Practical Solution! Planting Sorghum Best Option In Banana Farms Hit By Fusarium

For farmers who own thousands of hectares of banana farms devastated by Fusarium Wilt, the best option I could recommend is to introduce Sorghum as a rotational crop.
“Fusarium wilt of banana, popularly known as Panama disease, is a lethal fungal disease caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). It is the first disease of bananas to have spread globally in the first half of the 20th century,” according to information available in the web.
In Mindanao, especially the Davao Region where the growing of Cavendish Banana is one of the major agricultural activities, Fusarium devastated wide areas of banana farms.
As a result of the disease spread, farmers abandoned their farms leaving wide areas unproductive.
In 2019, as Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), I introduced Sorghum as an option for banana farmers rose areas were affected by Fusarium.
The idea did not catch fire mainly because the income from Sorghum Farming is way lower than the earnings from Cavendish Banana Farming.
With the focus given by the Department of Agriculture on Cattle, Sheep and Goat farming, however, the interest on Sorghum might pick up.
Sorghum stalks, after harvesting the grains, could be processed into Silage with one hectare of Sorghum producing Silage enough to feed 20 Cattle for one year or 100 Goats or Sheep for the same period.
So, once again, I am inviting local government officials of areas whose banana farms were affected by Panama Disease or Fusarium Wilt to consider Sorghum farming.
We could provide the seeds, the technology needed to grow Sorghum and a ready market with a guaranteed price.
More than that, planting Sorghum could open a new agricultural activity – raising and growing Cattle, Sheep or Goats with the support of the DA.
#FarmingIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!