the availability of water for watering purpose, the location should also near to water sources. Once the area is cleared from shrubs or tree logging, the nursery
area is leveled and makes ditches to avoid puddles. Bamboo fences needs to be made to avoid disruption of livestock, such as goats or chickens.
- Media preparation: nursery media is filled with soil mixed with manure and husk rice 1:1:1. The polybag size is 25 cm x 15 cm and provided with 18 holes. Soil
should be sifted before mixed with manure and husk rice.
Seed Preservation
Seed preservation includes: watering, weed control and pest control. This activity is carried out until the seeds 1.5 up to 2.0 months. Watering should be
done every day, unless it rains. Removing of pests and diseases is carried out as needed. Pests that are commonly found in nurseries are snails, grass hoppers and
termites. Weaning seedlings from stem cutting is conducted after 4 weeks by grouping plants by height large plants, while the seed weaning is conducted after
6 weeks. Seeds from stem cutting or seed can be transferred to the field after ± 2 months.
3. Planting Stage
Planting and replanting
Planting Jatropha curcas is carried out at the beginning or during rainy season to provide sufficient water availability. Planted seed should be health and
strong enough and the height is about 50 cm or more. Jatropha curcas plant has root system that is able to with stand with water and soil, so it is a drought
resistant crop plants and serve as plant barriers to erosion. Besides, jatropha can also be adapted to soils that are less fertile or saline soil, have good drainage, not
flooded, and soil pH from 5.0 to 6.5.
Plant material can be in the form of seeding, stem cutting or seed. If planting is made using seed, the planting space is 2 x 2 m and needs seed about 5-
6 kgha in which 2 seeds per hole. Planting is conducted at the beginning or during rainy season to provide sufficient water availability for plants. The seeds should
be health and strong enough with 50 cm height.
Wide space of plants can give higher fruit production at least for 2 years. Thinning should be conducted in area with dense population. Replanting
activitiesis intended to replant the dead plants and ungrowing plants. Replanting should be done at 3-6 months using the same seed.
Planting is conducted after creating planting hole for 2-3 weeks at the beginning of rainy season to avoid rood seeding.Upper soil which locates at the
north side is mixed with manure 1-2 kg per hole and chemical fertilizers 20 g of Urea, 50 g of SP-36 and 10 g of KCl. From a total urea of 20 g, ½ portions 10 g
of urea is applied at the time of planting, while the other 10 g is given 1 month later. The seedling is placed into the hole after polybag is cut at the bottom and
made an incision at the polybag until the tip point. Direct planting on the field is conducted by putting stem cutting into the planting hole in 10-20 cm deep and
recommended to use at least 50 cm long stem cutting which have 1-2.5 cm diameter. At the end of the planting, the hole should be filled with remain soil on
the surface and compacted. For planting in dry climate, the soil surface on
planting hole should be concaveto hold much water in the rainy season. In wet climate, the surface of the planting hole should be elevated or form gulud shaped
to avoid the puddles that can cause drainage and poor soil aeration. Back up seedling as much as 20 500 seedings should be prepared for replanting.
Pruning
Jatropha curcas is planted as a fence cropor estate crop which should be
pruned periodically for maximal branching. Pruning is carried out to increase the number of productive branches. More branches on jatropha will produce more
seeds. In order to increase the number of branches, pruning can be conducted in 25 days. Pruning is done by cutting the plant shoots as high as 20-30 cm from the
ground, leaving at least 2 leaves on the rest of the trunk. Pruning is done on the woody trunk grayish brown. On the cut trunk, new branches will grow and
should be maintained. The quantity and quality of bunches that will appear in each branch is influenced by the level of soil fertility. Thinning also needs to be done to
reduce the occurrence of competition among plants that can essentially be used as a source of seeds or stem cuttings. Pruning and thinning should be carried out
periodically. Data planting of Jatropha curcas in 6 ha in PT. Adaro-Tanjung Banjarmasin is as follows:
- Location
: S2 - Planting Year
: 2010 - Planting distance : 2 m x 2 m
- Variety : IP - 1P
- Number of plants : 3,438 trees - Fertilizer dose i.e. : 10 g of NPKtree during planting, and ½ kg of manuretree
In the process of plant preservation, in order to provide fertile land for good Jatropha curcas growth, some weeds should be planted also during hydro
seeding as shown in Figure 3.33. Figure 3.34 shows some pictures of Jatropha curcas
plants aged about 1.5 years in PT Adaro.
4. Fertilization Stage
Fertilizeris principally applied to increase the availability of nutrients for plants. The type and dosage of fertilizer are adapted to the required soil fertility.
Dose of fertilizer for plants per ha: 80 kg of N, 18 kg of P
2
O
5
, 32 kg of K
2
O, 12 kg of CaO and 10 kg of MgO. N fertilizeris applied at the time of planting and 28
days after planting DAP, while P, K, Ca and Mg fertilizer are given at the time of planting. Organic fertilizer application is recommended to improve soil
structure. Other material that can be used as a substitute and companion of compost fertilizer is residual yield of jatropha extraction. The use of this material
aims to reduce the cost of fertilizer. Fertilizer dose is shown in Table 3.10. Fertilization can be done as many as two times a year at the beginning of rainy
season and the end of rainy season. Plants need organic fertilizercompost, N, P and K in order to obtain maximum result. Mikoryza bacterial can help the growth
of plants on land with limited content of phosphate. If oil experiences nitrogen deficiency, flower will fall and the seed production will be disrupted.
