The physic nut is officially known as Jatropha Curcas, and apparently has become all the rage in developing countries looking to produce bio-diesel.
"Native to Central and South America, it is now being grown across Africa, India and Southeast Asia, not only as a breakthrough source of clean energy but also as a means to regenerate land, degraded by years of deforestation and desertification.....With the help of automobile and petroleum giants DaimlerChrysler and BP, the Indian government is pushing ahead with a scheme to broaden its introduction costing millions of US dollars. At the same time, many grassroots NGOs are hailing it as a revolutionary new tool in the struggle against rural poverty. As well as being drought resistant and toxic to predators, the press cake that remains after processing can be used as a high-grade organic fertilizer, helping to improve soil fertility.
Jatropha can grow on otherwise unusable land, often home to the most marginalized and impoverished members of society and in South Asia local initiatives have dedicated themselves to ensuring that farmers who propagate Jatropha on these lands continue to benefit economically by training them in all aspects of its cultivation." (Link)
But of course, when it comes to Burma, we do well to keep a healthy dose of scepticism. The aforementioned article outlines the challenges inherent in an undertaking of this scale - turning a little green nut into a clean diesel fuel is no small task.
"In order to be used as a replacement fuel for diesel engines the oil has to be extracted, processed and impurities removed. Without such a method, up to 40 percent is lost and the remainder only usable, as it is at present, in small-scale engines. This is in itself a massive undertaking, involving the construction of hundreds of esterification plants and workers trained in the use of volatile chemicals such as methanol."But, the generals won't let a little thing like logic, or lack of necessary infrastructure, slow them down. Since the beginning of this year, Than Shwe has embraced the oily little nut as his new darling - calling for anyone and everyone to commence planting as many as possible. Burma has physic nut plants coming out their ears - even residents in Rangoon have been ordered to ditch their flowers and put out potted jatrophas.
According to Naomi, the generals are claiming they have 65 million acres of "wasteland" on which to grow the plant. A phenomenal figure considering this is equal to the amount of wasteland India claims to have - a country noticeably less fertile overall, and much larger than Burma. But, as one might expect, Than Shwe is using a fairly flexible definition of wasteland here. Not two months ago, the government started turning the grounds of the ancient Arakanese palace of Mrauk-U into a plantation. (I know it says castor oil plant in the article, that's just a misnomer). The ancient palace was built in 1430, and although little remains after being destroyed by the Burmese in 1780, it remains one of the most important and revered cultural sites among Arakanese people. The third tier of the site is now home to a plantation, that will no doubt be maintained with forced labor.
Reports from Arakan State are that farmers have been ordered to grow at least 10 physic nut plants, or pay 1000 kyat fine, and that each military battalion has been ordered to cultivate 30 acres. I couldn't confirm the 30 acres, though - in June, the government announced plans to cultivate 100,000 acres of rubber plants, another government agricultural project that seems to be bloated, but not as big as the physic nuts. On June 29, villagers from Maungdaw Township in Arakan were forced to plant 17,600 of the plants along a local highway, in one day. In early July, a village chairman was murdered by one of his poor villagers after he repeatedly tried to collect 500 kyat from him for the village's physic nut plantation.
Now, add to those stories all that isn't making it to the media, and then multiply it by the number of all the other states, divisions, and townships in Burma.
For some reason, whenever I read about this ridiculous scheme, I can't shake the image of Chinese villagers during the Great Leap Forward, tossing their pots and pans into the fire in an effort to make steal. What's going to happen when it comes time for a rice harvest and all anyone has are fields of toxic green nuts?.
The Kachin Post also has an article on how the physic nut can be used to produce agents for biological warfare.
Of course, no post involving Than Shwe would be complete without some evidence that he’s got nuts for brains himself. In Burmese the revered plant is called "Kyet Su", which works out to be "Monday-Tuesday". This is conveniently the opposite of "Tuesday-Monday", or "Suu Kyi" in Burmese. I think you can put those puzzle pieces together.
For a tyrannical general, such actions seem irrational and paranoid. But for people who have little recourse left, it seems magic can become a political statement. Criticizing the jatropha project earns a death penalty in Chin State. But, Naomi Mann reports that “sales of traditional gold painted papier-mâché owls have reportedly been rising in recent months. The word for owl in Burmese is Zee Gwat....In this case, the days for Zee Gwat and Kyet Su are reversed thereby counteracting any previous magic.” Let’s see how long it takes before Than Shwe outlaws little gold owls.