Tacloban City (August 28) -- The Philippine National Oil Company-Alternative Fuels Corporation has embarked on an intensified campaign on the advantages of growing jatropha, locally known as "tuba-tuba," as an alternative livelihood for farmers, Secretary Renato Velasco, chairman of the PNOC-ADF board informed.

In connection with this campaign, PNOC-ADF has initiated the holding of the First Mindanao Jatropha Forum which is expected to gather together farmers, entrepreneurs and representatives from the energy sector, in Cagayan de Oro on August 28, 2007.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been invited the Forum which has for its theme "Jatropha Feedstock: Prospects and Challenges, Chairman Velasco said.

At least 500 hectares of open, marginal, idle and underdeveloped lands in the boundaries of barangays Lumbia, Canitoan and Pagatpat in Cagayan de Oro, are being targeted by PNOC-AFC to be developed into Jatropha curcas model plantation and seed orchards.

The model plantation, Chairman Velasco added, will support the seeds and/or seedling requirements for the development of at least 700,000- hectares plantations in various parts of Mindanao.

In her State of the Nation Address last July, President Arroyo cited 190,000 hectares of Jatropha plantation in Bukidnon and General Santos as part of the effort to cut diesel use under the Biofuels Act and to help fill gaps of the island's energy problem.

Among others, the Jatropha Forum will tackle the government's thrust of developing jatropha into an alternative source of fuel and as a poverty alleviation measure for the marginalized farmers.

To be discussed during the forum are topics such as the Jatropha Roadmap, Programs and Activities by PNOC-AFC CEO Peter Anthony A. Abaya; Jatropha Feedstock Production by Cesar R. Ventura, President and CEO, Royal Green Energy Development, Inc. (RGEDI); Research and Development (R&D) on Jatropha by Luis Rey I. Velasco, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna; and the Government's Energy Security and the BioFuels Program by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap will talk on Policies and Challenges while Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Gilda E. Pico will discuss Financing Options and Strategies for Jatropha Projects.

The Forum will be highlighted by the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for joint Jatropha ventures by PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation and Land Bank of the Philippines.

Just like many other countries of the world, the Philippines has always been dependent on imported fossil oil for its fuel requirements. Aside from draining the country's financial resources, there is no saying when the fossil fuel deposits will be depleted. There is no knowing whether the oil producing countries will be able to supply fuel to the whole world eternally.

It is, therefore, imperative, for the country to look for alternative sources of renewable fuel. Fortunately, the Philippines is abundantly rich in plants which are sources of fuel.

One of these is jatropha or what is popularly known as tuba tuba which abounds on the tropical regions and which has been used as a source of oil for lighting purposes in the homes before the Second World War.

The plant grows to about 10 to 15 feet tall, full of branches and leaves within the period of three years. Of the four varieties of Jatropha namely jatropha curcas, jatropha glanduflifera, jatropha gossypifilia and jatropha pattanica, a friend from India informed that jatropha curcas is the variety that gives high yield of jatropha oil.

Aside from the oil from the seeds of jatropha fruits, jatropha leaves has been used by people in the community as herbal cure for sprains, and is very easy to grow in one's own backyard and has a life span of 50 to 55 years.

Jatropha trees grow from seeds. Jatropha seedlings are planted two meters apart in barren lands or in between coconut trees. This could also be planted on boundaries as fencing because no stray cattle or animals would eat it.

On the eighth month, the jatropha tree starts flowering and fruits ripen within 45 days.

When 3.5 kilograms of Jatropha seeds are expelled, one liter or jatropha oil is generated. In India, all petroleum companies buy any quantity of jatropha Oil at the rate of INR 25 per liter or PhP 29.07.

If 1000 jatropha trees are planted in one acre of land, this will mean that on the 5th year, the farmer will produce 15,000 liters of Japtropha oil and earn at least PhP 436, 050 in one harvest season.