, Jarak Gundul and Jarak Pager in java, Kalekhe paghar in Madura, Jarak paper in Bali, Lulu Mau and Paku Kase, Jarak Pageh in Nusatenggara, Kuman Nema in Alor, Jarak Kosta, Jarak wolanda, Bindalo, Bintalo, tondo Utomene in Sulawesi, Ai huwa Kumala, Balacai, kadoto in Maluku.

Jatropha Curcas L belongs to Euphorbianceae family. It is one family with rubber and cassava. It is a clump plant, 1-7 meter tall and has un order branches. It has wooden and cylinder trunk and when it is cut off, it produces latex. It has single leaf. The leaf has 3-5 corners, the veins of the leaf is stick out with 5-7 main veins, the color is green (the lower part is more pale than the surface of the leaf). The stalk of the leaf is about 4-15 cm long. The flower is green and yellow. It is complex malai flower, has one place. The male and the female are arranged like a bowl. They shoot on the point of a trunk or under the leaf. The fruit is ellipsoid with diameter 2-4 cm. It is green when is unripe and yellow when it is ripe. The Jatropha Curcas L fruit has 3 spaces and each space has 3 seeds. The seeds are brown –black and ellipsoid. These seeds contain a lot of oil with 30-40% soaking.

Plant Cultivation

All this time, people have not cultivated Jatropha Curcas L for agribusiness. Mostly, this plant is planted to be yard fence (pagar pekararangan). That is why it called “Jarak Pagar”. In developing Jatropha Curcas L on critical soil, it is needed to mind the growing environment condition and agronomy aspect (cultivation) as follows;

As an adaptable plant, Jatropha Curcas L needs environment / place where it can grow optimally. Latitut 50 0NL – 40 0SL, altitut 0-2000 m dpl, temperature 18 0-30 0C. If the temperature is low (<18 0C), it hampers its growth. On the other hand, if the temperature is high (>35 0C), it causes the leaves and flowers falling, the fruit is dried up so the production is decreased. Jatropha Curcas L can grow on less fertile soil if the place has good drainage, not flooded,and soil pH 5.0-6.5 and rain fall about 300 mm – 1200 mm.

The preparation is about land clearing, marking and making hole. The soil must be cleaned from wild grass especially around the place where the plants are planted. To do marking, plant the marker (bamboo or stick) with suitable distance for the plant population.

e.g. 2.0 m x 3.0 m for 1600 trees per hectare, 2.0 m x 2.0 m for 2500 trees per hectare, 1.5 m x 2.0 m for 3300 trees per hectare. For aslant area, it is better to use contour system, the distance is 1.5 m and the hole is 40 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm.

The seedling can be gotten from the cutting a slip of branch or trunk, or seeds. Moreover it might provide the seeds by net culture. The cutting is taken from wooden branch or trunk. And the seeds are taken from the ripe seeds that are taken from the ripe fruits. Usually, they are black seeds. Now days, there is no best variety / clone for Jatropha Curcas L, so it count on the farmers collection. The research opportunity of it is big, so it challenges universities or institutions.

Seedling can be don in poly bag. The seedling cultivation must be covered with roof (coconut leaves, hays or paranet). It takes 2-3 months. During the seedling cultivation, the seeds must be watered twice a day (morning and late afternoon), clearing and selection.

Planting can be done at the beginning or during the rainy day, so the needs of water is well provided. The best chosen seeds are those which are healthy, strong and 50 cm tall or more. The soil is made solid / compact and the surface is dome-shaped during the planting time. Planting can be directly done in the yard without seeds but the cutting a slip of branch or trunk.

Cultivating the Jatropha Curcas L, it is suggested to apply intercropping system with other plants, e.g. corn, sesame or rice. This system will help to reduce pest attack and crop diversification as well. It will also widen the plant distance, e.g. 2.0 m x 3.0 m

Weeds around the plantation is well controlled manual/ mechanically or even chemistry way. The weed controlling can be done at the same time when the plants pile.

The main purpose of fertilizing is to add hara for plants. The dosage and the kind of fertilizer depends on fertility level of the soil. There is no specific dosage for Jatropha Curcas L yet. If it is assumed that the dosage will be the same as Jarak kepyar, so it will need 80 kg N, 18 kg P2o5, 32 kg K2o, 12 kg Cao and 10 kg Mgo for one hectare area. N fertilizer is given at planting time and the plant’s age is 28 days after planting (HST), P, K, Ca and Mg fertilizer are given at planting time. These organic fertilizer is used to repair the soil structure.

Cutting has a purpose to increase productive branches. The branch cutting can be don when the plant is about 20 cm over the soil surface. It is the wooden branches are cut (grey-brown)

It is rarely to have Jatropha Curcas L plantation get pest or disease in Indonesia. It might because it planted altogether with other plants. E.g. Glyrecidia maculate (gamal) and Waru. If it is widely planted and use monoculture system, it might be attacked pest or disease.

