Jojoba plantation can bring
prosperity in most poor areas of Pakistan
Pakistan
has wast land mass of arid zones and deserts , We can use
this area for JOJOBA (Pronounced -ho-HO-ba) plantation.
As India start jojoba
plantation few years ago now they are able to export its oil
and other products. To understand its worth.
I.Introduction
Jojoba (Simmodsia chinensis (Link) Schneider) is a perennial
woody shrub native to the semiarid regions of southern
Arizona, southern California and northwestern Mexico. Jojoba
(pronounced ho-HO-ba) is being cultivated to provide a
renewable source of a unique high-quality oil.
Native Americans extracted
the oil from jojoba seeds to treat sores and wounds
centuries ago. Collection and processing of seed from
naturally occurring stands in the early 1970s marked the
beginning of jojoba domestication. In addition, the ban on
the importation of sperm whale products in 1971 led to the
discovery that jojoba oil is in many regards superior to
sperm oil for applications in the cosmetics and other
industries.
Today, 40,000 acres of jojoba are under cultivation in the
southwestern U.S. Much of the interest in jojoba worldwide
is the result of the plant's ability to survive in a harsh
desert environment. The utilization of marginal land that
will not support more conventional agricultural crops could
become a major asset to the global agricultural economy.
The oldest commercial jojoba plantings in the U.S. were
established in the late 1970s, and present production of
jojoba oil is in the range of thousands of tons per year.
The major world producers are the United States and Mexico,
with considerable quantities of oil being exported to Japan
and Europe.
II. Uses:
Jojoba seed contains a light-gold colored liquid wax ester
which is the primary storage lipid of the plant. This is
unlike conventional oilseed crops, such as soybean, corn,
olive, or peanut which produce oils as the primary storage
lipid. Jojoba wax (called oil) makes up 50% of the seed's
dry weight.
The physical properties of
jojoba oil are: high viscosity, high flash and fire point,
high dielectric constant, high stability and low volatility.
Its composition is little affected by temperatures up to
570°F (300°C). Jojoba oil contains straight- chained C20 and
C22 fatty acids and alcohols and two unsaturated bonds,
which make the oil susceptible to many different types of
chemical manipulations. The extracted oil is relatively
pure, non-toxic, biodegradable, and resistant to rancidity.
Most jojoba oil produced in the U.S. today is sold at a high
price for use in cosmetics and hair care products. As many
as 300 products containing jojoba have appeared in the U.S.
in recent years. As the supply of oil increases and price
decreases, more uses will become economically feasible. For
example, the viscosity index of jojoba oil is much higher
than that of petrolium oil; therefore, it may be used as a
high temperature, high pressure lubricant.
The stability of jojoba oil
makes it attractive to the electronic and computer
industries. And since jojoba oil contains no cholesterol or
triglycerides and is not broken down by normal metabolic
pathways, it may become an important low-calorie oil for
human consumption.
The oil can be used as an
antifoam agent in antibiotics production and as a treatment
for skin disorders. Other proposed uses include candles,
plasticizers, detergents, fire retardents, transformer oil,
and for the leather industry.The meal contains up to 30%
protein, but toxic compounds (simmondsins) make it currently
hazardous as an animal feed.
III. Growth Habit:
Jojoba is a woody evergreen shrub or small multi-stemmed
tree that typically grows to a height of 10 to 15 ft. Leaves
are opposite, oval or lanceolate, gray green, and have a
waxy cuticle that reduces moisture loss. The plant develops
one or a few long tap roots (up to 40 ft) that can supply
water and minerals from far below the soil surface.
Jojoba is usually dioecious (male and female flowers are
borne on separate plants). Female flowers are small, pale
green and commonly solitary or in clusters at the nodes.
Male flowers are yellow, larger, and occur in clusters.
Pollination occurs via wind or insect.
