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By Zac B. Sarian
DON’T look now, but those who get into agri pojects ahead of others
get their reward early. Just like the couple Undas and Sabel Utap of
Brgy. Apopong, a remote barrio of General Santos City. They are the
only ones in their barrio who have a commercial plantation of jatropha
because upon learning that jatropha was being promoted for biofuel
production, they right away planted two hectares of their 24-hectare
farmland.
Now barely two years after they started planting, they are
harvesting at least 100 kilos of seeds a month which they sell to
Jatropha Agri-Advancement Corporation at R35 per kilo. The amount may
be small to people who are used to big enterprises, but this is
something very significant to small-scale farmers like the Utaps.
Anyway, they expect to harvest more in the coming months as their
trees grow bigger and more productive. They are expanding their
plantation, by the way.
The Utaps were recently in the news when President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo visited their plantation. They say that jatropha is more
profitable than cassava at this time. Nevertheless, they also plant
cassava in between their young jatropha trees for their own
consumption.
They have perfectly timed their entry into the production of
jatropha because they have a ready buyer—the Jatropha Agri-Advancement
Corp. (JAC) headed by Jaime Gandiongco, a former Dole executive, and
assisted by Ben Roy, an agriculturist of Dole Philippines for many
years. He is also a graduate of UP Los Baños.
JAC is the business partner of the Philippine National Oil Company
(PNOC) which will produce all the seedlings that PNOC needs to plant
some 5,000 hectares of non-food producing lands in Sarangani and South
Cotabato, particularly in the areas occupied by IPs or indigenous
people. Eighty percent of the target areas can be found in Sarangani
which has a potential area of 162,000 hectares suitable for jatropha
production.The project is supported by the Land Bank of the
Philippines.
JAC has a 30-hectare nursery and plantation in Tinagakan, General
Santos City, where it has started producing the needed seedlings. PNOC
buys the seedlings at R6 apiece.
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AANI SEMINAR ON HERBAL MEDICINE THIS SATURDAY. Dr. Jaime
Galvez Tan, a staunch advocate of herbal medicine and other herbal
food supplements will conduct a seminar this Saturday, August 9, from
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on herbal medicine at the AANI Herbal and Livelihood
Center at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City. There is a
growing interest in herbal medicines from both local and imported
herbal plants.
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AQUA-KAPIHAN THIS SUNDAY. There will be an Aqua-Kapihan this
Sunday starting at 8 a.m. at the AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood
Center at the Quezon Memorial Circle, August 10. A lecture on sea
urchin and sea cucumber will be conducted by a BFAR technician. On the
other hand, Ike Macadangdang will conduct a lecture on the Grow-out
Culture of Tilapia. The Aqua-Kapihan is open free to the public. |
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