Speaking at the Mindanao Investment Conference, Secura International Corporation president Danilo Manayaga presented the many benefits of the moringa plant that his company has been putting into commercial use.

Moringa, known locally as “malunggay/malungai“, is said to have multiple uses, aside from its more popular use as a milk production stimulant in breast feeding mothers. It is also known as a very hardy plant, similar to the more popular Jatropha Curcas, as it practically grows rapidly and easily in the Philippine landscape.
Read the rest of this entry »

Update: Guide to planting Moringa tree found here.

Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office in Marawi City has setup a system to develop the Moringa plant’s seed (scientific name: Moringa Oleifera) for use as feedstock in the production of biofuels. In the Philippines the Moringa plant is more commonly known as “Malunggay” or “Malungai”.

The Moringa Oil Manufacturing Plant of Secura in Marawi meanwhile is intending to use the oil harvested from the moringa seeds to produce biodiesel which they are then planning to export to the United States. The plant is expecting to produce 150 million gallons of malunggay seed oil per year. Initial capacity of the feedstock plantation is 30,000 hectares by this year then eventually going up to 100,000 hectares. [source]
Read the rest of this entry »

Indo Digital Base Energy Solution, based in Indonesia, is looking for a JV partner from the Philippine side. They will supply the land (50,000 - 200,000 hectares worth) while the Philippine partner will supply the funding for the farm and the biofuel processing plant (Ethanol and Biodiesel). They are planning to use Jatropha and Cassava as their feedstock for the production of biodiesel and bioethanol.
Read the rest of this entry »

Philippines will play host to a Biofuel forum that will be attended by South East Asian nations. To be held on April 23 to 25 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. The theme of the forum is entitled: “Unravelling the Policy Issues and Development Challenges on Biofuels”.

The event is hosted by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARGA) who are headquartered at Los Baños.
Read the rest of this entry »

I was talking to a friend a few days back and he mentioned that he was having a hard time acquiring land for his client in the Northern and Central Mindanao region because of land owners not wanting to let go of their lots at reasonable prices.

He said that land owners have started to become speculators because they know that there is a lot of buzz in the biofuel sector about their areas being ideal sites for biofuel production. This was even punctuated further with some news coming out that some investors are eyeing these areas to set up biofuel refineries.
Read the rest of this entry »