6.1 Biofuels in India: How and Why
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6.1.2.2 Biodiesel
Indians have long used oilseeds as fuel, including Jatropha curcas (e.g., in Rajasthan),
particularly as lamp oil in rural areas. Farmers have used jatropha also as a fence crop
since its toxicity helps keep herbivores away (Achten et al. 2008). These traditional
uses differ from the way jatropha is promoted for large-scale biodiesel production.
Although its commercial production remains insignificant, it is worth examining
the government’s attempts to promote non-food oil crops as biodiesel feedstocks
throughout the country.
India’s biodiesel production strategy has relied exclusively on non-edible perennial crops such as jatropha, grown on marginal lands under sub-optimal soil and
water conditions, and not previously used for industrial agriculture. Although other
crops such as pongamia, neem, and various other oil-bearing trees native to India
have been tested, jatropha has received particular attention due to its shorter maturation cycle (3–4 years), drought tolerance, and alleged capacity to resist pests and
produce high yields without inputs (Achten et al. 2008). For instance, jatropha has
been deemed capable of bearing seeds with as much as 30–40% of oil content even
in such sub-optimal conditions (Pohit et al. 2010).
Hence, government agencies and (particularly foreign) private biodiesel industries
have sought to cultivate jatropha on India’s marginal lands—labeled as “wastelands”
(MNRE 2009; GOI 2018), a designation that dates back to the British colonial rule.
As a foreign businessman promoting jatropha in India reported,
Even though we cannot buy land here, we can have it through partnerships, as in our case.
India offers better infrastructure and logistics than if you go to less developed places like
Myanmar or Africa, and the costs of land and labor are still very cheap. (Personal interview)
Deployment has taken place with or without the participation of local smallholders. In
the first case, companies—often with government support—have approached smallholders and persuaded them to grow jatropha under contract farming. These arrangements are also named “buy-back” or outgrower schemes, whereby farmers operate
as contracted suppliers. Alternatively, national or state-level agencies have claimed
public lands and have either cultivated jatropha or leased it to the private sector for
that purpose, with or without local communities’ prior consent.
This top-down agenda has led to social conflict or even sabotage by the locals
hired as plantation workers. For instance, many locals reportedly cut off the roots of
the jatropha saplings before planting them to ensure that it would not grow, or they
simply returned to the field a few weeks later to uproot everything. Still, in many cases,
jatropha plantations became installed, mainly where smallholders were contracted as
suppliers. However, productivity expectations have proven vastly unfounded. Many
saplings died without nursing or crushed by livestock, under the idea that jatropha, as
a wild plant, would not require attention (Lahiri 2009). Pests plagued it when grown
in plantation blocks, and the plants that survived have displayed low productivity
under water stress and without fertilization. Jatropha’s oil content in India has been
lower than 25% on average, not the 30–40% foreseen (Personal interviews).
127
6.1.2.2 Biodiesel
Indians have long used oilseeds as fuel, including Jatropha curcas (e.g., in Rajasthan),
particularly as lamp oil in rural areas. Farmers have used jatropha also as a fence crop
since its toxicity helps keep herbivores away (Achten et al. 2008). These traditional
uses differ from the way jatropha is promoted for large-scale biodiesel production.
Although its commercial production remains insignificant, it is worth examining
the government’s attempts to promote non-food oil crops as biodiesel feedstocks
throughout the country.
India’s biodiesel production strategy has relied exclusively on non-edible perennial crops such as jatropha, grown on marginal lands under sub-optimal soil and
water conditions, and not previously used for industrial agriculture. Although other
crops such as pongamia, neem, and various other oil-bearing trees native to India
have been tested, jatropha has received particular attention due to its shorter maturation cycle (3–4 years), drought tolerance, and alleged capacity to resist pests and
produce high yields without inputs (Achten et al. 2008). For instance, jatropha has
been deemed capable of bearing seeds with as much as 30–40% of oil content even
in such sub-optimal conditions (Pohit et al. 2010).
Hence, government agencies and (particularly foreign) private biodiesel industries
have sought to cultivate jatropha on India’s marginal lands—labeled as “wastelands”
(MNRE 2009; GOI 2018), a designation that dates back to the British colonial rule.
As a foreign businessman promoting jatropha in India reported,
Even though we cannot buy land here, we can have it through partnerships, as in our case.
India offers better infrastructure and logistics than if you go to less developed places like
Myanmar or Africa, and the costs of land and labor are still very cheap. (Personal interview)
Deployment has taken place with or without the participation of local smallholders. In
the first case, companies—often with government support—have approached smallholders and persuaded them to grow jatropha under contract farming. These arrangements are also named “buy-back” or outgrower schemes, whereby farmers operate
as contracted suppliers. Alternatively, national or state-level agencies have claimed
public lands and have either cultivated jatropha or leased it to the private sector for
that purpose, with or without local communities’ prior consent.
This top-down agenda has led to social conflict or even sabotage by the locals
hired as plantation workers. For instance, many locals reportedly cut off the roots of
the jatropha saplings before planting them to ensure that it would not grow, or they
simply returned to the field a few weeks later to uproot everything. Still, in many cases,
jatropha plantations became installed, mainly where smallholders were contracted as
suppliers. However, productivity expectations have proven vastly unfounded. Many
saplings died without nursing or crushed by livestock, under the idea that jatropha, as
a wild plant, would not require attention (Lahiri 2009). Pests plagued it when grown
in plantation blocks, and the plants that survived have displayed low productivity
under water stress and without fertilization. Jatropha’s oil content in India has been
lower than 25% on average, not the 30–40% foreseen (Personal interviews).