In the first quarter of 2007 Honduras will import from Malaysia 1.5 million sacks of hybrid seed to plant some 7,200 hectares of African palm (Elaeis guineensis J.). The aim is to produce biodiesel fuel. Héctor Hernández, the Honduran minister of agriculture, told Tierramérica that the plant will be cultivated in the northern departments of Atlántida, Colón and Yoro, and involve farmer and business groups that are interested “in a new economic approach that contributes to producing fuel based on clean technologies.”

The government hopes to generate some 760 million liters of biodiesel in five yeas. The Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE) granted a loan of four million dollars to import the seeds.