Jatropha curcas

Question: Where are the most suitable locations in Nicaragua for the development of Jatropha Curcas plantations based on temperature, precipitation, insolation, elevation, and current land use?

Jatropha curcas is a plant native to Mexico and Central America that is widely distributed throughout Latin American and other tropical and subtropical regions. It is presumed to be an efficient biofuel that can provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels while simultaneously promoting the harmonious livelihoods of the people within these communities. Simultaneously, it can reduce the impacts of global warming through carbon sequestration.

The seeds of the Jatropha crop contain a high concentration of oil at 30-35% which makes it a highly desirable crop for the purpose of being converted into biodiesel fuel (N Foidl et. al 1996). With climate change due to fossil fuel combustion being at the forefront of environmental concern, the utilization of renewable energy resources and innovative technology is critical.

Along with being a biodegradable and non-toxic alternative to petroleum products, Jatropha curcas also acts as a phytoremediator and carbon sequester (Pandey et. al 2012), two remedies that lessen the impacts of climate change. Phytoremediators are used to remove and transfer contaminants in the soil and groundwater such as hydrocarbons, metals, and metalloids. Jatropha curcas has been found to be a highly effective remediator of hydrocarbon contaminated soils (Agmantha 2010) as well as an accumulator of heavy metals (Jamil et. al 2009).

Some of the characteristics of this crop that make it so desirable are its drought and pest resistance, unpalatability to animals, rapid growth, low nutrient requirement, adaptability, and hardiness (Pandey et. al 2012). These characteristics make it suitable to grow on wastelands of previous agricultural lands that have been depleted of nutrients. 

Given the Nicaraguan government investment in clean energy technologies in 2012 and their goal of generating 91% of their electricity from renewable resources by 2027 (Nicaragua), Nicaragua is a prime location for the implementation of biodiesel fuels within their economy sourced from Jatropha curcas. 

This map assesses the approximate annual rainfall in Nicaragua. We created three categories for suitability based on rainfall requirements for Jatropha curcas.

After attaining and adjusting the data we began the process of narrowing down the locations in Nicaragua that exhibit high, moderate and low suitability for the cultivation of Jatropha curcas. Using a previously published articled, GIS based Land Suitability Assessment for Jatropha curcas L. Cultivation in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, as a source for the parameters used to distinguish the suitability. Jatropha grows best in tropical and sub-tropical regions (between 30°N and 35°S) with annual rainfall of above 250 mm. With this factor we designated areas with precipitation 250mm and above as high, moderate as above 150mm and marginal above 50mm.

We then found that for temperature areas of 20 degrees Celsius or above as high suitability, moderate as above 15 degrees Celsius and marginal as above 10 degrees Celsius. Scoring for slope was backwards, that less than 3 degrees was high, less than 10 degrees was moderate and less than 15 degrees was marginal because Jatropha crucas prefers low elevation and less sloped faces. The elevation throughout Nicaragua changes so little that it was not important in the final assessment of suitability. Finally the suitability layer was calculated by adding all 3 ranks together, and then classing out based on a quarter percentile of high, moderate and marginal. 

What we found was that Nicaragua is outstandingly suitability for Jatropha curcas cultivation. The main limiting factors for widespread farming of this crop is temperature and precipitation--the parameters for these are pretty wide themselves showing the reliancy of this crop--and our projection did not even have areas where marginal suitability is shown. 

After the summation of the multiple layers and classing them out by percentile, we found that the eastern half of Nicaragua, which is the side of the country that is less developed and more impoverished, is more suitable than the western side. Therefore, an area that is currently struggling socially and economically could benefit from the cultivation of Jatropha curcas by not only increasing jobs in the local area but also creating the production and export of a sought after economic commodity.

Sources:

P. Agamuthu, O.P. Abioye, A.A. Aziz. Phytoremediation of soil contaminated with used lubricating oil using Jatropha curcas. J Hazard Mater, 179 (2010), pp. 891-894N.

Foidl, G. Foidl, M. Sanchez, M. Mittelbach, S. Hackel. Jatropha curcas L. as a source for the production of biofuel in Nicaragua. Bioresour Technol, 58 (1996), pp. 77-82

S. Jamil, P.C. Abhilash, N. Singh, P.N. Sharma. Jatropha curcas: a potential crop for phytoremediation of coal fly ash. J Hazard Mater, 172 (2009), pp. 269-275

Nicaragua Renewables Readiness Assessment Executive Summary. International Renewable Energy Agency. 2015. 

V. Pandey, K. Singh, J. Singh, A. Kumar, B. Singh, R. Singh. Jatropha curcas: A potential biofuel plant for sustainable environmental development, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(5) (2012), pp. 2870-2883

S.K. Yadav, A.A. Juwarkar, G.P. Kumar, P.R. Thawale, S.K. Singh, T. Chakrabarti. Bioaccumulation and phyto-translocation of arsenic, chromium and zinc by Jatropha curcas L.: impact of dairy sludge and biofertilizer. Bioresour Technol, 100 (2009), pp. 4616-4622

Qasim, Said & Qasim, Mohammad & Shrestha, Rajendra & pongaksorn, Narueman & Gyawali, Ravi. (2015). GIS Based Land Suitability Assessment for Jatropha curcas L. Cultivation in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. Lasbela University Journal of Science and Technology. IV. 10-13.