SORGHUM GAINS SUPPORTERS
ANIMAL FEED SUPPLY ASSURED
By Manny Piñol
The country’s livestock and poultry farmers , two the fastest growing sectors in agriculture, will be assured of steady supply of low-cost feed materials as the Sorghum Development Program of the Department of Agriculture gains more supporters.
Yesterday, while inspecting the 8-hectare Sorghum Pilot Farm in Makilala, Cotabato, officials of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat arrived in full force to inquire on how the town could participate in the program.
Esperanza is located in the Allah Valley Area in Central Mindanao with vast fertile land planted to rice and corn.
The Esperanza officials said the town still has wide areas for agriculture and the introduction of the “Zero Tillage Sorghum Farming” excites many farmers.
In the “Zero Tillage Farming System,” the areas to be planted are not plowed anymore.
The area, mostly undulating, are just cleared of weeds and Sorghum seeds are sowed using stakes to create holes in the ground.
The Zero Tillage Farming System prevents soil erosion and saves the farmers a lot of expense in land preparation.
This system of farming is encouraged in mountainous, hilly and undulating areas where land cultivation using tractors is difficult.
The DA targets 100,000 hectares to be planted to Sorghum in 2019, mostly Ancestral Domain areas of the Indigenous People.
It is funded by the Special Area for Agricultural Development Program (SAAD) of the DA which targets the poorest provinces of the country.
The poultry and livestock sectors have long complained of the high cost of feed grains, especially corn.
Some feed millers have resorted to importing feed wheat but animal nutritionists say it is inferior compared to corn.
Sorghum is eyed as the best substitute or complementary feed material to corn because of its high crude protein content, according to animal nutritionists.
Sorghum stalks are also ideal silage material for cattle, carabao and small ruminants.
(Photos were taken in the Sorghum Pilot Farm in Makilala, North Cotabato shortly before I injured myself. While cutting a shrub using the bolo that I am tucking, a splinter pierced my forefinger. Dr. Ruel Ramon had to slice my fingertip open to take out the splinter.Shown in the photos is my older brother, retired police colonel Pat Piñol who allowed DA to use his land for the Pilot Sorghum Farm for free. Photos by Marvin Segovia, DA-SAAD National Coordinator.£
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