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Critical criteria need to be considered before planting takes place. Making the wrong decision can have serious consequences later
Planting Density
Planting density is determined by the ultimate picking method. If you are going to mechanically pick you have to specifically configure the planting with enough space between the trees for the tractors. You would plant approximately 1,000 trees per hectare. If you are going to hand pick you would plant double or even treble the number with a different spacing. To date mechanical picking is still being developed. However, should mechanical picking prove the route to go, early planters who are locked into a hand picking configuration and density, will not be able to take advantage of the new technology, and will be at a serious competitive disadvantage. Alternatively, if planting has taken place at half the density, so as to allow mechanical picking, and the technology proves unsatisfactory, the under utilisation of the land would prove expensive.
Seed or seedling or saplings cloned and uncloned
There are a number of different schools of thought as to what should be planted. The commercial development of Jatropha is still at such an early date that no specific answers are yet available. Much research and development is being addressed to answer these questions. |
