Granma, January 28 (RHC/acn)--Industrial scale biodiesel production will begin this year in the Cuban province of Granma, where a bio-fertilizer, bio-stimulant and bio-pesticide factory will also be built.

Engineer Ídel Marrero, director of the local branch of the Labiofam Company in the province, said the biodiesel will replace conventional fuel used by company in Granma and that it will be obtained from oil made from the seed of Jatropha Curcas, a flowering plant in the spurge family that grows locally.

Marrero said that derivates will be used in the manufacturing of soaps and other personal hygiene items in the town of Media Luna, the site of the plant.

The engineer said in the capital city of Bayamo, construction will begin this year of a bio-fertilizer, bio-stimulant and bio-pesticide plant, with a cost of some 27 million dollars and employing about 270 technicians.

Labiofam reported last year completion of a biodiesel factory in Guantánamo, and said others are also planned for Las Tunas and Holguín, Havana and Villa Clara.

Bioproducts in these plants will be obtained mainly using water and micro-organisms, and will not affect the environment.

The company said the plants are expected to reduce importation of fuel in 26 percent.