Dear Group Members,
I am giving the details of interactions with world bank
authorities and Jatropha giant Dr. Reinhard Henning. It is really
surprising that they have supported and promoted Jatropha in Africa
without knowing much about it. They are not clear about its origin
even. They made comments but when asked for scientifc evidences they
failed to provide it. I am still waiting for their reply.

regards
Pankaj Oudhia
=====================

You might want to contact Reinhard Henning who has worked extensively
on the
subject.

Also see his website

www.jatropha.org

Reinhard has also written a note on Jatropha for our IK Notes series:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/iknt47.pdf
_________________________________________________________________
Reinhard Woytek
Senior Knowledge Management Officer
World Bank
Africa Region - Knowledge and Learning (AFTKL)
MSN J8-811
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433

Tel: 1-202-473-1641
Fax: 1-202-614-1641
Email: rwoytek@...
Room: J8-005

Web Site: Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program:
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm




pankaj
oudhia

<pankajoudhia@y

ahoo.com>
To
Sent by:
Phytomedica@yahoogroups.com

Phytomedica@yah
cc

oogroups.com


Subject
[Phytomedica] Jatropha and
Arica

08/20/2005

07:25












Dear Group members,

The world literatures on Jatropha curcas indicate that
Jatropha is
under promotion in African countries since many decades. It is
planted
in large
areas for the production of biodiesel. I am eager to know the
performance of
this exotic crop in African soil. What is its impact on native flora
and fauna?
Whether the vehicles are running without diesel and using biodiesel
prepared rom
Jatropha seed oil ? In India the authorities are planning to plant
this
exotic
(it is native to Tropical America) plant in over 30 m. hactares. The
Arican
experience will be of great help for us.


regards
Pankaj Oudhia
==========================================
Reinhard.Henning@..." <Reinhard.Henning@...>

Dear Mr. Pankaj Oudhia

Thank you for your e-mail. I will try to write my opinion as short as
possible. I have to state, that I don't know the situation in India
well, either concerning Pongamia, nor Jatropha. So my opinion is
mainly
based on the experience in other countries.

I don't see a real difference between Jatropha curcas and Pongamia
pinnata. I learned that Pongamia has a higher yield of oil per hectar,
but it takes more time for full seed production.

Jatropha is an ideal plant for decentralized small scale production as
long as it is planted in the form of hedges (living fences) around
gardens and fields. In this case it protects food production against
roaming animals and against erosion, and gives farmers an additional
income by selling oil. The press cake, which is a very valuable
organic
fertilizer, can be returned to the plants to keep the fertility of the
soil. In this case I don't see any harm to biological diversity.

I don't know if Pongamia can be planted as a living fence, but if so,
I
don't see any difference between Jatropha and Pongamia.

In the case of plantations, Pongamia and Jatropha have the same
effect:
Large areas are planted with the same species. But this is the case
with
other cash crops as well, like coffee or tea.

I think these large scale plantations won't be realized, because you
need a lot of manual labour for harvesting/collection of the seeds,
and
this makes it expensive. For Jatropha you need at least 2 hours of
manual work to produce 1 litre of oil and you need about 1,5 persons
to
harvest/collect the seeds of 1 hectar. That means, you need about more
than 7 000 persons to harvest the seeds of a 5 000 ha plantation. This
has to be organized, and that is expensive.

I think for Pongmia this is also the case.

I don't think that Jatropha is an exotic plant to India. It is there
since a couple of centuries, and it is no weed, i. e. it does not
disseminate itself. It has to be planted by men.

As a conclusion, I don't see a significant difference between Jatropha
and Pongamia, if they are planted in large plantations. Both are cash
crops.

It seems that Jatropha has very positive effects on plant health, that
is it reduces the insecticidal pressure to other plants. So it is a
good
plant for intercropping. In Belize, South America, the use it for
intercropping with red pepper, and they produce very good quality
legumes without additional insecticides.

The only advantage I see in using the wood of Pongamia for burning,
becase the wood of Jatropha (an euphorbiaceae) is not very well
suitable
as firewood.

Kind regards

Reinhard Henning






-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:49:31 +0200
Subject: Re: [Phytomedica] Jatropha and Arica
From: pankaj oudhia
To: Rwoytek@...

Dear Dr.Henning, I am India based researcher and working on
biodiversity aspects. In India we are opposing Jatropha promotion as
it is exotic plant and as Biodiesel lover promoting the native plants
like Pongamia. To put all the negative information about this exotic
herb we have formed yahoo group SAY NO TO JATROPHA.
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/jatropha/ [1] I am aware of its
medicinal uses and also documented its local uses but I am seeing the
large scale plantation of Jatropha as biodiversity disaster. I am
eager to know your comments on the Jatropha monoculture in India in
over 30 million hactares. regards Pankaj Oudhia
----------------------------------
Reinhard.Henning@..." <Reinhard.Henning@...> wrote

We talk about Jatropha curcas.

