Non‐edible oil seed producing Calophyllum inophyllum ideal for India's future biofuel development

Abstract

The impending climate change crisis has stimulated enormous interest in the development of biofuel globally. The supporters of biofuel hail that it is naturally carbon-neutral whereas the critiques argue that the large-scale plantations and production of biofuel based on Jatropha can not only strain agricultural resources but also threaten future food security. India's subsistence farmers are often faced with challenges and constraints of poverty. Foremost among the challenges are the marginal environmental conditions for agriculture often influenced by erratic rainfall, drought, poor soil quality, and unreliable irrigation water supply. In this article, we have presented a case study on the potential to use nonedible seeds from naturally occurring tree species, Calophyllum inophyllum to meet the increasing demand for biofuel production in India.

Assessment of Suitability of Tree Species for Bioenergy Production on Burned and Degraded Peatlands in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…Gamal and kaliandra are well known for biomass production, and kemiri sunan and nyamplung are promising for oil seed production. Previous studies suggested that nyamplung is adaptive to waterlogged areas [21][22][23], kaliandra is tolerant to acidic soil (PH 4-5) [24,25], and kemiri sunan is adaptive to marginal land [26]. Gamal is also tolerant to acidic soil [27,28] (Table 1).…”