Jatropha Curcas

The hardy oil tree

Jatropha is a hardy perennial tree that grows in nutrient poor soils and low average rainfall regions. BERL supports smallholder farmers in Malawi to grow Jatropha trees as a boundary to their other crops. This boundary crop model alleviates food vs fuel issues.

The trees produce non-edible nuts annually, which BERL purchase from their smallholder farmer partners

The nuts can be processed to extract Jatropha straight vegetable oil (JSVO) and create a seed-cake fertiliser from the by-product.

Jatropha Bio-Oil

BERL’s “J-Power” Brand

Approximately 30% by weight of Jatropha nuts is a vegetable oil. Once extracted and filtered through a special process, this can be blended with diesel to create a bio-fuel which substantially lowers harmful fuel emissions.

Trials with major Airlines worldwide have proven that the Jatropha oil can be processed to produce an effectively efficient Jet fuel. Jatropha oil is stable at low temperatures (the oil does not gel).

Jatropha fuel blends have also been shown to improve engine performance.

Jatropha Seed-cake Fertiliser

BERL’s “Chipolopolo” brand

BERL’s Jatropha ‘seed-cake’ is an effective, organic fertiliser, priced more affordably compared with alternative options in Malawi, which are mostly imported, expensive and inorganic.

Jatropha seed-cake also has nematicidal properties (plant-parasitic nematode repellent and suppressant), further helping crop growth and yields.