Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) is an oil bearing species with multiple uses and considerable
potential as a biodiesel crop. The present communication deals with the method of
selecting plus phenotypes of J. curcas for exploiting genetic variability for further
improvement. Candidate plus tree selection is the first and most important stage in any
tree improvement programme. The selection of candidate plus plants (CPPs) is based upon
various important attributes associated with the species and their relative ranking. Relative
preference between various traits and scoring for each trait has been worked out by using
the method of paired comparisons for the selection of CPP in J. curcas L. The most
important ones are seed and oil yields.