MANILA, Philippines—PNOC Alternative Fuels Corp., a subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co., said it was targeting a harvest of 30,000 hectares’ worth of jatropha, which would pave the way for production of 400 metric tons of jatropha crude oil.

“We should have first oil by September or October this year,” PNOC-AFC chairman Renato Velasco said at a news briefing.

The provincial government of Palawan signed last week a memorandum of understanding with PNOC-AFC, committing to provide an initial 10,000 hectares of idle land for jatropha cultivation.

Private companies have committed to plant jatropha to support the government’s biofuels program.

Palawan Governor Joel Reyes said that easily 30,000 hectares could be committed for jatropha production, as the province had more than 200,000 hectares of idle land.

“We’ll create a roadmap segregating the different areas,” Reyes said. “Most arable lands will be used for traditional crops such as rice and corn. Some will be used for jatropha. Other areas would be used for palm and rubber trees.”

Reyes said Palawan could allot more than 30,000 hectares for jatropha production, but the number would depend on results of validation of the province’s available idle land.

In an earlier interview, PNOC-AFC president and chief executive Peter Anthony Abaya said that the overall area that the company was looking at for its jatropha program should be about 700,000 hectares nationwide.

Velasco said focus would be on Mindanao, with the main southern island being eyed as the country’s “biofuels basket.”

“We have already started planting jatropha in Cagayan de Oro City and we aim to establish an aggregate amount of at least 700,000 hectares of jatropha plantations all over the country, the bulk of which will be in Mindanao,” he said. Edited by INQUIRER.

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