Blog Posts

Just another article about the subject this world doesn't really need. Uninformed and bad research, just the latest from Google news patched up a little.

Based in Ghana we are heavily involved in Jatropha, developing new non-toxic planting material, hybrids that will exceed current maximum yields by far, provide more and better oil and a seed cake which can serve as protein rich animal feed, something West African poultry farmers desperately need. Mr. Abisai is absolutely right in his comment, Jatropha is a superb plant, but it needs to be developed into a commercial crop, something which cannot happen in 2-3 years. But what I call Jatropha generation 2 is visible at the horizon.

The current wave of new activities surfacing are mostly leftovers of a generation 1 approach which will inevitably fail. JOIL, however, has by far the strongest financial muscle in Jatropha development, being a spin-off from Temasek Life Science in Singapore. With very strong scientific backing they have run reliable tests of their improved material in India and are moving cautiously into Africa right now. We will have to see how their planting material is doing in real field tests.

SGB is a very different story. A mostly marketing driven company based in San Diego trying to make a buck. Nobody can tell, where their plant development really stands.