According to Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, tuba-tuba, whose scientific name is jathropa curcas, is a "fast-growing small tree whose fruit, actually a nut, can be processed into cooking or car fuel."
"Planting tuba-tuba can be a very profitable proposition," Zubiri, who is promoting the use of bio-fuels, said yesterday.
"Three kilos of tuba-tuba seeds or nuts could produce a liter of bio-diesel. Tuba-tuba bio-diesel readily mixes with diesel fuel and can run any diesel engine without modification," he said.
He said the small tree can bear fruit within three years from planting and can produce as much as 12 tons of nuts a year.
He cited a study made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which showed that a grower can earn P200,000 per hectare per year from the sale, and processing of tuba-tuba nuts.
Zubiri said growing tuba-tuba does not require much investment.
He said the DENR, under Administrative Order 2005-25, is making available up to four million hectares of denuded forestland for planting to tuba-tuba and other tree species.
Individuals and groups can apply to till up to a maximum of 50 hectares each, he said.
He added that the DENR will even provide the initial saplings for applicants to plant.
He pointed out that tuba-tuba is easy to grow and maintain.
"It is rapid-growing, it is drought-resistant, it needs little water. It can even thrive in the desert. It can be planted in areas where only weeds and cogon survive. It is also resistant to pests. It is not grazed by animals so the survival rate is high," he said.
However, he clarified that people cannot eat tuba-tuba fruits or seeds as they are toxic.
Zubiri is author of the Bio-Fuels Bill, which seeks to replace a tenth of the country’s annual oil imports with alternative fuels such as those produced from tuba-tuba, coconuts, sugar cane, corn and cassava.
The government is now promoting the mixture of bio-ethanol with diesel, a scheme that would save the nation huge sums in oil import costs.
According to Zubiri, if the country can replace 10 percent of its oil requirements with bio-fuels, it would save up to P40 billion a year. — Jess Diaz