Determinants of expansion of area under jatropha plantation in North East India: A Tobit analysis

•Education and attitude towards jatropha significantly influences expansion decision•Availability of unutilized land significantly influences expansion decision•Expected income and percentage of agricultural to total income are key determinants•The risk taker farmers are more likely to expand the area under jatropha

One of the major challenges of the National Biofuel Policy in India is to achieve a target of 20% blending of biodiesel by 2017. This demands expansion of area under jatropha plantation, as jatropha is the major source of biodiesel in India. Under this background, present paper makes an attempt to analyze the influences of the factors that motivate farmers to expand area under jatropha plantation in North East India. The study shows that education, attitude towards jatropha, unutilized suitable land for jatropha, minimum expected income from jatropha, percentage of agricultural income to total income, technical help, and risk are found to have statistically significant influences on the decision of expansion of jatropha plantation. The study has important implication for framing suitable policy measures for expansion of biodiesel production in the region.