In some areas in the country, farmers who have abandoned planting coconut and cassava are now cultivating these crops again because of increasing demand for biofuels. Governor Rolando Yebes of Zamboanga del Norte said that farmers in his region are now going back to planting these crops because of the surging and the entity of companies interested in the production of biofuels.
“Before farmers cut their coconut trees and sold them for lumber. Now, they are planting coconuts for biofuels,” he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak adding that cassava, which has shown growth in previous years, is expected to increase further due to investments from biofuel companies like Basic Energy Corp., which is reportedly eyeing an ethanol plant in the region using cassava as feedstock.
Constancio Alama, assistant regional director for agriculture of Region IX, said that despite the promise of biofuels, there is a need to ensure that local government units should prioritize the production of food over biofuels. “Bakit uunahin ang sasakyan kung may nagugutom? (Why should we prioritize vehicles when people are hungry?)”
Zamboanga del Norte is not alone. In many parts of the world, with the unprecedented rise in oil price, a tug of war is taking place over using land for fuel or food.
The passage in the Philippines of the Biofuels Act in January 2007 generated a lot of interest about this renewable source of energy. The law aims to break the Philippine’s dependence on imported fuel particularly oil. Two years after the enactment of this law, liquid fuels for vehicles and engine are required to contain at least five percent of biofuel.
Among the examples of biofuels are bioethanol and biodiesel. Bioethanol is produced by fermentation of starch or sugar from cassava, sugarcane and corn while biodiesel can be extracted from plants like coconut, palm and jathropa or tuba-tuba.
OPINION/COMMENT:
There are farmers who are abandoned planting coconut and cassava are now cultivating these crops again because of increasing demand for bio fuels. The government haven't enough supply to help the farmer to plant more coconut and cassava. They must insure the demands of the farmers because it cause a lot to us and its for our own benefits.The farmers should focus the demand of coconut and cassava so that they are still farmer planting this seeds.
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