CLAVERIA, MISAMIS ORIENTAL – With the agriculture department set on further promoting and developing sorghum as an important crop for food and feed industries, a Sorghum Field Day and Technology Forum is staged at the Research Center for Hillyland Development (RCHD), in Lanise, of this town.

On August 20, more than 35 potential growers and marketers convened to learn the package of technology of grain sorghum, at the same time, the demand for such crop in the market.

Such undertaking also drums up the initiative of DA-Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) in urging farmers to produce additional feed grains and silage to support the livestock and poultry sector, as sorghum is an alternative source of protein to corn and cassava.

“Through the technology demonstration, we can showcase the productivity performance and most adaptable sorghum varieties under different agro-climatic conditions,” Jurrybe J. Lachica, sorghum focal person of DA-RFO 10 said.

He added, the department has ongoing studies on the development of sorghum varieties through its research stations, namely: Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex, Research Center for Upland Development and RCHD.

With the latter being the site for the field day, participants were guided on a tour that featured the 505 x 5 and 506 x 15 sorghum varieties, which originated from Texas, USA.

These provisions were provided to the DA regional field offices across the country after select DA officials were sent to a sorghum company based there.

Of which, the planting materials were then distributed in March at Davao City, and planted mid-May, of this year.

Particularly, the station has six components for its sorghum production technology demonstration project.

This includes the Varietal Evaluation of Grain Sorghum in Different Production Environments; Site Specific Nutrient Management of Grain Sorghum for Better Yield and Income; Influence of Biomass Management for the Fertility and Yield of Grain Sorghum; Tiller Management for Ratooned Grain Sorghum; Performance of Ratooned Crop in Different Production Environments; and Population Density for Optimum Yield of Grain Sorghum.

For this year, Lachica also bared that the Region targets to establish six techno demo farms, ideally having at least five hectares, that would serve as demonstration site and learning center for farmers who wish to engage in sorghum farming.

“Should any group be interested, the department will be providing seeds and fertilizers while farmer/project partners will shoulder the labor as their counterpart,” he explained.

Reportedly, a giant agribusiness company guarantees to buy P14 per kilo of sorghum or even higher, depending on prevailing prices.

With generated results from research, farmers can make informed decisions which appropriate sorghum varieties and production technologies to choose from that are best suited to their agro climatic condition. #