Photo: Hardy Plant May Ease Biofuels' Burden on Food Costs

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A woman tends a plant in a jatropha plantation in Malegaon, about 162 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of Mumbai (Bombay), on October 9, 2006.

The biofuels boom is causing a spike in food prices worldwide, hitting developing countries particularly hard, experts say.

But some in the industry argue that jatropha, which can grow on marginal and nonagricultural land, could produce biofuels without comprising food production.

Photograph by REUTERS/Stringer India

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