Intercropping Sorghum, Soybeans With Coconut
For the first time since the start of our Sorghum and Soybeans production program, we will experiment on intercropping these two important crops with old and tall Coconuts in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte next week.
This is an important experiment because there are hundreds of thousands of hectares of Coconut farms all over the country which still practice mono cropping until today.
This trial is in response to the question which I had been asked frequently during the farmers’ forum we conducted on whether Sorghum and Soybeans would grow under Coconuts.
My answer had always been “Yes” but I felt that the yield would not be as much as when Sorghum and Soybeans were planted in the open field receiving full sunlight.
I have seen Cassava, Coffee, Corn and Abaca planted underneath tall Coconuts but there had been no experiment yet on the productivity of Sorghum and Soybeans intercropped with Coconuts.
These trials will be documented and the results will be shared later on this page in the hope that we could make use of the millions of hectares of under-utilized areas planted solely to Coconuts.
The Sorghum and Soybeans Farming Under Coconuts in DOS will involve around 100 hectares and is part of the Integrated Farming System which we are undertaking in the former MNLF Camp of Ibrahim Sema.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#farmingisendlesslearning!
(Photos shared by Datu Radin Sinsuat and Datu Duma Sinsuat show our 125HP Landini using a Lemken harrow preparing the fields under the Coconuts for Sorghum and Soybeans planting.)