CANDABA, Pampanga – Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar has been avirtual gold mine for the provincial government, as the volcanic debris continues to be in demand as construction material all over Luzon.
But lahar grounds around the now-silent volcano may yet provide Pampanga with an option worth more than such gold.
“This is it. We have discovered something that can really make us rise and rich from Mt. Pinatubo’s ashes,” this town’s Mayor Jerry Pelayo said in an interview.
He was referring to the findings of an experiment that he, his son Patrick and agricultural technicians showing that areas covered by Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar debris are ideal for sweet sorghum production.
Sweet sorghum, he said, grows abundantly and fast in lahar areas and can yield enough ethanol to make the country a leading exporter of the product as a fuel additive.
“Another ideal thing is that the plants do not need as much irrigation. Water it once, and it grows to full maturity,” he added.
Pelayo noted that the demand for ethanol as an environment-friendly additive is growing worldwide, as he cited Singapore which has a huge demand for ethanol. As much as 10 to 15 percent ethanol could safely be mixed with gasoline for vehicles and is already being widely used in the United States and Brazil,” he said.
He also said that it costs less to farm sweet sorghum than sugarcane which is also a source of ethanol. “Besides, we don’t want to adversely affect our sugar industry,” he added.
Pelayo cited studies indicating that so-called stillage from sweet sorghum after juice extraction can be used as more nutritious animal feed than stillage from sugarcane.
“Also it was found out that ethanol production process from sweet sorghum has cleaner burning quality than sugarcane with high octane rating,” Pelayo said.
Gov. Lilia Pineda and her team of technicians were here yesterday to inspect Pelayo’s experimental three-hectare sweet sorghum farm and a locally made machine that extracts ethanol from the plants. The machine, which presses sorghum plants for its juice, was pattered after an Indian invention by Pelayo’s son Patrick.
“We have established that lahar areas are usually conducive for sweet sorghum production which can mature in 45 days. The plants have also been noted to yield 95 percent ethanol,” Pelayo said.
Pelayo said Pineda now plans to embark on massive sweet sorghum farms in the thousands of hectares of idle lands covered with lahar debris deposited by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 and by subsequent lahar flows.
“Our experiment was able to yield 20,000 liters of ethanol per hectare,” Pelayo said, as he noted that a previous similar experiment done in the Ilocos region where sweet sorghum plants yielded minimal ethanol.
Pelayo said that the production of sweet sorghum for ethanol was first introduced in Northern Luzon in 2007 by director general William Dar of the International Crops and Research Insitute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) which started sorghum farms at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte and other areas in the Ilocos region, as well as Pangasinan.
“The diameter of the sweet sorghum plant they grew there in the north is much less than the diameter of the plants we harvested in lahar areas,” Pelayo said.
Dr. Dar was then quoted to have said that investors in such farms could have farmers in joint ventures and that with two cropping seasons of sweet sorghum per year, the farmers could earn a net income of P50,000 to P65,000 per harvest per hectare.
But lahar grounds around the now-silent volcano may yet provide Pampanga with an option worth more than such gold.
“This is it. We have discovered something that can really make us rise and rich from Mt. Pinatubo’s ashes,” this town’s Mayor Jerry Pelayo said in an interview.
He was referring to the findings of an experiment that he, his son Patrick and agricultural technicians showing that areas covered by Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar debris are ideal for sweet sorghum production.
Sweet sorghum, he said, grows abundantly and fast in lahar areas and can yield enough ethanol to make the country a leading exporter of the product as a fuel additive.
“Another ideal thing is that the plants do not need as much irrigation. Water it once, and it grows to full maturity,” he added.
Pelayo noted that the demand for ethanol as an environment-friendly additive is growing worldwide, as he cited Singapore which has a huge demand for ethanol. As much as 10 to 15 percent ethanol could safely be mixed with gasoline for vehicles and is already being widely used in the United States and Brazil,” he said.
He also said that it costs less to farm sweet sorghum than sugarcane which is also a source of ethanol. “Besides, we don’t want to adversely affect our sugar industry,” he added.
Pelayo cited studies indicating that so-called stillage from sweet sorghum after juice extraction can be used as more nutritious animal feed than stillage from sugarcane.
“Also it was found out that ethanol production process from sweet sorghum has cleaner burning quality than sugarcane with high octane rating,” Pelayo said.
Gov. Lilia Pineda and her team of technicians were here yesterday to inspect Pelayo’s experimental three-hectare sweet sorghum farm and a locally made machine that extracts ethanol from the plants. The machine, which presses sorghum plants for its juice, was pattered after an Indian invention by Pelayo’s son Patrick.
“We have established that lahar areas are usually conducive for sweet sorghum production which can mature in 45 days. The plants have also been noted to yield 95 percent ethanol,” Pelayo said.
Pelayo said Pineda now plans to embark on massive sweet sorghum farms in the thousands of hectares of idle lands covered with lahar debris deposited by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 and by subsequent lahar flows.
“Our experiment was able to yield 20,000 liters of ethanol per hectare,” Pelayo said, as he noted that a previous similar experiment done in the Ilocos region where sweet sorghum plants yielded minimal ethanol.
Pelayo said that the production of sweet sorghum for ethanol was first introduced in Northern Luzon in 2007 by director general William Dar of the International Crops and Research Insitute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) which started sorghum farms at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte and other areas in the Ilocos region, as well as Pangasinan.
“The diameter of the sweet sorghum plant they grew there in the north is much less than the diameter of the plants we harvested in lahar areas,” Pelayo said.
Dr. Dar was then quoted to have said that investors in such farms could have farmers in joint ventures and that with two cropping seasons of sweet sorghum per year, the farmers could earn a net income of P50,000 to P65,000 per harvest per hectare.
