Plea to extend credit support for Jatropha – The Hindu Business Line, Coimbatore, Sept. 7, 2006 

Cultivation of tree-borne oil crops such as Jatropha or Karang (Pungam), which yield bio-fuel, should be brought under regular agriculture and all the credit facilities being made available to agriculture crops should be extended to them too.

At present, bankers are reluctant to extend crop loans to Jatropha growers. Organized raising of Jatropha plantation requires proper land preparation, manuring and maintenance of plants for three years before they reach the first fruit-bearing stage and hence, the need for financial support, according to the Bharat Bio-fuel Growers and Manufacturers Association.

Terming as "wrong'' the general impression that Jatropha as a crop does not require irrigation, the association said though the crop could withstand drought and survive without regular watering, Jatropha yield/output would be meagre under continuous un-irrigated conditions. Drip irrigation would enhance the yield levels in bio fuel crops and creating drip irrigation system would require investment to the tune of Rs.45, 000 a hectare.

The dry land farmers would not be able to meet this investment and hence, the need to provide subsidy. The existing ceiling on subsidy entitlement fixed on the basis of acreage would deprive the Jatropha cultivators in fully realizing the yield potential of the crop, the association said.

Since raising Jatropha on plantation scale would require vast arid wastelands, the State Government should reclaim fallow and wastelands, which will be suitable for raising bio-fuel crops. The development of wastelands reclaimed could be done with the subsidy of Rs.10, 000 per hectare and these lands could be released to the farmers after completing the planting of Jatropha, it suggested.