Preparation and Production of Planting Materials

The way to plant your Jatropha curcas:

1. Seed

For seedling production, select the seeds and treat them with water 6-8 hours before sowing. This is done to soften the seed coat for easy germination. Then put the seeds in the mixture of soil, sand and manure prepared in plastic bags with water. Some ratio can be use such as 3:2:1 and 2:1. It is best to avoid removing or breaking the seed coat before sowing due to risk of abnormal seedlings.

To sow the seeds, pour water while pressing it lightly on the soaked soil to prevent the seeds out from soil . The first shoot may be growth after 6-8 days. Watering the plants twice a day, morning and evening for seven days and once for the succeeding days. Make sure do not water the plants during afternoon or hot day because it can cause tip burnt. After 2 months, the sapling is ready for plantation.

2. Stem Cutting

Cuttings should be obtained from at least 8 month-old mature plant as much as possible 45-100 cm from the base of the stem. Use a saw or sharp knife to cut it. The plant should be about 3-4 cm thick and has short internodes with many eyes. Cuttings serve as an immediate source of planting material that can produce seeds in less than 1-2 years.

3. Tissue Culture

Tissue Culture is a laboratory-based procedure, which uses artificial and sterilized propagation media. This techniques actually need some skills and high cost of productions. Tissues from various parts of the plant can be used in this procedure but for easily culture,use just leaves because leaves has low maintenance. This method allows choosing desirable characteristics of the mother stock and improving the variety of Jatropha. By the way, this techniques can produce many stock of plants at the same times. Example, from one leaf, we can get many plants because tissue culture just need a few of sample to germinate the plants.