Jatropha is the best alternative for Bohol, especially in those farmlands sloping by above 12 degrees and marginal soils where food crops hardly grow.
The Jatropha Propagation Project targets to make at least 16,000 hectares productive.
Governor Erico Aumentado assured there will be no conversion of food farms to Jatropha plantations, as he had already ordered segregation of agricultural lands for food crops from those for industrial crops.
According to studies, “Jatropha curcas grows best on well drained soils preferably with pH of 6-9 with good aeration but is well adapted to marginal soils with low nutrient content” which food crops can hardly grow.
Through the trans-esterification process, crude Jatropha oil has been used as component of high quality paper, energy pellets, soap, cosmetics, toothpaste, embalming fluid, pipe joint cement, cough medicine and as a moistening agent in tobacco.
Moreover, Jatropha seed cake, a waste by-product of the bio-diesel trans-esterification process has been used as rich organic fertilizer in other countries. Also based on JCP research, about 600 liters of bio-diesel can be extracted from a thousand kilos of Jatropha curcas seeds.
