The political ecology of Jatropha plantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Jatropha curcas is promoted internationally for its presumed agronomic viability in marginal lands, economic returns for small farmers, and lack of competition with food crops. However, empirical results from a study in southern India revealed that Jatropha cultivation, even on agricultural lands, is neither profitable, nor pro-poor. We use a political ecology framework to analyse both the discourse promoting Jatropha cultivation and its empirical consequences. We deconstruct the shaky premises of the dominant discourse of Jatropha as a ‘pro-poor’ and ‘pro-wasteland’ development crop, a discourse that paints a win-win picture between poverty alleviation, natural resource regeneration, and energy security goals. We then draw from fieldwork on Jatropha plantations in the state of Tamil Nadu to show how Jatropha cultivation favours resource-rich farmers, while possibly reinforcing existing processes of marginalisation of small and marginal farmers.

Keywords:

• biofuels
• political ecology
• marginalisation
• India
• Jatropha

Notes

¹India is meeting 70 percent of its increasing oil needs by imports and is the fourth major oil importer after the USA, Japan, and China (International Energy Agency 2009). Petrol and diesel use in transportation are growing rapidly with high economic growth since 1991, and the transport sector accounts for 50 percent of oil consumption (Government of India 2006).

²K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman of The Planning Commission of India, Foreword, Report on the Committee on Development of Biofuel (Government of India 2003).

³D.N. Tewari, Member of the Planning Commission of India, Preface, Report on the Committee on Development of Biofuel (Government of India 2003).

⁴We leave other elements aside, such as the optimistic views on scarce water requirements, the very positive energy return on energy invested (EROI), and the avoided carbon dioxide emissions, that accompany pro-Jatropha discourse not only in India but across the world. They are used complementarily with the ‘pro-poor’ and ‘pro-wasteland’ discourses as supporting features.

⁵Table 12.1 in Yadav (1989).

⁶Depending on their actual land cover and land use, the so-called ‘wastelands’ provide diverse environmental services, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity and water conservation.

⁷While about 2m ha of wasteland have been transferred to eligible people in Andhra Pradesh, about 150,000 ha in Karnataka, and 180,000 ha in Kerala, the wasteland distributed in Tamil Nadu is less than 100,000 ha (Viswanathan 2003).

⁸Interviews were conducted in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Forest College Research Institute (FCRI), Bannari Amman Group factory main plantation site and R&D Branch plantations, D1 Mohan Bio Oils Ltd. R&D Branch plantations, District Collectorate, District Watershed Development Agency, and District Forest Office, among other government agencies. Some interviews were conducted in the field itself as we accompanied company field staff and government officials to the field to understand and observe their work.

⁹The reason for the lopsided sample for in-depth interviews is that the plantations were clustered in T, while in C, plantations were scattered, limiting the extent of data collection.

¹⁰D1-Mohan Bio Oils Ltd. is a joint venture (at 50:50) between D1 Oils plc, a UK-based multinational company, and Chennai-based Mohan Breweries & Distilleries Limited. (http://www.d1plc.com/)

¹¹BAG is one of the largest industrial conglomerates of south India with a wide spectrum of manufacturing and trading (sugar, alcohol, ethanol, biodiesel, liquor, granite, cotton yarn), distribution (automobiles and related accessories for renowned brands), and financing activities. The group is involved in the service sector through wind power energy, IT services, education, health care, and real estate. (http://www.bannari.com/)

¹²Interview with the manager of Shiva Distilleries' privately owned plantation, at Gudimangalam, 17 June 2008.

¹³For a matter of private confidence and privacy respect, none of the interviewees are named.

¹⁴Records of Village Administrative Officers (VAO).

¹⁵There were a few exceptions, due to farmers' migration, unwillingness to answer, illness, or death.

¹⁶Interview with Shiva Distilleries' privately owned plantation manager, at Gudimangalam, 17 June 2008.

¹⁷According to data from the Solvent Extraction Association of India (2008).

¹⁸The term ‘coolie’ is applied to the class of daily-wage workers. This term is often used pejoratively. In Tamil kuli means ‘wages’ and in Hindi qūlī means ‘(day-) labourer’.

¹⁹Interview with AGNI-NET Biofuels Ltd. Manager in Pondicherry, 3 July 2008, and statements of Credit Carbon Farming (CCF) manager in Milmo and Wasley (2010).

²⁰Interview with Assistant Directorate of Agriculture in Thiruvannamalai, 21 May 2008.

²¹A tandal is a broker who takes interest from the beginning, delivers some cash, and then expects a fixed weekly repayment of the loan.

²²The pawnbroker provides cash after assets are left as a deposit. The assets are returned when the cash is repaid in full.

²³Interview with an ex-field staff worker of D1 Mohan Bio Oils Ltd, Thiruvannamalai, 30 June 2008.

²⁴Ibid.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pere Ariza-Montobbio

We wish to thank the many people who helped us in the course of designing and executing this research. Smriti Das gave useful advice at several stages. Ignatius Prabhakar contributed valuable insights in the field. Anand, Yokesh and Sreenivasan provided translation support. Dr. Paramathma gave valuable suggestions in the agronomic assessment. David Chackrawarthy helped in a variety of ways. Francisco Zorondo, Viky Reyes, and Ivana Logar helped with data processing and editing. The anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments. Most of all, this research would not have been possible without the unconditional cooperation extended to us by the villagers of Thiruvannamalai and Coimbatore. The first author also thanks the staff of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development (CISED – now merged with ATREE) for their friendship and help. The first author's contribution to this study is supported by the research project SEJ2006-15219 and the second author's contribution is supported by an institutional grant from the Ford Foundation.