IT'S not a quick rich scheme after all. Two years after the hype, farmers are now cautious of planting jatropha as it won't make them instant millionaires as they thought it would be.

This sentiment was admitted by Dr. Virgilio T. Villancio during a forum hosted by the Laguna-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture in a media conference which brought together officials from the government and academe involved in the biofuel sector.

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Jatropha's ascension as a miracle crop, and then decried as a "blunder" crop, was largely due to the lack of information available then, according to Dr. Villancio, a researcher of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB).

"In the Philippines, the hype went ahead of development, so we in development had to catch up," pointed out the leader of UPLB's integrated research and development program on jatropha for biodiesel.

The planting of jatropha in the Philippines was due to the execution of the Biofuels Act of 2006, whose implementing rules and regulations was signed in 2007. It mandates the use of biofuel (that mixture of volatile, flammable hydrocarbons derived from plant material or animal waste and used as fuel), which is "added or blended to petroleum fuels to enhance or alter chemical or physical properties and improve performance or usage of the fuels."

At present, there are two types of biofuels available in the Philippines: bioethanol and biodiesel.

Bioethanol can be produced from sugarcane, cassava, corn, sweet sorghum, and other starch and sugar-bearing crops, most of which are still under research and development. Biodiesel, on the other hand, is derived from plant oils like coconut, soybean, canola, sunflower, and palm oil.

Republic Act 9367 mandates the use of a minimum of one percent biodiesel blend within three months of the passage of the law and a minimum of two percent blend within two years (May 2009). For bioethanol, at least a five percent blend should be achieved by May 2009 and a 10 percent blend by May 2011.

As it is mandated by law, there is no way Filipinos could not follow it. So, researchers are trying to find possible feedstock, defined as "organic source of biomass used in the production of biofuels."

One possible feedstock that is abundant in the Philippines is Jatropha (known scientifically as Jatropha curcas). It is locally called tubang bakod (as it is commonly planted in fences for hedges), kasla, tubang silangan, tawa-tawa, and tuba-tuba.

In United Kingdom, an oil company has been producing biodiesel from jatropha oils to meet the demand of the European community for biodiesel. Its refinery can produce up to eight million liters of biodiesel per year, equivalent to about 22,000 liters daily.

According to Dr. Villancio, a farmer who plants jatropha can harvest between 2,000 to 5,000 kilograms per hectare per year, depending on the quality of the seed and soil where the crop is planted. Each tree bears fruits throughout the year and seed production ranges from 0.3 to 9 kilograms.

The oil yield is 30-40 percent crude non-edible oil. After processing, the production is 0.75 to 2 tons of biodiesel per hectare. Three kilograms of seeds are needed to produce one liter of jatropha methyl ester (JME).

Dr. Villancio estimated that jatropha investments for the Philippines would cost P2 million to P3 million per town. The expense, he added, is mostly for the shrub's processing equipment.

A jatropha oil expeller, which separates oil from the jatropha seed, costs at least P2 million. This machine can extract some 1,000 liters of jatropha oil a day and is suitable for a 200-hectare jatropha field -- a land area nearly 15 times the size of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Propagated both by sexual (seeds) or asexual (cuttings) method, jatropha grows to about three meters, making harvesting easy. It is undemanding in soil type as it grows almost anywhere, be it sandy, gravelly, saline, or alkaline soil. It does not even require tillage, according to Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development.

sJatropha can be grown on watershed basins and on low-fertility, marginal, degraded, fallow, and waste lands. It can grow outside of forestlands, along canals and railway tracks, and on borders of farmers' fields. It is also highly recommended as crop for idle lands.

Now, about 8.8 million hectares in the country are considered "idle lands." And it is in these areas where jatropha should be grown.

In order for jatropha not to compete with food production, there is a law that prohibits irrigated lands and those lands utilized for rice and corn production for the planting of jatropha and other energy crops.

"The land to be used shall be consistent with the natural expansion of the municipality of locality, as contained in the approved physical framework and land use plan," explained Marriz B. Agbon, president of the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation.

Jatropha is productive for up to 30-40 years. Initial planting in Samal Island in Davao started yielding fruits in only six months after planting the cuttings.

Dr. Villancio said while jatropha plants may start bearing some fruit in six months, and harvesting may occur by the eighth month, it would still take three to four years for it to reach full productivity.

Is jatropha planting a profitable venture? Dr. Villancio said that for now, prices are at P6 to P7 per kilogram. One hectare of jatropha holds an average of 5,250 kilograms of seeds. "At that price, farmers can make money, but not that much," he said.

While planting jatropha won't make farmers rich, it can augment the income of rural households. This was attested by a study done by researchers of the University of the Philippines Los Baños-College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR).

The study, "Ex-Ante Socioeconomic and Institutional Assessment of Jatropha Production, Promotion, and Development as Biodiesel," was carried out in 15 locations across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It is expected to be completed in July 2009.

Ninety-five percent of the study's respondents confirmed that jatropha could help improve their lives by providing "livelihood and additional income that could help meet household expenses," to quote the words of Dr. Nena O. Espiritu, UPLB assistant professor who headed the study.

"Income derived from Jatropha, although representing only a small percentage of the household's aggregate income, has a great potential to alleviate poverty in the countryside," the study averred.

Jatropha has been planted in the Philippines for several years now but it was used mainly as fencing since animals do not eat the leaves -- even the insatiable goat would not eat the leaves.

The seeds are poisonous. Dr. Carmina Leoncio, in a letter published in a national magazine, stated: "Jatropha is a common cause of poisoning among children, since kids are attracted by the appearance of the seeds, which look like nuts."

As such, Dr. Villancio batted for more research to be put into a detoxification study. "The research would determine the viability of selling jatropha byproducts to produce, for instance, fertilizers and even livestock feed," he said.

There are other benefits of planting Jatropha. Aside from using the seed oil as biodiesel, the extracted oil can also be used in making soap.

The leaves can be used for fumigating houses to expel bugs. The root extract of Jatropha plant can be used as yellow die while the bark extract as blue dye. The seeds, when pounded, can be used for tanning. The roots, flowers and latex of the plant are said to have medicinal properties.