A sciency look into the future

Dear followers of Project Jatropha,

Jatropha curcas is a remarkable plant that has great potential for biofuel production and will almost certainly be a power player in said industry for some time to come. However, there are other pioneering biofuel technologies that are proving to have great potential: namely cellulosic and algal biofuel technologies. Both technologies have the capacity to produce very large quantities of biofuel, far in excess of what Jatropha or any other first-generation biofuel plant could make; both technologies could theoretically replace a good fraction of the fuel needs of America, as detailed in a recent Scientific American article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=grassoline-biofuels-beyond-corn#comments. However, such technologies are still at least 10-15 years away due to economic and logistical issues that must be overcome in order to make these sources of biofuel competitive. In addition, it will take some time for those technologies to be perfected so that small, uneducated farmers could afford and operate them. Project Jatropha, on the other hand, is easy to understand among small farmers, and, from a financial perspective, relatively cheap. Regardless, there is a high probability that cellulosic and algal biofuel technologies will be a part of the myriad of ways to mitigate climate change. Until then though, Jatropha curcas and other biofuels such as switchgrass can act as very effective bridge biofuels that can at least partially supply the fuel needs of society.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

A Unique Experience at the Project Site

Hi Readers of our Blog,

I want to share a very interesting story that happened during my visit to the Kirijaji village in the early weeks of my visit. Mosquitoes are one of the BIGGEST problems i faced. If I remember correctly, during the first week of my visit, there was no rain. The land was dry and it was scorching hot, but the good news was there weren't any mosquitoes. After the first week it started raining cats and dogs! Most of the time I was completely wet and I did try using an umbrella, but the second day it gave up on me. My umbrella was swept away by the harsh winds and got stuck in a Banyan tree! The village kids found it very funny, but soon came to my rescue. They asked me if I needed their help to get the umbrella out of the tree. Honestly, I didn't they could help, considering the oldest one was 8. From that day forward, I said goodbye to my umbrella and started wearing my raincoat. Now coming to the point, with the rainfall came the mosquitoes. I had taken all kinds of inspect repellents used for camping. Trust me they are no match for the mosquitoes of Kirijaji! In two days, I looked like as though I had chicken pox. My mosquito bites were itchy, but painful as well. I tried several oral antihistamines and topical creams. Nothing helped! One of senior SHG members', Padmama, a sweet lady came to my rescue. She suggested that I apply the extract of one of the local herbal plants. I looked at her face with disbelief. I was thinking in my mind, how can this leaf heal my mosquito bite wounds, when the powerful, expensive medicated creams given by my doctor didn't do the job. She showed me how to use the leaves, but the method didn't appeal to me. I refused the first day, but my rashes kept on increasing as the mosquitoes bit me more and more. By the third day, I was desperate to try anything. Padmama was patient enough to tend to my rashes. She patiently took the extract and applied it to my bites. She also showed me another plant that which can act as a mosquito repellant. Within two hours, I couldn't believe my own eyes. My rashes had reduced considerably and the mosquitoes didn't bother me at all! No more new bites! If I had the authority, I would have given Padmama a doctorate degree! I don't know the botanical name of the plant. I was just happy my bites were gone! I wish Adarsha was there with me at that time to do a scientific analysis of the plant. Well, there's always next time! :)

~Apoorva

The Overarching Goal of Project Jatropha

Dear followers of Project Jatropha,

As you all know, Project Jatropha is an undertaking that aims to aid poor farmers in the Hunsur Taluk region and alleviate rural poverty and environmental destruction. But it can be said that the real, overarching goal of the project is to provide an example to other members of my generation who think about taking initiatives in their communities. There are individuals out there who undoubtedly have incredible humanitarian or environmentally geared ideas, but who are not sure whether or not to actually take action. Yet, in such a time, when a perfect storm of crises (including, but not limited to the fresh water crisis, peak oil, climate change, poverty, resource depletion, massive amounts of environmental destruction, and overpopulation), there can, and must not be a shortage of good ideas and young people who will take the lead in building the infrastructure of a new, more stable, cleaner, and better earth for us and future generations. We must fix the problems that have accumulated due to the actions of previous generations, but in doing so must also create a better world for future generations. There is no second chance now, because the fate of the world, and all of its inhabitants, be they animal, plant, or human, rests within the hands of this generation. The cost of failure is extinction, but the price of winning is a better world for all, including the future generations. We owe it to them to give them an earth that is more harmonious, instead of a barren, tainted wasteland that we are so close to creating as I speak. Er, type. Actually, post, but you get the point.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

Project Jatropha is Branching Out!

