Ending ‘Tiempo Muerte’! Inter-Cropping Sugarcane With Soybeans, Sorghum

In Negros Island where close to 300,000 hectares are planted to Sugarcane every year, there is a dreaded season called “Tiempo Muerte,” basically the period from the last fertilizer application to the start of cutting for the milling season, which literally means “Time of Death.”
It is during these months of farm inactivity when workers go through the difficult period of finding odd jobs just to be able to feed their families.
There had been attempts in the past to address this problem by introducing secondary crops which were grown right at the start of the planting season of sugarcane.
Corn, Rice and Mungbeans were intercropped with Sugarcane but while I heard of successful trials, there was really no full-blown adoption of this intercropping strategy.
Perhaps, one of the reasons why the Corn, Rice and Mungbeans Intercropping with Sugarcane did not catch fire was because of marketing and pricing issues.
With the invitation which I received recently from Negros Occidental 5th District Congressman Dino Yulo to help in crafting the Agricultural Productivity Program for his District, I will revisit the Sugarcane Intercropping Strategy.
This time, however, I will recommend the establishment of Trial Farms for Sugarcane Intercropped with Sorghum or Soybeans, depending on the prevailing soil pH of the area.
While Sugarcane grows well in soil with pH range of 5.5 to 6.5, Sorghum is sensitive to soil acidity.
Soybeans, on the other hand, grows well in areas with 5.5 to 6 pH.
I believe these crops are ideal for intercropping because these are early maturing, with harvest coming at 100 to 110 days, during which time the sugarcane is not yet tall enough to cover the Sorghum and Soybeans.
What makes these two crops different from rice, corn and mungbeans is the fact that there are institutional buyers for Sorghum and Soybeans.
Sorghum, for example, has a ready buyer, the Southseas Agri-Aqua Ventures, Inc., a new agricultural company which I and former Senator Panfilo Lacson formed early last year.
For Soybeans, I will be handling the marketing of this valuable product needed by our food and feed industry.
I will also pursue rice production intercropped with Sugarcane using the upland hybrid rice varieties like Seedworks’ TH 82 which could be planted in drylands.
This is going to be an exciting experiment because if proven to be viable, Negros Island will not only be known as the top producer of sugarcane in the country but also Sorghum and Soybeans given the large tracts of land which could be used for intercropping.
More than that, this program could end the “Tiempo Muerte” as workers would have food to eat and work to do for up to 4 months after the planting of sugarcane.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#foodsufficientphilippines!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(This photo taken during the Rice-Sugarcane Intercropping Experiment conducted by the Negros Occidental Agriculture Office under then Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino shows Gov. Bong Lacson harvesting rice grown in between sugarcane rows.)