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By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
A former agriculture secretary and head of the
India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (Icrisat) cautioned government on the planned large-scale
propagation of jatropha in the Philippines for biofuel production.
Icrisat Director General Dr. William Dar said
that the approach to developing the country’s biofuels program
should be backed by research and development, and that it is “too
early” to push for the massive propagation of jatropha.
Dar said that while Icrisat supports the
development of biodiesel from jatropha, the “large-scale jatropha
plantations should be promoted only after the crop is scientifically
studied to optimize its potential for viable biodiesel
production.”
Jatropha is being pushed by the government as a
biofuel blend for diesel.
Dar pointed out that “smart crops”—those
that are sustainable and do not compromise food and environmental
security—should be considered in developing the country’s
biofuels programs and projects.
One of the “smart crops” is sweet sorghum,
which has the following properties that makes it viable for planting
in local conditions:
• It is drought-tolerant and only needs about
14 percent of the average water requirement of sugarcane;
• It also produces more energy than it
consumes. For every unit of fossil fuel energy it consumes, sweet
sorghum produces eight units and can go as high as 12 to 16 units in
temperate areas; and
• Studies have also shown that sweet sorghum
is carbon dioxide neutral, emitting only as much carbon dioxide as
it absorbs.
Icrisat estimates that by planting sweet sorghum
instead of grain sorghum, dry-land farmers can earn an additional
$40 to $97 per hectare per crop. Thus, it has an immense potential
in alleviating poverty in the country and worldwide.
Today, farmers grow regular sorghum in over 11
million hectares of lands in Asia and 23.4 million hectares in
sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, corn is planted massively in
the Philippines for feeds, while there are farmers already planting
corn varieties for biofuel.
Icrisat studies have shown that planting sweet
sorghum is more profitable for farmers compared to planting corn for
biofuel production.
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