Moreover, in Tanzania and Nicaragua the Jatropha Curcas L plantation was reported that it has been attacked by bugs on fruit and flower inflorescent, and base of tree/ trunk. So, the controlling can be done technically or chemistry.

Jatropha Curcas L starts to blossom after 3-4 months and starts to grow fruits on 4-5 months. When the fruits has ripped, it is ready to be harvested. The ripped fruits skin are yellow and dried. The fruits usually has ripped when it is 5-6 months. Jatropha Curcas L plants are annual plants and can live more than 20 years (if they are treated well)

Harvesting is done by cutting the ripped fruits with hands or scissors. The productivity is about 3.5-4.5 kg per tree per year. The production will be stable if the plants have been more than one year old.

The productivity will be about 8-15 ton of seeds per hectare with plants population level is about 2500-3300 trees per hectare. If the oil level is about 35%, so it will get 2.5-5 ton oil per hectare per year.

TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED

Poisonous plants

The seeds of Jatropha Curcas L contains forbol poison than causes vomiting if it is eaten. Put the seed far away from our foods or even do not give it to children for playing.

Seedling Cultivation

The choice of Jatropha Curcas L seedling is supposed to consider the purpose of plantation. It is better to use cutting a slip of branch / trunk rather than seeds for production. It is faster. However, if the purpose of seedling is for conservation, it is suggested to use seeds, because the root is stronger. Beside that , the aslant of soil is also taken into consideration of choosing seeds. Thus, we suggest to all coming planters to consult all aspects related to cultivation technique, plantation design, expense, etc. with appropriate technique, we can use the cutting a slip of branch which has no sprout yet, if we do appropriate treatment.

In order to gain maximal crop of Jatropha Curcas L, it needs to consider the success aspect of deciding the seeds. E.g. the sealing can not be taken from the main tree that never changes, especially from the cutting a slip. It has been proved that the cutting a slip which is taken from the main tree that never grows fruit, the seedling will fruitless as well. If the tree only grows 1-3 fruits, the seedling will do the same thing. Thus, we must mind the main tree variety if we want to buy seed, otherwise we will have unexpected crop. It is not appropriate to cut a slip of the shoot. It must cut a slip of the wooden branch/ trunk with diameter about 2-3 cm.

Economy Consideration

Economy aspect of Jatropha Curcas L plants is lower than rice, so it is not recommended to be farm plants.

Seeds / Cutting Prize

The cutting costs Rp. 500 for each. One seed costs Rp. 21, meanwhile the mix quality costs Rp. 20.000 per kg.

Jatropha Curcas L oil / CJO and biodiesel

If it has been widely producted, the pure Jatropha Curcas L oil will cost about Rp. 5500-6000 per liter, meanwhile biodiesel will cost about Rp. 7500-8000. It depends on production scale and the ability to push the cost.

Since the cost of industry solar / non subsidize > Rp. 11.700 and diesel > Rp. 10.800 and quiet strict condition of supply system by Pertamina, Biodiesel / Bio fuel is more cheaper and safe for environment. Other advantage for marginal people is to cover their difficulty of having subsidized fuel, meanwhile the non subsidized fuel is more than Rp. 12.000. However, the Jatropha Curcas L oil is good solution. Cos, it is more economist / independent energy. If each family plant 100 Jatropha Curcas L trees, it will let him free of fuel expense, cos they can effort with their own Jatropha Curcas L seeds. There are two kinds of stove prices. They are Rp. 70.000 and Rp. 75.000. The stove that use Jatropha Curcas L seeds waste costs Rp. 75.000.

Human Resources for Plantation.

Planting, cultivation and harvesting have different need of human resources. Planting needs two people per hectare. They can plant 2500 out of land clearing for a week. One person can cultivate 10-20 hectare soil. One person even can cultivate about 50 hectare if using appropriate technology.

When is the first and the next harvest

The first harvesting is started when the plant is about 8-9 moths and it will grow fruits all a year. The best production will be started on the 5 th year. Before the 5 th year, the production has not been maximal but always increasing.

Harvesting Amount per Hectare

The amount of harvesting depends on many factors, e.g. the density of trees, sun light intensity, soil fertility, cultivation way, etc.

It is only for description, that production per hectare is about 10-20 ton per year.

Making Use of Jatropha Curcas L

All parts of Jatropha Curcas L are productive. So, do not be hesitate to invest. The cost, soil, plants and the cultivation are very economist (cheap). Based on our research, infestation will easily and fast return for about 20 months up to 2 years, if the cultivation is right and professional.

By Dra. Hj. Erna Zulfijah

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