Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation

The New Rural Industries
A handbook for Farmers and Investors

Jojoba

Introduction

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), pronounced ho-Ho-baa, produces a unique oil (or liquid wax) which has great potential for use in cosmetics and industrial applications. The oil is crushed from peanut-sized seeds that are produced from plantations of hedge-row grown shrubs. This desert plant is extremely drought tolerant, and is well suited to a broad area of inland Australia where it offers not only stable production, but environmental benefits not offered by existing land-use practices. These will ameliorate some of our land degradation problems.

Jojoba oil has many attributes that make it highly attractive to the cosmetic and skin-care industry. Not only does the oil have very acceptable skin-feel properties and excellent moisturising ability, but also it is very stable and gives products a long shelf life.

The industry in Australia is now based on the use of high-yielding cloned varieties especially selected for our climate, but as the majority of stands have been planted only since 1993 production is just commencing.

Although other countries has grown jojoba for some time, their industry is based mainly on the use of `seeded' material and yields are low and unreliable. Australia is well placed to become the world's major producer of jojoba oil because of the varieties used, the amenable climate and the technical skills of our farmers.

While good husbandry is a prerequisite in any agricultural enterprise, the timing of many of the operations in jojoba growing is not as critical as for some other crops. This makes it a relatively easy crop to integrate with existing land-use practices as well as offering a reliable return to supplement farm income.

Markets and marketing issues

Sales are limited to the high price, low volume markets that match the current low world production of about 1000 t/year. The cosmetics and skin-care industry buys 90% of present production, using the oil in its natural form or modified to a cream or wax. It is common for a single company to buy a number of modified forms from a processor and incorporate them directly into a range of cosmetic and hair care formulations. The market for pure filtered oil for use as a skin moisturiser is expanding rapidly.

The remaining 10% of production, coming from second pressings of seed and solvent-extracted oil, has use in the sulfonated form as an additive in special lubricants. The current production of jojoba oil is far too small to be of interest to the large oil companies but smaller specialist lubricant companies are keen to use it.

An industry overview presented in 1994 estimated the market potential to be 200,000 t of oil per year with about 10% going to the cosmetics industry and most of the remainder for lubricants. In 1993, the world production was about 1100 t, or about 0.5% of the potential market.

Prices are likely to remain high until the cosmetics market is fulfilled, they will then need to fall for the oil to be accepted as a lubricant. Prices fluctuate in the range $30-70/kg at present because of the unreliable supply.

Production requirements

Much of the inland cereal growing area of Australia is well suited for jojoba production. Varieties have been selected that match the climate of these areas, but other factors such as soil type and rainfall must also be considered.

Jojoba requires soils that have good internal drainage and are not subject to flooding. Apart from pH, the chemical properties are less critical, as fertilisers can be used. Soils with a pH of less than 5.0 are generally not suitable for jojoba because of aluminium toxicity problems. Jojoba is planted as hedge rows on low banks to facilitate weed control and harvest. It can be planted on land with slopes of up to 3% provided the banks are contoured.

Aspect is generally not important on land with an altitude of less than 350 m, but for higher areas aspect needs to be considered to reduce the risk of late and severe frosts that can cause damage at flowering.

Jojoba should not be grown in areas receiving less than 350 mm rainfall annually unless supplemental irrigation is available. Where rainfall exceeds 600 mm per annum the threat of fungal attack on leaves during wet winters increases dramatically.

Varieties

To ensure ease of management and oneoff harvests it is important that all plants in any crop are the highest-yielding varieties. They must behave in a uniform manner, particularly in flowering, seedset and ripening. This can be achieved only by using cuttings from registered varieties. Seed should not be used.

Three female varieties of jojoba have been selected as suitable for most Australian conditions. These varieties—Barindji, Wadi Wadi, and Waradgery—have been selected for their consistent high yields and registered under the Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Act. They are now freely available for commercial production. Two male varieties—Dadi Dadi and Guyambul—which are prolific producers of compatible pollen, are well suited for pollinating the female varieties selected.

Agronomy

Field layout should be planned to ensure that the rows run on the contour on sloping land. This will minimise erosion, provide access and locate drainage areas, and ensure that the most efficient use of the land is made. Hence it is advisable to survey the site well in advance of any work. Jojoba are grown in hedgerows on low banks spaced 5 m apart. The plants are spaced 1.6-2.0 m apart along the rows. Headlands of -7 m are needed at each end of the rows to permit machinery access.

Jojoba grows slowly in the first few years and has little competitive ability against fast-growing annual weeds. Good initial land preparation to reduce weed seed numbers assists in later management as it is much easier to work on a broadacre basis than try to control weeds around individual plants. Small areas of jojoba can be established and maintained by using three point linkage machinery that is normally found on farms, but large plantations will require special equipment. Land should be fallowed at least 12-18 months before planting to build up soil moisture reserves and reduce weed seed populations. Banks should be constructed at least 3 months before planting to allow them to settle. It is advisable to limit the length of plant rows to no more than 500 m as crop management becomes difficult, particularly at harvest, in long row layouts. The initial fertiliser application should be banded along the rip

lines at about the time of bank construction. Ideally it should be placed 15-20 cm below the plant line where it will be readily available to the jojoba but unavailable to weeds.

