After 5-Year Delay! DA Revives Program To Produce Sorghum

Five years after the P100-M Sorghum Development Program was scrapped and abandoned by Agriculture Secretary William Dar, the Department of Agriculture is reviving it under the new Secretary, Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
The Sorghum Development Program was first launched in 2018 as a result of consultations with members of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers.
Sorghum, with a protein content of 11%, was identified as an ideal feed grains to fill up Corn supply shortfall.
In 2018, nationwide trials were conducted which proved to be successful.
Following the successful trials, Sorghum Development was included in the 2019 Budget Preparation with an allocation of P100-M for seeds and other support programs.
For no reason at all, Dar, who took over the DA after I resigned, scrapped the program.
The revival of the Sorghum Development Program which I crafted to produce more feed grains is strongly supported by the head of the National Livestock and Poultry Program, Undersecretary DV Savellano.
The Sorghum Development Program is now included in the list of grains crops supported by the DA.
While the budget for 2025 is nowhere near the P100-M which was realigned for other programs by Dar in 2019, it is a positive step towards the development of a crop which could complement Corn in the production of feeds for Livestock and Poultry.
Five years wasted but as they say “Better Late Than Never.”

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!