Jatropha seeds for future energy use

Jatropha seems almost a miracle plant. It doesn`t need much water or fertilizer. It grows even on denuded soil and hills. Animals don`t like to eat it. It`s too scrawny to cut down for firewood. It can grow for more than 40 years. And just selling the seeds for their oil should earn farmers in Elias Pina more than most earn -- perhaps $800 a year for a 2.5-acre farm, Laval said.

That`s enough money to interest farmer Hector Tolentino. The 54-year-old now rides his horse farther each day to find enough firewood to cook his meals. Area residents have been cutting down trees for so many generations that the land is eroding and drying out.

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Labels: Jatropha-Seed

posted by Sudha @ 7:49 PM