by jimmy villaflores

 

Bio-diesel from Jathropa fruits or commonly known as “Tangan-Tangan” for Zamboangueños and “Tuba-Tuba” for the Visayans will first be introduced in Zamboanga City by a Malaysian-based company, BIONAS AGROPOLITAN TECHNOLOGY CORRIDOR (BATC)

 

With the help of its local partner, MJ SULCAZAM, BATC has initially forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with lot owners across the country, who signified their intentions to allow their idle lands to be planted to “Tangan-Tangan.” BATC Chief Executive Officer Zurina Amnan said that aside from Palm oil in Malysia and crude oil products from Middle East, experts have discovered that good quality of crude oil can also be extracted from the seeds of Japthropa, which is abundant in the country that grows usually in the bushy areas.For Filipinos, only the leaves of “Tangan-Tangan” are used for herbal medicine.

Thousands of hectares of land in the country will be planted to “Tangan-Tangan.” Seedlings will be provided by BATC.As of the present, 20 hectares of lands in Zamboanga will be planted to “Tangan-Tangan;” 18,000 hectares in Tungawan Municipality; 78,000 hectares in Davao; 200,000 hectares in Tarlac and 70,000 in Mindoro. 

 

Amnan said that they prefer to plant the Malaysian variety of Jathropa because it bears bigger fruits than the Philippine’s variety.“All they have to do is just to plant the Japthropa in their idle lands. Since the Malaysian variety bears fruit three months after the planting, the company will assist in harvesting and the lot owners who signed MOA with us will also receive a certain percentage from the gross income,” Amnan said.In Malaysia, Amnan said, the company pays 850 Malaysian ringit per metric ton of Jathropa seeds, which is equivalent to more or less P10 per kilo in the Philippines.

 

However, Amnan said that they discouraged farmers from planting “Tangan-Tangan” in the rice fields or lands that are used to be planted to food crops such as vegetables and fruit tress.In order to easily process the “Tangan-Tangan” seeds into bio-diesel, she said the company will put up a processing plant at the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone and Freeport in San Ramon and buying stations all over the city.The raw materials that will be produced in the company’s processing plant will be taken to its refinery in Malaysia for final processing.With this kind of business venture, many Filipinos will earn income by merely planting Jathropa, said BATC officials.—Jimmy Villaflores