Partnership Seeks to Develop Jatropha Plantations in West Africa

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between biofuel crop developer JOil Pte. Ltd. and biofuel processor Agritech Faso SA will explore the planting of high yielding Jatropha curcas varieties for biofuels in more than 618,000 acres (250,000 hectares) of land intercropped with food crops within the next ten years in Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin. JOil will field test its elite Jatropha materials in Agritech farms as a prelude to any formal business arrangement between the two parties. The MOU embodies not only the development of Jatropha plantations but also the establishment of a refinery for biofuel production.

The experience and reputation of the two companies in the bioenergy business are highlighted in this partnership. Having started commercial biofuel projects in 2007, Agritech is known for its proprietary community based intercropping models for Jatropha production and has already planted 4,000 hectares to Jatropha intercropped with food crops in West Africa. JOil is a big joint venture company involved in the development, propagation and sale of elite Jatropha seedlings and improved genetically modified seedlings for commercial cultivation as well as agronomy research and consultancy. It has operations in a number of Asian countries.