“Jatropha fever” in Myanmar as entrepreneurs address shortfalls in junta’s progarm

In Myanmar, the Straits Times is reporting on the “jatropha fever” which has caught on through Southeast Asia and South Asia, with a profile of the activity at the 650-member farming cooperative, where farm workers are earning 50 percent above national average wages for work at the 100,000 acre plantation at Maw Tin in south Myanmar.. The Straits Times said that the efficiency of the estate operations was in sharp contrast to reports from NGOs of forced labor or land confiscations to propel its jatropha biodiesel program. Local farm executives said that entrepreneurs are filling in the gaps in the ruling junta’s original plan, which had failed to account for seed harvesting and oilseed crushing.

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