Gov’t urged to put up dry land research unit

Former agriculture secretary William Dar urged yesterday the government to put up a Philippine Dry Land Research Institute to help farmers cope with the impact of global warming.

In a press conference at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City, Dar said the government should look for opportunities that will benefit poor dry land farmers, citing biofuel development in particular.

Dar said dry land farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change.

Dar, who is the current director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India, said the government must embark on long-term strategies in adapting to negative effects of global warming such as drought.

Global warming is defined as the gradual warming of the atmosphere “perhaps due to the greenhouse effect.” Increasing carbon dioxide in the air may have contributed to global warming.

Dar earlier pushed for capacity building for research and development on jatropha curcas (tuba-tuba) oil as an alternative to coco-biodiesel in order to be very competitive in the long run.

Dar said capacity building, must be fully supported and sustained for a long period.

He said exact yield potential as well as water and nutrient requirements of jatropha are yet to be established by local researchers.

Domestication, crop improvement, pruning techniques and other agronomic practices have to be pursued to appreciate the full potential of the crop and for farmers to benefit from this enterprise, he said.

“Once the right cultivars/varieties of jatropha are developed, tested, and released, massive promotion and commercial block plantation can be pursued,” he said.

Dar has also urged the government to review its strategies and roadmap for jathropa and “put it strong when we are ready.”

The government has established an R&D program for jatropha including germplasm management, varietal improvement and seed technology for physic nut (J. curcas); development of geographic information system (GIS) – aided suitability assessment for commercial production of J. curcas; development of component technologies for jathropa in various production systems; development of farming systems models integrating J. curcas in various production systems; development of post-production machinery for J. curcas; process and equipment development for the production of esterified J. curcas oil; and developing mechanism for community-based production, processing, marketing and utilization of J. curcas.

The University of the Philippines Los Baños, in partnership with selected government agencies and academic institutions, have started in May 2007 one of the components of the R&D program for jatropha. The research was funded by the Philippine National Oil Corp. Alternative Fuel Corp. (PNOC-AFC) amounting to P15,000,797.

The DOST, through its grants in aid (GIA) program will also fund two of the project’s components worth P14,006,380 for a period of two years.