CIFOR Forest sNews reports on the challenge to produce enough biofuel to meet India’s ambitious environmental targets.

In arid lands, fruits of the Jatropha tree are favoured for the production of biofuels, but India would need to have an estimated four million hectares under cultivation; an area equivalent to the size of Switzerland.

Speaking at Tree Diversity Day at the 11th UN Convention on Biodiversity Conference of Parties in Hyderabad, India, Navin Sharma, chief scientist with ITC Ltd, Bangalore said current land pressure, cost and sheer logistics were the major obstacles.

India has set itself a target of blending five per cent biodiesel into all regular diesel by 2012.

CIFOR scientists warn of the difficulties in producing Jatropha without harming the environment. They favour cultivation of the trees by smallholder farmers in agroforestry systems. This, says Sharma, could help meet the Indian biofuel industry’s demand for raw material and reduce the negative impacts of commercially grown biofuel crops on the environment.

Sharma cites an example of how Jatropha is being grown to the benefit of smallholder farmers without harming the environment in the Hassan District of Karnataka, India. In addition to selling the fruit for bioenergy production the farmers are using the tree for firewood, timber and fruit.

Read the full story: Farm area ‘the size of Switzerland’ needed to meet India’s biofuel shortage