Wednesday, June 04, 2008 PNOC establishes plant nursery in Medellin to produce biodiesel
WITH farmers shifting from planting food crops to growing plants used to manufacture biofuels, such as jatropha, some sectors consider the shift to pose risk on the country’s food supply.
But two government officials think otherwise. They said growing biofuel crops, like jatropha (locally known as tuba-tuba or kasla), is an opportunity to improve food and financial security.
Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu 4th district) said that areas like Singapore and Hong Kong, which mainly import agricultural products, have food security because of good income.
“We protect food security by not interfering in areas planted with corn and rice. We utilize areas without (crops) and motivate farmers to plant… (we) help them become productive. This will (protect) the environment and (provide) income,” he said.
Salimbangon joined Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) yesterday to inaugurate a 2.5 hectare jatropha nursery in Medellin town in northern Cebu. The nursery is the first of its kind in the Visayas.
The nursery is expected to produce two million seedlings for initial 100 hectares of land that has been identified as potential jatropha plantation in the fourth district of Cebu.
Three kilos of jatropha seeds can produce one liter of biodiesel, which is being considered as clean alternative to fossil fuels.
Peter Anthony Abaya, president and chief executive officer of PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp. (AFC), said that with jatropha—which has the potential to produce 8,000 to 10,000 kilos of fruits per hectare annually—a farmer’s earnings would be about 600 percent more that his income from traditional crops.
For crops, such as coconut, rice and corn, a farmer earns only about P3,000 per hectare per year.
But Abaya advised farmers to inter-crop—grow food crops like coconut and potatoes—on their jatropha plantation.
Salimbangon lamented that the fourth district’s sugarcane industry has been affected by the surging prices of fertilizers and rising cost of operations and labor.
This, he said, prompted sugarcane farmers to shift to growing other plants after selling sugarcane crops for only half of the cost of the fertilizers they used.
“We cannot compete with other countries (in terms of agriculture). We lack irrigation (systems) and we have no capital for mechanized farming. One of the options to help our farmers is to look for alternatives, such as converting idle lands intro productive areas for jatropha planting,” he said.
PNOC has tested a maximum of 20 percent jatropha biodiesel mix and observed that the engine used performed the same as those that are powered by traditional diesel.
Abaya said jatropha biodiesel also works with generators, power plants, slow-moving equipment, lamps and can be used cooking fuel.
The lot where the nursery sits is lent to the government by the Jose Ancajas Agricultural Corp.
“This extensive nursery will be so productive that it can provide seedlings for 700 more hectares of idle lands that can be planted with jatropha, which is a well-studied crop,” said Abaya.
PNOC will provide all the planting materials and will serve as market for the mature jatropha crops for the initial 100 hectares.
Farmers are also urged to avail themselves of a loan from government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and get assistance from a soon-to-be-established corporation that will handle the jatropha business in Cebu’s fourth district.
Salimbangon disclosed that within the year, he hopes to see 5,000 hectares of idle lands in the fourth district, which is comprised of 11 municipalities, transformed into jatropha plantations.
With the help of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), he is targeting 15,000 to 20,000 hectares of jatropha within the next five years.
Initially, DENR identified 6,000 hectares of idle lands while DAR provided a list of its beneficiaries who have a combined area of 5,000 hectares suitable to be planted with jatropha.
Other jatropha plantations in the country could be found in Cagayan de Oro, Nueva Ecija and Quezon, among others. (NRC)
