reached maturity. Therefore, if you had just one acre producing only 3,000 pounds it would gross $9,000 to $16,500 in existing dollars. That is exciting to growers! But let's be realistic and understand that forecasts by experts for 1990 estimate four million pounds of jojoba oil to be available, and economists believe that pricing for seed and oil must drop due to this in- creased supply and that oil will sell for $1.50-$3.00 per pound by the mid-1990's. Their predictions are based upon late '70's dollars and don't count on inflation. If we assume $1.05 per pound for jojoba seed in 1990 and a yield of 3,000 pounds per acre, the gross profit per acre would be over $3,150 which is very high when compared to other cash crops. Long-Term Investment An investment in the planting of jojoba must be considered as a long-term proposition. Forecasts show that an acre of jojoba should return $1,125 gross cash yield in the fifth year, gradually increasing to just over $3,150 in the tenth year. We are assuming 750 producing females per acre, each averaging four pounds of production in the tenth year. Realistically, there should be no production during the first four years, with plant yield in the sixth year averaging one pound and increasing to four pounds by the tenth year. Jojoba: How to Grow It There are many unanswered questions regarding jojoba's domestication as a monoculture crop. Anyone deciding to grow jojoba should do so with a clear understanding of the risks in- volved. In fact, all commercial plants should be considered research projects. Much agricultural research is needed to deter- mine aspects ofjojoba cultivation such as spacing, male-to-female ratios, disease and insect control techniques, control chemicals, water requirements, fertilizer requirements, tissue culture methods, and sex identification characters. Further, many of these aspects will vary depending on local temperature, precipita- tion, and soil type. The following comments and suggestions for growing jojoba are based on data obtained from farmers and published sources. Land Preparation In nature, jojoba usually is restricted to well-drained, coarse mixtures of gravel and clay desert soils. Thus, most well-drained soils should be suitable for jojoba cultivation. The amount of land preparation necessary depends upon the site condition and type of irrigation system to be employed. Precise leveling is not very necessary with sprinkler or drip irrigation systems. I highly recommend drip irrigation using biwall tubing in the Caribbean area due to reduced water losses by evaporation. What to Plant The basic materials available for planting are seed, seedlings, and propagated material. Each of these materials offers certain advantages which are highlighted below. In every case the source of parent material should be known. The chances of a plantation yielding large quantities of seed are substantially increased if the parent is located in a similar environment. Direct Seeding Many large plantations have been planted by direct seeding with the seed placed about one inch below the surface. Soil should be moist several feet below the surface and should be amply watered from the time of planting until shoots emerge. Maintenance of soil moisture is important to provide fast and deep growth of the tap root, although poorly drained water- saturated soil will cause the seed to rot and will drown the seed- ling. The major factor of direct seeding is the reduced cost. The major disadvantage is possible lack of a uniform stand due to to low rates of seed germination. 86 Seedlings Potted jojoba seeds germinate in almost any well-drained soil or soil moisture. A mixture that has worked well consists of 25% topsoil, 25% sand, 25% peatmoss and 25% bark soil conditioner by volume. Jojoba seed should germinate in one to two weeks if a morning soil temperature of 80-85 F. is maintained. Jojoba may be transplanted after three to six weeks in a hothouse. Older plants have the advantage of hardiness at the time of transplant and thus may have a higher first year survival rate. A variety of seed pots are available commercially. Most common are cylin- drical plastic or square open-ended cardboard sleeves. However, losing plants from root damage has been a problem. In addition, pulverized paper or milk-carton type pots which will decompose if planted directly in the ground (so manufacturers claim) have been designed. The major advantage to planting a seedling is that you have planted something that is growing and should con- tinue to grow, whereas seeds will not all germinate and grow. Further, the rodent problem is not as severe with seedlings. Propagated Material Cuttings-Jojoba has been propagated by making stem tip cut- tings of new growth. All leaves should be left on the cutting ex- cept for the length of the stem that is placed in the rooting medium. A rooting hormone is helpful. Place cuttings in ver- miculite or sand and, if possible, keep them under mist condi- tions or keep the root medium saturated. Rooting by this method may take approximately 30 days and is often successful without .expert attention. Tissue culture-Tissue culture is a highly specialized laboratory technique. Plants are cultivated on a culture medium from shoot tips, lateral buds, and nodes of mother plants. Although still in an experimental stage, tissue culture potentially offers a "prescription approach" to plant selection whereby combinations of disease resistance, high yield, growth form, site specificity, and sex determination could be controlled. How to Plant Plant spacing is one of the major unknown factors. Researchers differ in opinion as to how many rows and plants of jojoba to have per acre. The most widely accepted approach is to have 800 to 900 shrubs per acre with a ratio of female to male of 6:1, or 750 female plants. With this technique, rows would be 10 feet apart with plants spaced 5 feet apart in each row. Some have gone to 5 foot spacing of rows 20 feet apart so that they could intercrop. Others have found an intercrop detrimental to growth. Plant and row spacing continues to be guesswork. In the second and third year after planting seeds, remove excess or unhealthy plants. You must wait two or three years before thinning because until the shrubs flower, you cannot tell whether they are male or female. Females have a small, bell-shaped blossom while males have a cluster of tiny flowers. Irrigation Native jojoba populations have been known to grow in areas with less than 12 inches of rainfall per year, but little is known about their ability to produce seed during periods of drought. Plantation may survive and produce seed in areas with only 15 to 20 inches of rainfall, but areas with less rainfall will almost cer- tainly require supplemental irrigation. Fertilizing Natural populations of jojoba grow in areas of marginal fertili- ty. Greenhouse experiments indicate that jojoba responds to nitrogen and phosphorus treatments. PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY-VOL. XX