The plants which are looked at as a weed in Australia and South Africa
are Jatropha gossyfolia.

The potuguees seafarers distributed the plant. I went up to Nepal. I
don't know the time when they planted it first in India.

We did an epidemiological study on the effect of Jatropha oil on the
skin of womwn, who work since many years with Jatropha oil to produce
soap. There cound not be seen any skin diseases with these women.

If you can collect these Pongamia seeds and extract oil. it will be
fine.

But to produce such quantities of oil, that the Indian import of crude
fossil oil may be reduced, you may need plantations. Also with
Pongama.

Regards

Reinhard Henning






-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:15:27 +0200
Subject: Re: [Phytomedica] Jatropha and Arica
From: pankaj oudhia
To: "Reinhard.Henning@..."

Thank you for your reply. 1. Jatropha is not native to India. It is
native to tropical America. Are you having any scientific evidences
that it is present in India since centuries? 2. In India millions of
Pongamia plants grow naturally and there is no need for its
cultivation. Pongamia is native to India. Another biodiesel source
Calotropis grows as weed. Hence it can be used as petrocrop. 3. Are
you having any scientific report that Jatropha oil is safe for
humanbeings. There are many scientific reports claiming that it
causes cancer. Are the fumes produced by it are safe for human
lungs? 4. Jatropha is having well known properties of
invasiveness..I am pasting the response of American ecologist on mass
scale plantation of Jatropha weed. I am eagery waiting for your
response. regards Pankaj Oudhia Planting 30 million hectares of
Jatropha curcas sounds like a
disaster waiting to take off!!!

With Australia describing it as invasive and Hawaii PIER ' s risk
assessment rejecting it; I hope this plant never crosses the ocean to
North America.

With a wide range of tolerances including frost and arid conditions,
could they actually confine it and guarantee no escape?

Unlikely

As someone who works with disturbance areas like roadsides, I truly
hope they reconsider. This plant has characteristics of invasives
that cost us greatly in parklands, farmlands, wetlands, woodlands,
and more. I suspect that economics will win; but we will all pay the
price eventually.

Sincerely, Bonnie Harper-Lore

Restoration Ecologist

Federal Highway Administration, USDOT
Bonnie.Harper-Lore@... [1]

IN REPLY TO

Pankaj Oudhia (http://www.pankajoudhia.com/ [2]) is seeking comment
from
the GISIN members regarding the promotion of Jatropha [Jatropha
curcas L.] as a biodiesel plant.

Hi,
As you know Jatropha is under promotion as a biodiesel plant. Alone
India is
in the process of planting Jatropha in over 30 million hectares. It
is under
promotion in other countries also. In many countries like Australia
Jatropha
holds a status of invasive. I am eager to know the comments of GISIN
members
regarding this monoculture. If this plantation cause any impact on
native
biodiversity then we have to manage it like a weed. For this large
scale
plantation clearance from weed management and biodiversity experts is
needed.

regards
Pankaj Oudhia

Please respond directly to Pankaj < pankaj.oudhia@... [4]> with
your
comments.

Best regards, Liz

Elizabeth Sellers
Assistant Theme Coordinator
Invasive Species Information Node
National Biological Information Infrastructure
USGS - National Program Office
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 302
Reston, VA 20192 USA
Ph 703.648.4385 | Fax 703.648.4224 | esellers@... [5]
USA

Invasive Species Information Node
National Biological Information Infrastructure
Global Invasive Species Information Network

==========================

Thanks for your message.

Many species of Jatropha have been declared as problematic weed in
different countries. Jatropha curcas is problematic weed in Australia
and Africa. I am giving the scientific evidence. Please go through
the crop protection compendium published by CABI.

Lucinda Charles
Editor
Compendium Programme
CAB International
Wallingford
Oxon OX10 8DE
UK
l.charles@...
tel: 44 1491 829388
fax: 44 1491 833508

Secondly, I am still waiting for the scientific evidence that
Jatropha is present in India and Africa since centuries. I am in
favor of native plants .Jatropha may be the good crop for South
America where it is native plant but for Africa and India there must
be the search and promotion of local plants.

You have written about the study done by your group. Is it available
in form of scientifc findings or report. Please forward it to me.

If you want to know the Bare facts of Jatropha toxicity,please visit
this website for scientific evidences.

http://www.inchem.org/documents/pims/plant/jcurc.htm

I am biodiesel lover but it must be from native plants not from
exotic plants like Jatropha.

regards
Pankaj Oudhia

=============
NO ANSWER FROM HIM. I AM STILL WAITING EAGERLY.

pankaj oudhia