There are two main planting seasons each year. The first is in spring as soon as the soil temperature rises above 20°C at a depth of 10 cm. This gives the young plants maximum growing time before the onset of winter. The second is during autumn, from late February until early March, after the worst of the hot weather is finished. However, plants can be planted successfully during the heat of summer provided extra care is taken with watering during early establishment.

Planting can be done by hand or with machinery, depending on numbers. About 5% of plants need to be male and planted throughout the plantation to ensure adequate pollination of the female flowers. The newly planted cuttings must be watered in as soon as possible after planting. Followup waterings are most important if planting is done during hot weather to allow the roots to grow out of the potting mix into the surrounding moist soil.

Weed control is the next most important operation after planting, followed by plant shaping in the second year to produce well-shaped plants that can easily be harvested.

Pests and disease control

Few pests and diseases affect jojoba. Following planting, birds and rodents may be troublesome. Galahs and sulphurcrested cockatoos occasionally attack young plants, nipping them off near ground level, but rarely killing them. There have been a few instances where white cockatoos have caused about 5% deaths in small plantings, but these problems were solved by using scare guns. Rabbits and hares can do similar damage, especially when there is a shortage of green feed.

Aphid attack during spring has been recorded from several young plantings but has never been serious. Insecticides can readily control any outbreak, but experience has shown that natural predators do a better job. Spiders and birds have colonised some plantations and between them control most insect pests. Following fruit set, Heliothis caterpillars can attack the developing fruit. The caterpillars appear to invade over a short period, soon after flowering, before the capsule becomes too hard for the grubs to penetrate.

Only isolated outbreaks have been recorded and, to date, none of the attacks has been serious.

Some plant deaths have been attributed to a soil-borne pathogen attacking the roots. These outbreaks have occurred after periods of extreme wet and attempts are being made to isolate the pathogen responsible.

Frost can affect the reproductive function of the plant as well as the vegetative parts. The recommended varieties have been selected to minimise yield damage. Vegetative damage can occur on new growth of all varieties and at all ages, especially in dry winters when frosts are more severe. Frost damage is usually restricted to new growth made just before winter, which has not had a chance to harden off. While it looks bad no lasting damage is done. The flower buds survive and the frosts have the effect of tip pruning, encouraging new lateral growth in the following spring.

Harvesting and processing

Off-the-ground harvesters are used overseas and machines of similar design will be used here. The final design of harvesters for Australian conditions has yet to be completed as broadacre plantings are only just reaching maturity. After harvesting, the seed can be readily cleaned of leaf and other debris and stored until required for crushing. Crushing is carried out using a standard oilseed press. Once crushed the oil is filtered and may be pasteurised and bleached before storing in sealed drums until required, or sold.

Economics of production

A well-managed plantation set out with properly selected varieties using 1250 plants ha/will yield about 1 t of seed per hectare after 10-11 years under rainfed conditions, and up to 2 t if irrigated. The main cost is the purchase and rearing of the seedlings (up to $3750/ha) with land preparation and planting costing another $1000/ha. Further costs will be incurred if irrigation is used, the cost varying according to circumstances. Following establishment, there will be management costs for weed control and plant shaping until the crop starts production in year 4 or 5. Harvest costs are about $1/kg for hand-picked seed from small plantations but should drop to $0.20-0.30/kg in larger, machine-harvested plantations. Projected returns from lower and higher yielding crops and for different seed and oil prices are given in Table 1 (not available in this html version).

The present price of seed in Australia is around $4500/t, with the oil extracted entering the high-priced cosmetics market.

Key contacts

Key References

Dunstone, R.L. 1988. The reproductive cycle of jojoba. In: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Jojoba and its Uses. (Ed. A.R.

Baldwin.), pp 50-59. American Oil Chemists' Society: Champaign Il., USA.

Milthorpe, P.L. and Dunstone, R.L. 1989. The potential of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) in New South Wales. 1 and 2. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 29, 383-395.

Milthorpe, P.L. and Dunstone, R.L. 1996. Jojoba. Agfact 5.2.8, NSW Agriculture.

Morrissey, H., Van Hilst, R., Watson, B. and Oliver, M. 1996. Jojoba: farm level analysis and marketing assessment. ABARE report prepared for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.

*About the author

Peter Milthorpe is Senior Research Agronomist, NSW Agriculture, at the Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Condobolin, NSW (see Key contacts for address).

Over the past 17 years he has carried out extensive research into many aspects of jojoba. Varietal selection and pollination requirements have been main areas of research, followed by the development of sound management strategies.

In 1993 he began growing jojoba on the family farm.