SORGHUM PLANTING PROGRAM
HOPE FOR POULTRY, LIVESTOCK
By Manny Piñol
The Department of Agriculture’s program to establish village level feed mills to support rural hog and poultry raisers produce their own feeds at lower cost holds a promise as the first Sorghum Pilot Farm shows excellent performance.
Yesterday, on the way to a Christmas Day visit of my mother, Efigenia, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, I dropped by the DA Sorghum Demonstration Farm in San Vicente, Makilala, North Cotabato.
What I saw really impressed and inspired me.
At one month and one week, the Sorghums were growing vigorously and in about a week, the panicles are expected to show followed by the flowering stage.
By the end of February next year, the 6-hectare Pilot Farm could be harvested and judging from the physical appearance of the plants, I project a very good harvest.
The DA has introduced Sorghum in the different regions of the country as it develops new sources of feed grains for the growing livestock and poultry industry of the country.
Corn production has been very low making it very expensive forcing feed millers to import feed wheat.
Sorghum has a higher protein content than corn and could grow well in marginal areas requiring less water and rainfall.
With one harvest, a farmer could harvest his Sorghum field three times because of ratooning, making it cheaper to produce.
By 2019, the DA through the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program targets 100,000 hectares for Sorghum planting, mostly in Ancestral Domain Areas of the Indigenous People.
Based on initial production results, the 100,000-hectare area could produce at least 2-million metric tons of Sorghum grains for feeds and about 8-million metric tons of silage materials for cattle and small ruminants.
Part of the program is the establishment of village-level feed mills where organized rural hog and poultry raisers could avail of loans from the Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment Loaning Program of the DA.
A group of hog raisers from the Davao Region is the first group to apply for the loan for feed mills which will be granted at 2% interest per annum payable in 8 years.
With low-cost feeds, local hog and poultry raisers are expected to be competitive in accessing the market.
(These photos were taken yesterday in the Sorghum Pilot Farm along the national highway in San Vicente, Makilala, North Cotabato. The property is owned by my brother, retired police colonel Patricio who allowed DA to use the area for free.)
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