IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v70y2010i2p189-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Jatropha plantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India: Viability, livelihood trade-offs, and latent conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Ariza-Montobbio, Pere
  • Lele, Sharachchandra

Abstract

Researchers, policy makers and civil society organizations have been discussing the potential of biofuels as partial substitutes for fossil fuels and thereby as a simultaneous solution for climate change and rural poverty. Research has highlighted the ambiguity of these claims across various dimensions and scales, focusing on ethanol-producing or oilseed crops in agricultural lands or Jatropha-type crops on common lands. We studied the agronomic and economic viability and livelihood impacts of Jatropha curcas plantations on private farms in Tamil Nadu, India. We found that Jatropha yields are much lower than expected and its cultivation is currently unviable, and even its potential viability is strongly determined by water access. On the whole, the crop impoverishes farmers, particularly the poorer and socially backward farmers. Jatropha cultivation therefore not only fails to alleviate poverty, but its aggressive and misguided promotion will generate conflict between the state and the farmers, between different socio-economic classes and even within households. The water demands of the crop can potentially exacerbate the conflicts and competition over water access in Tamil Nadu villages.

Suggested Citation

  • Ariza-Montobbio, Pere & Lele, Sharachchandra, 2010. "Jatropha plantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India: Viability, livelihood trade-offs, and latent conflict," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 189-195, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2010:i:2:p:189-195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(10)00201-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katharine Sanderson, 2009. "Wonder weed plans fail to flourish," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7262), pages 328-329, September.
    2. Mitchell, Donald, 2008. "A note on rising food prices," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4682, The World Bank.
    3. Russi, Daniela, 2008. "An integrated assessment of a large-scale biodiesel production in Italy: Killing several birds with one stone?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1169-1180, March.
    4. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    5. Arjan de Haan, 1999. "Livelihoods and poverty: The role of migration - a critical review of the migration literature," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 1-47.
    6. Altenburg, Tilman & Dietz, Hildegard & Hahl, Matthias & Nikolidakis, Nikos & Rosendahl, Christina & Seelige, Kathrin, 2009. "Biodiesel in India: value chain organisation and policy options for rural development," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 43, number 43, June.
    7. Gerbens-Leenes, P.W. & Hoekstra, A.Y. & van der Meer, Th., 2009. "The water footprint of energy from biomass: A quantitative assessment and consequences of an increasing share of bio-energy in energy supply," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1052-1060, February.
    8. J. S. Clancy, 2008. "Are biofuels pro-poor? Assessing the evidence," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 416-431.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sorda, Giovanni & Banse, Martin & Kemfert, Claudia, 2010. "An overview of biofuel policies across the world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6977-6988, November.
    2. Serafin Corral & David Romero Manrique de Lara & Marisa Tejedor Salguero & Carmen Concepción Jimenez Mendoza & David Legna-de la Nuez & María Dorta Santos & Francisco Díaz Peña, 2016. "Assessing Jatropha Crop Production Alternatives in Abandoned Agricultural Arid Soils Using MCA and GIS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Clement, Floriane & Ishaq, Saba & Samad, Madar & Acharya, N. Sreedhar & Radha, A. Venkata & Haileslassie, A. & Blummel, M. & Dey, A. & Khan, M. A. & Shindey, D. N. & Mit, R., 2010. "Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin: CPWF project report 68," IWMI Research Reports H043549, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Guirguissou Maboudou Alidou & Anke Niehof, 2020. "Responses of Rural Households to the Cotton Crisis in Benin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Roberto Esposti, 2009. "Biofuels between International Markets, Policies and the Wto," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 4, December.
    6. Timilsina, Govinda R. & Shrestha, Ashish, 2011. "How much hope should we have for biofuels?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2055-2069.
    7. Jennifer Castañeda-Navarrete, 2021. "Homegarden diversity and food security in southern Mexico," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 669-683, June.
    8. Clement, Floriane & Ishaq, Saba & Samad, Madar & Acharya, N. Sreedhar & Radha, A. Venkata & Haileslassie, Amare & Blümmel, Michael & Dey, Amitav & Khan, M.A. & Shindey, D.N. & Mit, Rajesh, 2010. "Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin," IWMI Reports 212431, International Water Management Institute.
    9. Sevigne, Eva & Gasol, Carles M. & Brun, Filippo & Rovira, Laura & Pagés, Josep Maria & Camps, Francesc & Rieradevall, Joan & Gabarrell, Xavier, 2011. "Water and energy consumption of Populus spp. bioenergy systems: A case study in Southern Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1133-1140, February.
    10. Ravi Srivastava, 2020. "Labour Migration, Vulnerability, and Development Policy: The Pandemic as Inflexion Point?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 859-883, December.
    11. Dalemans, Floris & Muys, Bart & Verwimp, Anne & Van den Broeck, Goedele & Bohra, Babita & Sharma, Navin & Gowda, Balakrishna & Tollens, Eric & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Redesigning oilseed tree biofuel systems in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 631-643.
    12. Leah K. Vanwey, 2003. "Land Ownership as a Determinant of Temporary Migration in Nang Rong, Thailand," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 121-145, June.
    13. Acosta-Michlik, Lilibeth & Lucht, Wolfgang & Bondeau, Alberte & Beringer, Tim, 2011. "Integrated assessment of sustainability trade-offs and pathways for global bioenergy production: Framing a novel hybrid approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2791-2809, August.
    14. Kamaldeen Mohammed & Evans Batung & Moses Kansanga & Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Isaac Luginaah, 2021. "Livelihood diversification strategies and resilience to climate change in semi-arid northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-23, February.
    15. Maja Micevska & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2008. "Rural Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in the Himalayas," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(1), pages 163-193, October.
    16. Zeeshan & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & Arun Kumar Giri, 2022. "How Farm Household Spends Their Non-farm Incomes in Rural India? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1967-1996, August.
    17. James Thurlow & Giacomo Branca & Erika Felix & Irini Maltsoglou & Luis E. Rincón, 2016. "Producing Biofuels in Low-Income Countries: An Integrated Environmental and Economic Assessment for Tanzania," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(2), pages 153-171, June.
    18. Renata Baborska & Emilio Hernandez & Emiliano Magrini & Cristian Morales-Opazo, 2020. "The impact of financial inclusion on rural food security experience: A perspective from low-and middle-income countries," Review of Development Finance Journal, Chartered Institute of Development Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18.
    19. Diogo Ferraz & Fernanda P. S. Falguera & Enzo B. Mariano & Dominik Hartmann, 2021. "Linking Economic Complexity, Diversification, and Industrial Policy with Sustainable Development: A Structured Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-29, January.
    20. Bernardina Algieri, 2014. "A roller coaster ride: an empirical investigation of the main drivers of the international wheat price," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 459-475, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2010:i:2:p:189-195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.