Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2072/48073
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| Title: | The political ecology of Jatropha plantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India |
| Authors: | Ariza Montobbio, Pere
Lele, Sharachchandra
Kallis, Giorgos
Martínez Alier, Joan |
| Other authors: | Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Subjects: | Biodièsels -- Índia
Conreus energètics -- Índia
Política del medi ambient -- Aspectes econòmics -- Índia |
| Creation Date: | 2010 |
| Series/Report no.: | Working Papers on Environmental Sciences; |
| Abstract: | Jatropha curcas is promoted internationally for its presumed agronomic viability in
marginal lands, economic returns for small farmers, and lack of competition with food
crops. However, empirical results from a study in southern India revealed that Jatropha cultivation, even on agricultural lands, is neither profitable, nor pro-poor. We use a political ecology framework to analyze both the discourse promoting Jatropha
cultivation and its empirical consequences. We deconstruct the shaky premises of the
dominant discourse of Jatropha as a “pro-poor” and “pro-wasteland” development crop, a discourse that paints a win-win picture between poverty alleviation, natural resource regeneration, and energy security goals. We then draw from field-work on Jatropha plantations in the state of Tamil Nadu to show how Jatropha cultivation favors
resource-rich farmers, while possibly reinforcing existing processes of marginalization of small and marginal farmers. |
| CDU: | 504 - Threats to the environment. Including: Pollution |
| Appears in Collections: | Working Papers on Environmental Sciences
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