Water Consumption by Jatropha Curcas, Moringa Oleifera and Eucalyptus Saligna and Local People’s Perceptions in Mpanda District, Tanzania

Ntabaye, Prisca Patrick (2012) Water Consumption by Jatropha Curcas, Moringa Oleifera and Eucalyptus Saligna and Local People’s Perceptions in Mpanda District, Tanzania. Masters thesis, Sokoine University Of Agriculture. Morogoro, Tanzania.

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Abstract

In response to rising oil prices and searching for alternative, economically viable and environmentally sustainable forms of energy, certain plant species with biofuel potential have been proposed for large-scale planting in bio-fuel production. Some countries however have been forced to slow down the rate of implementation of commercial planting for bio-fuel production due to limited knowledge on potential environmental impacts of planting bio-fuel species especially on water resources as water scarcity is an increasingly severe problem Word-wide. The aim of the present study was to undertake comparative analysis of water consumption of three widely planted biofuel species – Jatropha curcas, Moringa oleifera and Eucalyptus saligna as a basis for determination of potential impacts on water resources in large scale plantations. The study consisted of two parts; field survey in Mpanda District to assess the extent of cultivation of the three biofuel trees and perceptions of local communities on water consumption of these species. The second part was a Greenhouse experiment to determine water use by the selected biofuel tree species as a basis for understanding the impacts of large scale planting on water resources. It was observed that the most extensively planted bio-fuel feedstock in the Mpanda District was J. curcas (75.3%) followed by M. oleifera (22%) and E.saligna (2.7%). There was also perception by the majority of people that E. saligna consumes large quantities of water from the soil. The Greenhouse experiment revealed that there is no difference in water consumption (p < 0.05) between M. oleifera and J. curcas while water consumption by E. saligna was significantly lower. The water consumption per kilogram of biomass production by J. curcas was of an average of 220 litres, followed by M. oleifera (358 litres) and E. saligna (379 litres). The amount of water uptake, especially for J. curcas and M. oleifera, per unit biomass production is relatively low thus expected to pose less threat to soil water budget when cultivated extensively as cash crop.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SB Plant culture
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	JHI Africa
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2015 13:52
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2015 13:52
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/201

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