Climate and soil-site suitability criteria for Jatropha curcas L. cultivation under non-arable marginal lands in different agro-ecological regions of India

Abstract

In recent years, much emphasis has been given for biodiesel fuel production through different biofuel crops, particularly Jatropha curcas (J.curcas) targeting degraded or waste lands and marginal lands that are unsuitable to agriculture. However, public and private investments for J.curcas cultivation were not sufficiently based on scientific knowledge of climate and soil-site requirements. An attempt is made in this paper to develop climate and soilsite suitability criteria for efficiently growing J.curcas in non-agricultural lands. Information was compiled on selective climate and soil-site parameters and performance of J.curcas from natural distribution and some locations of J.curcas cultivation from 99 agro-ecologically diverse districts. The climate and soil-site requirements of J.curcas were derived based on which high, moderate and marginal suitability of J.curcas was identified. The climate suitability criteria were based on mean annual rainfall (mm), maximum and minimum temperature (°C) and length of growing period (days). The soil-site suitability criteria was based on altitude, slope (%), drainage, proneness to flooding/water logging, soil depth, texture, sub- soil gravelliness (%) and soil reaction (pH). The criteria were used to assess marginal lands for Jatropha suitability in Andhra Pradesh. The assessment showed a significant positive correlation with crop performance under highly suitable, moderately suitable and marginally suitable lands. The criteria developed could be adopted for delineating suitable areas for J. curcas plantation in non- arable lands under similar soil and agro-climatic conditions.