Seeds & Saplings

The seeds are obtained from the trilocular ellipsoidal fruits. The seeds are black in Color and each seed is of 10 - 12 mm wide and 15 - 18 mm long and counts 1100 – 1150 seeds per kg.

Jatropha Curcas saplings can be raised from the seeds or cuttings with simple nursery methods. The saplings can be raised in poly-ethane bags and then transferred to the field in 6 – 12 weeks time. The seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours before sowing and seeds are then sown in 15 cm x 20 cm sized polyethylene sapling bags filled with sand, soil and organic fertilizer in 1:1:1 ratio. Normally, five roots are formed from seeds: one tap root and 4 lateral roots.

When planted at a equal spacing of 2m x 3m, one hectare can have 1,667 seedlings and one will need 2 kg of seeds to plant 1 hectare of land.

The plant withstands long drought periods and adapts to arid and semi-arid conditions. The growth is well in the regions with more than 300 mm of rainfall per year.

Seeds and saplings are available for sale in both small and bulk quantities. Farmers looking to buy seeds by air shipping can choose to buy seeds and raise their own saplings due to the higher cost for shipping Saplings when compared to that of seeds.