Survey and collection of Jatropha curcas L. in the northwestern Savannas of Nigeria

The Existence and Distribution of Jatropha curcas L. germplasms in the Northwest zone of Nigeria is hereby reported with coordinates and point mapping. Fifty seven (57) accessions were collected from the seven States of the zone which spans across the Sahel, Sudan and Guinea Savannas. The collection was made from 18th to 22nd of August 2009. A plantation was established from these collections and the seeds from 39 different provenances of the seven States were analyzed for their oil content. The mean oil content ranged from 20.29% to 61.83% (CV 29.11%). The 100-seed weight ranged from 28.558g to 80.046g. There was a positive correlation between 100 seed weight and oil content (r = 0.235). The accessions from Kaduna State, spanning through the Sudan and Northern Guinea Savanna, had the highest mean oil content followed by those from Kano and Katsina States in the Sudan Savanna ecology. There were no significant differences (p < 0.5) in the accessions from Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States which are mainly located in the Sudano-Sahelian Savanna agro-ecological zone. Most of the provenances visited were more than 50 yrs old as reported by the locals, implying that Jatropha has been a long existing crop in Nigeria. The existence of Jatropha in almost all the visited locations, and the impressive intensity of fruiting as sighted on the trees and their oil contents show that the potential for adopting it into the farming systems of these localities as source of renewable energy exists.

► The existence and distribution of J. curcas L. in the seven states of Northwestern zone of Nigeria is reported with coordinates and point mapping. ► Preliminary evaluation of the J. curcas L. collections for oil content and 100-seed weight revealed that variability among these collections exists. ► Uses of J. curcas by the Locals in the zone of study is highlighted.