Implementing a Sustainable “Food and Fuel” System in Jatropha Plantation Management

Thomro Biofuels Experience

By

Prof. Thomson Sinkala Managing Director, Thomro Biofuels

tsinkala@thomrobiofuels.com, www.thomrobiofuels.com

Presented at the South at the Steering Wheel workshop on

IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY IN LAND INVESTMENT

FOR BIOENERGY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Held at Naturvårdsverket (Swedish EPA), Stockholm, Sweden

29 May 2012

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CONTENT OF PRESENTATION

1.The Thomro approach 2.Observations 3.Conclusions

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THE APPROACH

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Thomro Biofuels Jatropha Field

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Sequence of events in Jatropha based biofuels industry

Weed

Management

-$

Pollination

-$

Pest /Disease

Management

-$

Fertilizer Supply

-$

Harvest

&

Process

-$

Product

+$

At present, production of Jatropha oil is expensive, thus making biodiesel more costly compared to fossil diesel.

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Major sources of costs To reduce costs, innovative Jatropha plantation management methods are required.

COST CENTRE SOURCES OF COSTS

Weeding Chemicals, poor yields, loss of crop, labour

Pollination Poor yields

Pests/disease management Chemicals, loss of crop, poor yields, labour

Fertilization Fertilisers, poor yields, labour

Harvesting Labour, loss of seeds

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APPROACH BY THOMRO BIOFUELS TO IMPROVE PROFITABILITY

Weed Management

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Goats

Food

and

Income

See also

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20110513/105054.shtml

Feed for Goats & Chickens in Dry Season - Examples

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Bioethanol

Soy Beans

Sweet Sorghum

Maize

Ground Nuts

Mealie Meal

Biodiesel)

Livestock/Poultry Feed

Bioethanol

Soy Beans

Sweet Sorghum

Maize

Ground Nuts

Mealie Meal

Biodiesel

Cooking Oil

Livestock/Poultry Feed

Etc

Fencing livestock

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Agave for fence

More than 10,000 litres/Ha

Pollination

Septic flies

Honey Bees

Food and Income 11

Termite/Insects Management Chickens, guinea fowl, etc, are natural predators and will eat a large number of insects available.

http://www.smallstock.info/info/health/tick-poultry.htm

Saves costs

and

Environment

Food

and

Income

Use Poultry

Use Tephrosia Vogelii 12

Termites

Golden flea beetles

Management of Other Diseases/Pests

Chickens, along with other poultry such as guinea fowl, are natural predators and will eat a large number of insects. http://www.smallstock.info/info/health/tick-poultry.htm

Saves costs

and

Environment

Food

and

Income

Poultry

Tephrosia Vogelii

Tephrosia can be used with garden vegetables, fruits and field crops, to control termites, ants, beetles, aphids, red spider mites, cutworms, various bugs and weevils, stalk borers, flies, etc.

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Fertilizer Supply

1.0 tonne of dry seed of Jatropha per ha removes 14.3–34.3 kg of N, 0.7–7.0 kg of P, and 14.3–31.6 kg of K

http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1219e/i1219e.pdf

N% P% K% Ca% Mg% SOURCE

4.4 – 6.5 2.1 – 3.0 0.9 – 1.7 0.6 – 0.7 1.3 – 1.4 Achten et al. (2008)

3.0 – 4.5 0.65 – 1.2 0.8 – 1.4 Patolia et al. (2007)

4.91 0.9 1.75 0.31 0.68 Wani et al. (2006)

MACRONUTRIENT CONTENT OF JATROPHA SEED CAKE

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Fertilizer Supply

Droppings from poultry and

livestock

Tephrosia Vogelii

Jatropha leaves

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Treatments Total Biomass

(t/ha)*

Nutrients (kg/ha)

N P K Ca Mg

T. vogelii 9.5 154 5.7 100 75 17 T. diversifolia 11.8 191 8.1 271 70 32 Natural fallow 3.8 54 2.6 52 10 7 Maize stover + cobs 3.1 34 2.1 37 8 8

MANURE Chicken Dairy cow Horse Steer Sheep

N-P-K 1.1, 0.80, 0.50 0.25, 0.15, 0.25 0.70, 0.30, 0.60 0.70, 0.30, 0.40 0.70, 0.30, 0.90

Approximate levels of common livestock/poultry manures www.plantea.com/manure.htm

Nutrient accumulation during the six-month fallow period

*Total biomass = above ground, litter and root biomass.

Nutrient composition of Jatropha curcas leaves

Nutrient Source Nutrients (kg/ha)

N P K Ca Mg

Leaves 6.40 0.34 2.45 1.40 0.53 4.70 0.15 3.77 0.61 0.49

www.pri.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/...47D5.../JatrophaWorld2008Claims.pdf 16

Examples of Crops Grown Using Manure From Chickens, Goats and Jatropha Cake

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Mushrooms in Jatropha plantation

Natural Foods

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Six-year old (March 2011) Jatropha

observation plants in Lusaka, Zambia.

Corresponding yield is

about 10 Kg/plant (Seeds in the above photo are PER PLANT).

Seed Yield

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SOURCE OF INCOME FROM A HECTARE OF JATROPHA

PRIME FUNCTION CAPITAL

AMOUNT TOTAL YIELD /

YEAR HARVESTED /

YEAR COST

(US$/UNIT) REVENUE / YEAR (US$)

PLANTATION MANAGEMENT

GOATS (live or meat) Weeding 20 goats 40 goats total 20 40 800

Goat milk

Goat hides

Goat manure

CHICKENS (Live/dressed) Pests/Fertilisation 40 chickens 1600 chicklings 1200 chickens 5 6000

Eggs

Chicken manure

BEES (Honey) Pollination

Beeswax/candles/etc.

SWEET SORGHUM (fodder) Livestock/Poultry feed in dry season (DS)

Bioethanol

Electricity

SOY BEANS (Soy cake) Livestock/Poultry feed - DS

Edible oil/biodiesel

MAIZE(Maize bran) Livestock/Poultry feed - DS

Mealie meal

JATROPHA PRODUCTS

Biodiesel Target product 2000

Biogas

Soap

Organic fertilizer

TOTAL = 8800

The Thomro plantation management is therefore a win-win approach

Weed

Management

+$

Pollination

+$

Pest /Disease

Management

+$

Fertilizer Supply

+$

Harvest

&

Process

-$

Product

+$

This makes Jatropha products significantly competitive 22

OBSERVATIONS

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We can see that in trying to address Jatropha management issues to make its products competitive, we consequently end up with outputs such as: • Bioethanol / biodiesel;

• Food (Mealie meal, meat, milk, cooking oil, honey, etc);

• More money earned from Jatropha management products

than from Jatropha products themselves;

• Money made way before starting to reap from Jatropha.

Other than adding Jatropha to the familiar food crops, and processing of biofuels, the trade of keeping goats, chickens and bees is well known.

CONCLUSIONS

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The above win-win example shows that biofuels and agricultural industries can be developed to be supportive of each other.

For biofuels to expand, Governments need to put in place conducive policies and strategies that promote local uptakes / participation in biofuels industry.

Drought resistant feedstocks/varieties should be promoted/developed to minimize water demand and widen the scope of participation in the biofuels industry.

The global biofuels market is enormous, and projected demand will not be met for a long time to come.

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The Biofuels Journey has Begun!!

27 Thank you for your attention

Play your part to promote it to reduce poverty

and increase food security in Africa