Rooting and sprouting behaviour of stem cuttings of biofuel plant Jatropha curcas and their performance under field conditions have been studied in relation to auxin application. Pretreatment with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) increased both the rooting and sprouting. Sprouting of buds on the cuttings preceded rooting. The rooting and sprouting in J. curcas was more with IBA than NAA. The endogenous auxin contents were found to increase almost 15 days prior to rooting, indicating that mobilization of auxin rather than the absolute contents of auxin may be involved in root initiation. Indole acetic acid oxidase (IAA-oxidase) seems to be involved for triggering and initiating the roots/root primordia, whereas peroxidase is involved in both root initiation and the elongation processes as supported by the peroxidase and IAA-oxidase isoenzyme analysis in the cuttings. The clonally propagated plants (cutting-raised plants) performed better in the field as compared to those raised from the seeds. The plants produced from auxin-treated cuttings produced fruits and seeds in the same year as compared to the plants raised from seeds or from untreated or control cuttings that did not produce any seeds in 1 year of this study. Jatropha plants in general produce seeds after 2-3 years. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.