The political ecology ofJatrophaplantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India

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Abstract
Jatropha curcas is promoted internationally for its presumed agronomic viability\ud in marginal lands, economic returns for small farmers, and lack of competition\ud with food crops. However, empirical results from a study in southern India\ud revealed that Jatropha cultivation, even on agricultural lands, is neither\ud profitable, nor pro-poor. We use a political ecology framework to analyse both\ud the discourse promoting Jatropha cultivation and its empirical consequences. We\ud deconstruct the shaky premises of the dominant discourse of Jatropha as a ‘propoor’\ud and ‘pro-wasteland’ development crop, a discourse that paints a win-win\ud picture between poverty alleviation, natural resource regeneration, and energy\ud security goals. We then draw from fieldwork on Jatropha plantations in the state\ud of Tamil Nadu to show how Jatropha cultivation favours resource-rich farmers,\ud while possibly reinforcing existing processes of marginalisation of small and\ud marginal farmers