DLT plans jatropha mills

DLT plans jatropha mills
The StarBiz, Wednesday April 7, 2010

KUCHING: DLT Institute plans to set up processing facilities in Sarawak’s major towns to extract oil from jatropha seeds collected from farmers. Founding director and principal consultant Dr Elli Luhat said a press mill would be built in Kuching, Sibu and Miri each.

“We now collect between 5 million and 10 million tonnes of seeds a month from farmers and we pay them RM500 a tonne. Dr Elli Luhat showing jatropha superbulk seeds at the launch of the foundation in Kuching yesterday. “Singapore buyers are paying S$700 per tonne for the seeds,’’ he told reporters at the launch of DLT Institute Seed Foundation at Taman Satria Jaya here yesterday. The foundation acts as a seed bank with initial stocks of 10 million jatropha seeds and 50,000 gaharu (agarwood) seeds, which will be supplied to farmers.

The Institute’s investment arm, DLT Plantations Sdn Bhd, is involved in the cultivation of jatropha, also known as a biofuel plant as its oil is the main feedstock for the production of bio-diesel. The jatropha superbulk seed is a variety developed by Luhat after several years of research on the premium crop. Initially, he sourced the jatropha seeds from Nicaragua.

Luhat, a PhD holder in forestry, said three companies from Japan and South Korea were keen to import jatropha seeds from his company but it was unable to deliver the volume they required. He said crude jatropha oil (CJO) fetched between US$650 and US$800 in the international market, which was higher than the prices of crude palm oil (CPO).

“We are supplying free jatropha superbulk seeds to farmers for planting but they must sell back to us the fruits (seeds) they produce. “There are now some 3,000 farmers registered with the DLT Institute and using superbulk seeds for their plantings. We provide them training. Our jatropha trees start to bear fruit 3½ months after planting. The trees will be at the most productive after reaching three years,’’ he added.

Luhat said an acre planted with 1,000 jatropha trees could produce about 3.6 tonnes of dry seeds a year. From the results of recent researches, growers have been recommended to plant up to 4,000 trees an acre to increase productivity and yields.

With an oil contents of betweeen 38% and 42%, 3 kg of jatropha seeds are required to produce 1 litre of oil. “My dream is to make Sarawak a big producer in jatropha,’’ said Luhat, who presented a paper during the World Summit on Jatropha in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.

The former forester with the state forest department is promoting the development of smart-farming industry based on the cultivation of jatropha and gaharu trees and the breeding of the empurau, Sarawak’s most expensive fish.