Lydia Namubiru
19 August 2008
Kampala — THE fuel prices continue to skyrocket and it seems like nothing can be done about it. However, Eirik Trondsen, a Norwegian investor in renewable energy, believes the solution to the problem is currently growing wild, neglected in the fields countrywide.
It is the jatropha carcus, a plant that is coming to be known as the diesel plant.
Jatropha (kiloowa in Luganda), which is commonly used in the countryside as a hedge and/or support for vanilla plants, can be used to make fuel for lamps, cooking and running machines like cars and generators.
Trondsen says the idea is actually not new. During the 1970s, people in eastern Uganda used jatropha seeds for domestic lighting.
"They used to stick them onto a rod that acted as a wick. When you light the end of the rod, it burns just as a wick dipped in paraffin does," Trondsen says.
The earning potential of jatropha
It is estimated that jatropha's earning potential will increase as fuel prices continue to rise and people seek alternative fuels.
A mature jatropha tree can produce three kilos of seeds annually and continues to yield for up to 40 years. An acre of land can take up to 1,000 trees of jatropha.
Today three Ugandan firms buy jatropha seeds. These are Energy Agriculture Uganda in Mukono, VEDCO Uganda in Luweero and Royal Van Zanten, a flower farm. In 2007, the flower farm bought 9,000kg of jatropha seeds from Mukono farmers at sh150 a kilo.
"We are now buying a kilo at sh300," says Madgalene Mucite, a jatropha farmer in Mukono, who is also the operations manager for Energy Agriculture.
This implies that from an acre of land, one can earn about sh900,000 annually for 40 years. More investors are entering the market and as production of biofuel from jatropha begins, its price is likely to rise. "We are not producing any fuel from jatropha because we do not have enough supply of seeds yet," Mucite explains.
Energy Agriculture is now promoting the growth of jatropha among farmers especially in Mukono and Moyo districts. Jatropha takes about a year to mature.
Growing jatropha
Jatropha is amazingly easy to grow because it does not need a lot of care. It can also survive in arid areas where most plants do not. More so, wild animals do not eat jatropha and it is disease-resistant.
Mucite says one does not even need a finely ploughed field to begin planting jatropha unless one intends to inter-crop it with more sensitive crops.
One can plant cuttings from jatropha trees the same way cassava is planted. A farmer can also buy seedlings from commercial nursery beds.
"When planting, give the crops a spacing of about two by three metres. Weeding is done once in a while to stop the weeds from growing higher than the jatropha," Mucite tips.
She emphasises the importance of pruning the jatropha trees saying it increases yields and eases harvesting. Mucite warns that sometimes the crop can be attacked by termites.
She advises that termites can be sprayed with common insecticides. She says it costs her about sh60,000 a month to maintain her five-acre farm of jatropha trees. Farmers can buy jatropha cuttings and seedlings from Kayunga Road.
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