The fruit is a green capsule which encloses up to three
seeds. When ripe (3 to 6 months after fertilization) the
capsule splits and reveals the seed, which is brown,
wrinkled and about the size of a small olive (300 to 1,000
seeds/lb). Seed production is generally limited until the
fourth year of growth.
IV. Environment
Requirements:
A. Climate:
Jojoba is best suited to areas that are frost free and is
not grown in the northern midwest. When temperatures drop
below 20°F, flowers and terminal portions of young branches
of most jojoba plants are damaged. During early seedling
development, excessive cold may kill an entire plantation.
Frost may not damage taller plants to the same degree, but
it can reduce yield. Jojoba is very tolerant of high
temperatures.
Natural stands of jojoba occur in areas that receive 3 to 18
in. of precipitation annually. Irrigation has produced more
luxuriant vegetative growth, but it is not known whether
this increased growth results in higher seed yield. Jojoba
requires the most water during late winter and early spring.
B. Soil:
Most wild jojoba populations occur on coarse, light or
medium textured soils with good drainage and good water
infiltration. Planting on heavy soil results in later
blooming, slower growth and more problems with fungal
diseases.
C. Seed Preparation and Germination:
Jojoba can be planted by direct seeding or by transplanting
seedlings to the field. In the southwestern U.S. many
growers prefer direct seeding because it is less expensive,
faster and requires less hand labor. Seed can be germinated
in vermiculite or sand at about 80°F. Emergence occurs in 15
to 20 days, and the seedlings are ready for transplanting
when they are 6 to 12 in. tall (8 to 10 weeks). Emergence
from direct-seeded fields occurs in 15 to 20 days.
Propagation from clones or from tissue culture is a more
rapid method of varietal improvement.
V. Cultural Practices:
A. Seedbed Preparation:
Jojoba plantations are established by clearing and leveling
a site prior to seeding or planting seedlings, rooted
cuttings or plantlets produced from tissue culture.
B. Seeding Date:
Jojoba can be seeded or transplanted to the field when the
soil temperature reaches 70°F. Low soil temperature may
delay emergence by as much as 2 to 3 months.
C. Method and Rate of Seeding:
Seeds are planted 1 in. deep, and emergence usually occurs
within 20 days. The soil should be kept moist but not wet
through emergence.
Individual seeds or seedlings are planted 12 to 18 in. apart
in rows. Spacing between rows depends on the harvester to be
used. With hand harvesting and cultivation, rows can be as
close as 10 ft.
To obtain the proper female:male ratio (6:1), it is
advisable to over-plant (7 to 9 lb/acre of seeds) and rogue
out excess males later. As male plants flower, they should
be thinned out to 1 male every 40 ft on the row. As female
plants flower, usually in the third year, any slow-growing
or unproductive plants are thinned out, leaving 1 female
plant every 2 to 3 ft on the row.
D. Fertility and Lime Requirements:
Little information is available on the response of
cultivated jojoba to lime or fertilizer applications. Jojoba
grows wild on soils of marginal fertility with soil pH
ranging from 5 to 8. The soils that jojoba is adapted to in
the semiarid regions of Arizona, southern California and
northwestern Mexico are generally slightly alkaline and have
native high potassium levels. Based on this, one might
assume that for best growth, soils should have a pH of 6 or
more and available K levels of at least 100 ppm. Apply
enough dolomitic lime according to soil test recommendations
to raise soil pH to 6. Approximately 10 to 15 pounds of
potash fertilizer should be applied if available K levels
are less than 100 ppm. Yield trials conducted in California
have not shown any improvement in vegetative growth with the
addition of nitrogen or phosphorus, therefore no additional
N or P2O5 fertilizers are recommended.
E. Variety Selection:
There are no improved varieties of jojoba. Some yield
components that vary among wild jojoba stands include: seed
size, oil content, number of flowers per node, early
flowering, precocious seed production (starting before the
fifth year), consistent high production from year to year,
upright growth habit, and degree of frost tolerance. Work is
underway to select for desired traits and plants suitable
for mechanical harvest.