Hello everyone,

This is Callie Roberts, Finance & Fundraising Coordinator, and leader of Project Jatropha's Branching Out Movement. We want to spread awareness and knowledge about more humanitarian causes, as continue to pursue our original goals of helping the environment, as well as the impoverished! While Adarsha and Apoorva were visiting Southern India, this summer, I stayed here in California and started collecting shoes, especially flip flops. Throughout the summer, I collected 2 crates of both new and used shoes and flip flops from my swim club, which I will give to The Flip Flop Fleet, which distributes the shoes to children in Haiti, so their parents don’t have to choose between feeding their children and getting them shoes.

Along with shoes, I have collected about 8 large bags of clothing, which will also be donated to the children in Haiti.

Lastly, through out the summer, I have gathered children’s French books, for Sirona Fuels’s literacy project in Grand Goave, Haiti, which will eventually go in a new library that will be built at the Mission of Hope School. (Exciting Newsflash: Michelle Lacourciere of Sirona Cares has just begun to get the new school and library set up!) In addition, I earned $250 from teaching swim lessons this summer, which I will use to acquire new children’s French books.

It is our goal to continue collecting flip-flops, French children’s books, and clothing throughout the school year to be delivered to India and Haiti next summer. I have also been collecting reading books and workbooks for elementary children for distribution in local areas where there is also a need. I have collected over 300 books and workbooks over the past year.

Project Jatropha has plans to spread news about our project and the issues we are working on with local schools and businesses in hopes of generating more support. We are continuing our Project Jatropha website and this blog, so please leave comments or suggestions! Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for following our blog. We hope that we have inspired you to take action, too. In the end, our goal is to spread awareness about action that needs to be taken, and hopefully take several positive leaps toward tackling the problems.

Much Love,
Callie

Some Pictures:
Callie with some of the clothing she collected this summer!


Callie with one of the crates of flip flops and other shoes! Sincere thanks to my swim team for their generosity!


Callie with 2 boxes of French children's books!

The Pictures of Tobacco Intercropping in the Project Site

Dear Alex,

Adarsha wanted me to post this picture in order to give you an idea of how tobacco intercropping looks like. I hope this helps!

~Apoorva

An important point on Jatropha and its cultivation

The first picture depicts a rain fed crop with no fertilizer on a normal soil.
Picture 2 shows the plants with moderate irrigation and application of fertilizer.
http://emmanuelwrites.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-major-jatropha-project-suffers.html

NOTE: The original article may not be accessible anymore-I keep getting an authorization error everytime I try with Firefox though I'm using a proxy.

This article, as implied in the url, talks about the failure of a Jatropha project due to lack of investors, but emphasizes another aspect of Jatropha that is ESSENTIAL to the whole issue. Jatropha curcas CAN grow in wasteland or marginal lands-however, it will NOT grow enough or produce enough fruit to be ECONOMICALLY VIABLE. Like any other cash crop, Jatropha needs to have inputs-fertilizer, water (these two mainly in the first 2-3 years of the plants life, where it is still in the important growth phase) and maintenance. Farmers cannot expect to get something from no input. I cannot stress this enough (hence the use of capitalization at strategic points)-although Jatropha can grow on poor soils, it needs care like any other crop in order to achieve its full potential. Rest assured, Project Jatropha is having the farmers plant the high-quality seedlings on rain-fed, decent soils and has also provided the farmers with agronomic training to enable them to maximize the seed output of the plants given. It is imperative that wherever Jatropha projects are undertaken, especially in coordination with small farmers, that an emphasis is placed on the need to cultivate the plant if one wants to produce an economically viable quantity of seeds.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

Our Sincere Thanks to Michelle Lacourciere, Director of Sirona Cares for the Successful Collaboration Between Flip Flop Fleet and Project Jatropha

Flip Flop Fleet is an organization that collects and distributes flip flops, sandals, and other footwear to those in need all over the world, so no parent has to choose between feeding their children or buying them shoes. Michele of Sirona Cares introduced us to Dawn and Lee, the founders of Flip Flop Fleet. The two are amazing people who are involved in extraordinary activities to help the unfortunate. For more info visit there blog: http://www.flipflopfleet.blogspot.com/. They donated 70 pairs of flip flops and sandals. We carried them to a child labor rehabilitation residential school, called DEED, which stands for Development through Education. None of the children here had footwear. These children are used to walking around barefooted on a rough terrain. Despite that, they were eager to receive the generous gift and promised to take good care of the footwear. Thanks again to Dawn, Lee, and Michele for bringing joy into these kids' lives.

