GEM Biofuels Assess Unsatisfying Jatropha Results in Madagascar

(GEM Biofuels) ... Based on the internal review it is clear that, having planted very large areas of land, totalling 55,737 hectares, with Jatropha between 2007 and 2009, a lack of resources has resulted in significantly less success than had been hoped. Low intervention and maintenance following planting has resulted in a lower than anticipated number of plants reaching maturity and producing oil-bearing seeds.

The Board has commissioned external agronomic consultants to conduct a full review of both the Company’s plantations in Madagascar and to assess the potential of its land bank for other crops. The Board will provide a fuller market update when it has fully reviewed the report and had time to consider it. A key part of this external review is to assist the Company in determining a strategic plan to maximise the returns from its existing plantations, as well as how best to make use of the Company’s significant presence in Madagascar for the production of other crops. READ MORE