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1.2M hectares of Land Sought for Jatropha Production
MINDANAO - As part of the government's plan to lessen dependence on foreign fuel, the Philippine National Oil Company-Alternative Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC) is putting in efforts to encourage farmers to plant jatropha curcas.According to the Sun Star, Renato S. Velasco, PNOC-AFC chair, recently visited the Mindanao State University campus in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao to promote the cultivation of jatropha or tuba-tuba in the vernacular.
Velasco said across Mindanao the firm is looking for 1.2 million hectares that will be planted with the crop. He said there is an urgent need to develop alternative sources of fuel in the wake of surging prices of imported oil products.
"We have many idle lands across the country that can be planted with jatropha, which would mean additional income for our farmers and help the government source out alternative fuels," Velasco said.
"Jatropha does not need maintenance. Our farmers can really make use of idle, communal and marginal lands. With the studies that we have done for the past two years, one hectare of jatropha can sustain jobs for two. In 18 months, we can already harvest and it will last up to fifty years," he added.
Velasco pointed out that the continuous global hike in fuel pushed the government to develop alternative sources of fuels such as jatropha.
The PNOC-AFC was given the mandate to spearhead the implementation of the government biofuels project. They will likewise speed up the development, promotions, commercialization of biofuels as alternative sources of energy especially from ethanol and jatropha.
The Land Bank of the Philippines has signed an agreement to provide PNOC-AFC with P5 billion to finance the jatropha development program.
View the Sun Star story by clicking here.
TheBioenergySite News Desk
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