Swaziland jatropha plantation gets underway

In Swaziland, activist Bob Geldof was on hand to promote jatropha-based biodiesel. D1 Oils recently raised $170 million on the Alternative Investment Market, and recently signed a joint venture with BP worth $160 million to grow a million hectares of jatropha. But D1 has found itself accused of “biopiracy” and the Indian government’s National Biodiversity Authority blocked D1’s application to do research on jatropha in India.

The company was accused of receiving stolen jatropha seedlings from the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University in Chattisgarh, from a scientist who subsequently joined the company. Also in India, public protests have occurred in Rajasthan against using land for jatropha.

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