F. Weed Control:
Weeds must be controlled early in the establishment of the
plantation. Weed control prior to planting and/or
cultivation between rows during growth is needed until the
jojoba plant is large enough to shade competing plants. No
herbicides are registered for use on jojoba in the
midwestern United States.
G. Diseases and Their Control:
On poorly drained soil, jojoba is susceptible to fungal
wilts, including Verticillium, Fusarium, Pithium and
Phytopthora.
H. Insects and Other Predators and Their Control:
More than 100 species of insects have been identified on
jojoba, but few cause known economic damage. Infestations of
spider mites, grasshoppers, and thrips may result in yield
losses.
Fences may be necessary to eliminate browsing by wild
animals who find the plant very palatable. This has been a
major factor in the distribution of jojoba.
I. Harvesting:
All seeds on a jojoba shrub do not mature at the same time,
and more than one harvest may be necessary. Most jojoba is
currently harvested by hand. Over-the-row fruit and berry
harvesting equipment is adaptable to jojoba harvesting.
J. Drying and Storage:
Jojoba seed that has been dried to around 10% moisture and
protected from pest damage will keep for several years.
VI. Yield Potential and Performance Results:
Jojoba generally does not produce an economically useful
yield until the fourth or fifth year after planting. Seed
yields in natural stands of jojoba range from a few seeds to
as much as 30 lb of clean, dry seed per plant. Production of
seed varies greatly from plant to plant in a stand and from
year to year for a particular plant.
Currently, the average yield of commercial jojoba
plantations is less than 300 lb/acre. Plantations that were
established with selected higher yielding clones are capable
of producing up to 800 lb/acre. Crop improvement programs at
the University of California-Riverside and the University of
Arizona-Tucson are actively researching consistent
productivity.
VII. Economics of Production and Markets:
In 1978, the cost of establishing jojoba in the southwestern
U.S. (the first 3 years) was estimated to be $1,157/acre.
Low yields and frost damage have resulted in financial
losses for many farmers and investors. Successful long-term
production of jojoba depends on improved yield and a strong
market. Industry is typically hesitant to invest in new
technology involving an agriculturally produced resource
until a steady and continued supply of that resource can be
demonstrated. The value of jojoba oil as an alternative
industrial oil with multiple applications and as a
replacement for non-renewable fossil petroleum has been
demonstrated.
VIII. Information Sources:
Benzioni, A. and M. Forti. 1989. Jojoba. Pages 448-461 in
Oil Crops of the World. G. Robbelen, R.K. Downey, and A.
Ashri (eds.) McGraw-Hill Publishing Company; New York. 553
pages.
Bloomfield, Frena. 1985. Jojoba and Yucca. Century
Hutchinson Publishing, London.
Foster, K.E., M.M. Karpiscak, J.G. Taylor and N.G. Wright.
1983. Guayule, jojoba, buffalo gourd and Russian thistle:
Plant characteristics, products and commercialization
potential. Desert Plants 5(3):112-126.
Jojoba Growers Association. 1990. Jojoba Happenings,
Newsletter of the Association. Phoenix, Arizona.
National Research Council. 1985. Jojoba: New Crop for Arid
Lands, New Raw Material for Industry. National Academy
Press, Washington, D.C.
Naqvi, H.H., G. Goldstein, C. Ratnayake, T. Ceccardi, and
I.P. Ting. 1988. Jojoba breeding and agronomic
investigations at UC Riverside. Proceedings: Seventh
International Conference on Jojoba and Its Uses. A.R.
Baldwin (ed.) American Oil Chemists' Society; Champaign,
Ill. p. 395-409.
Weiss E.A. 1983. Crambe, niger and jojoba. Pages 507-527 in
Oilseed Crops. Longman; London.
Yermanos, D.M. 1979. Jojoba: A crop whose time has come.
California Agriculture. July-August 1979. pp. 4-11.
June, 2013
Source:
Bolta Karachi