Sincerely,
Adarsha, Apoorva, and Callie

Project Jatropha Team Wins Action For Nature International Young Eco-Hero Award 2009

Hot off the Press!
AFN announces its 2009 INTERNATIONAL
YOUNG ECO-HERO AWARDS!


"With great pleasure Action For Nature announces its 2009 International Young Eco-Hero Awards, which recognize young people 8 to 16 years of age for their environmental achievements. We hope the accomplishments of these outstanding young people will inspire many others to preserve and protect the Earth upon which all life depends. The winners of AFN's International Young Eco-Hero Awards program receive a cash prize and a special certificate, as well as public recognition on our website and elsewhere.Our judges are experts in environmental science, biology and environmental health. They select our Young Eco-Heroes from applicants from around the world. They are looking for young people to follow in their footsteps.We are proud of the 2009 winners, and of all the applicants from around the world."

Adarsha and I want to thank the Action for Nature Organization, Beryl Kay, and Hoi Y. Poon for their support. We are using the cash prize towards the expansion of Project Jatropha!

~Apoorva

Project Jatropha team returns to CA after successful completion of planting more than 11,000 new Jatropha seedlings in Kirijaji and Thippalapura

Adarsha and I landed in San Francisco airport by 10:35 AM today. We're safe but terribly jet lagged. We are very happy and content with our work in India. We had a busy schedule. It was not easy but we did it. Though Adarsha had assured the blog followers that we would update our blog every day while we were at the project site, that was impossible. Forget about internet, the basic electricity was very scarce in the villages due to heavy rains. It was pouring heavily almost every single day. That did not stop the farmers from working. We all drenched in rain every day and it was actually pretty fun!!! We have exciting incidents to be reported. We will do so once we settle in. We've updated the blog with new pictures

~Apoorva

Project Jatropha in a Labland Biotechs Program

Dear followers of Project Jatropha,

Apoorva and I are currently in a program in Labland Biotechs where we are learning the various agronomic practices of Jatropha cultivation and the details of the extraction and conversion of Jatropha oil into biodiesel. Currently, it is day 3 of our course. On the first day, we learned about the selection criterion that is used to determine the seeds that Labland Biotechs germinates in order to sell as seedlings. The process involved softening the seed coats with a dilute hydrochloric acid solution in order to speed up germination. In addition, Apoorva and I created a batch of artificial soil that the seeds were planted in. The soil was a mixture of sand, red dirt, manure, and coconut husks, designed to supply plenty of water and nutrients to the seeds after they sprout. Yesterday and today, Apoorva and I will be converting both regular, edible vegetable oils and Jatropha oil into biodiesel on both a commercial and laboratory scale. While both processes are similar, the conversion of Jatropha oil is more complex since it is inedible. The Jatropha biodiesel that Apoorva and I are making will be given to us so we can run it in our vehicles. Labland Biotechs has been running a Chevy Tavera on a 10% Jatropha biofuel blend for a year; the biodiesel blend gets on average 4-5 more kilometers per liter than straight diesel. In addition, Labland Biotechs plans to increase the amount of biodiesel in the blend yearly by 10% and see the effects of the biodiesel on the engine and the vehicle's performance.

Sincerely,
Adarsha

An update and analysis of the project site

Dear followers of Project Jatropha,

I am pleased to report that the seedlings from the Phase I farmers are growing very well. The farmers have been growing the seedlings as a hedge crop, in bunds (which are small plots), on wasteland, or with tobacco (intercropping). We also noted that the plants that had been irrigated were significantly larger than those that had just been rain-fed. In fact, the tallest irrigated plants were around 4 feet tall and were bearing several clumps of fruit whereas the tallest rain-fed plants were only 2-3 feet tall and had no flowers, let alone fruits. In addition, the plants that had been fertilized with manure were larger than those that had not been fertilized. Both of these cases illustrate that although Jatropha curcas can survive and grow in harsh conditions without irrigation and fertilizers, the use of both cultivation methods greatly increases the plant's growth. Mr. Abignan Gurukar, a Research Officer at Labland Biotechs, told us that a good supply of water is essential for the first year of the seedlings' lives if the farmers wish to maximize the plants' producitivity. For Jatropha curcas to be grown by these small farmers on an economically viable scale, it is necessary to cultivate the plants, especially in the beginning of their lives when they need the most care. Only then can Project Jatropha truly be able to offer poverty alleviation for the farmers in our project.

Sincerely,
Adarsha