New Crop, New Machines!

Introducing and growing a new agricultural crop is not that simple or easy.
First, you have to learn the correct planting protocol the hard way, sometimes even expensive way.
This is what we experienced with our Sorghum program.
Since there are no set protocols on how to plant and propagate Sorghum in our area, we have to learn by actually doing it.
There are three very important lessons we already learned:
1. Sorghum will not thrive in soggy and waterlogged areas;
2. Sorghum will not grow well in soil with pH level of 5 to 6;
3. Sorghum performs very well in undulating and well-drained areas.
Since Sorghum is relatively a new crop being propagated in large-scale, we had to use new equipment.
The mechanical harvester had to be adjusted to conform with the height of the Sorghum stalks and in areas where the mechanical harvester could not be used, we had to do the harvesting manually.
A thresher specially designed for Sorghum had been fabricated for us by the Green Valley Agricultural Machinery based in Banga, South Cotabato.
Yesterday, they also started the fabrication of a Sorghum Grains Polisher and Cleaner to take out the whiskers attached to the grains.
In spite of these challenges, what keeps me going is the fact that there is a ready market for Sorghum grains and that its volume production could help stabilize the prices of feeds in the country.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#FarmIsTheBestLaboratory!
(This video which I took yesterday shows a grains thresher specially designed by Green Valley Agricultural Machinery for Sorghum.)