By Lilybeth Ison/PNA
MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is boosting sorghum production by alloting at least 100,000 hectares of under-utilized land, mainly in the Tribal Ancestral Domain Areas, for the sector in 2019.
This is to support the country’s growing poultry and livestock industry, which is eyeing the export market soon, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said on Tuesday.
Piñol said the planting of sorghum, an African grass species that produces round grains ideal for livestock and poultry feeds, will be part of the department’s Anti-Poverty and Greater Agricultural Productivity Program implemented through the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD).
With an estimated average production of 10 metric tons (MT) per hectare per harvest and three harvests in one planting because of the plant’s ratooning capability, the Sorghum Development Program is expected to boost the country’s feed grains production by three million MT.
At PHP10 per kilo, sorghum is expected to address poverty in the countryside, especially in the tribal areas of the country, where ancestral lands are largely under-utilized, Piñol noted.
The sorghum program is expected to supplement the Corn Production Program of the country, which has been the main source of animal feeds.
In addition to the grains, sorghum stalks have also been identified as an ideal silage material for big and small ruminants.
At least 40 tons of sorghum silage materials could be gathered from every hectare after every harvest, a quantity that could feed 20 heads of cattle for one year.
Last month, Piñol said, all the regional directors of the DA attended the launching of the Sorghum Development Program in Makilala, North Cotabato.
He added every DA Regional Office in the country has started a pilot farm of at least two hectares, which would serve as a demonstration site and learning center for farmers interested in sorghum farming.
For 2019, the SAAD program has allocated funds for the purchase of sorghum seeds, which will be distributed for free to the first 100,000 hectares.
The DA has also prepared a Village-level Feed Mill Development Program to support the massive production of corn and sorghum for the livestock and poultry industry.
The village-level feed mills are expected to provide rural livestock and poultry growers access to affordable feeds using materials that the farmers in the locality grow.
