Blessings of friendship! Scott Seed To Set Up Sorghum Trials in PH

A trial farm which would test the productivity of different hybrid lines of the feed grains Sorghum will be established by the Scott Seed Company of Hereford, Texas to boost the private sector-led Sorghum Development Program in the Philippines.
This was shared to me yesterday by Scott Seed Company Chief Executive Officer Coby Kriegshauser who, along with his brother, Chad, owns the 75-year-old seeds production company.
Just like what the company does in Costa Rica and Mexico, two of the major Sorghum producers in the world, Coby said he would once I have identified an area for the trials, he would send 50 hybrid varieties to determine which would perform best under Philippine conditions.
While at least two Sorghum varieties developed by Scott Seed Company had already been proven to be excellent in Philippine conditions, the Sorghum Bicolor 505×5 and 504×6, Coby said other lines will also be tested to maximize the potentials of the country in Sorghum production.
Sorghum is the third most important grains both for human food and animal feeds after Corn and Wheat and it is easier and more cost effective to grow than other grains.
The cost per bag of seeds per hectare is only about P4,000 compared to GMO Corn which fetches over P10,000 per hectare.
Another excellent quality of Sorghum is its ability to grow ratoons which allows the farmer to harvest two more times from the regenerative tillers without planting.
Effectively, the farmer harvests Sorghum three times in one year without replanting.
Since Sorghum costs less per kilo than Wheat or Corn, its use for animal feeds formulation is expected to bring down the cost of feeds and improve our Aqua, Poultry and Livestock production.
In our previous trials in North Cotabato, the Sorghum Bicolor seeds from Scott Seed Company reached a production of as much as 9-metric tons per hectare.
Coby also said that the Philippine Trials would include a study on what rotational crop to plant after a 3-harvest cycle of Sorghum to reinvigorate the soil.
My friendship with the Kriegshauser family started in 2018 during a visit to Texas arranged by then Agriculture Attache Joy Javelosa to check on the Sorghum industry of America.
The friendship with the family continued even after I resigned from the Dept. of Agriculture and moved to the Mindanao Development Authority.
Scott Seed Company donated 20-metric tons of Sorghum Bicolor seeds to the Province of Davao del Norte through the Mindanao Development Authority in 2019.
This time, even after I have left government, the Kriegshauser Family has continued to support my advocacy for Food Self-Sufficiency in the Philippines.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#BiyayaNgPagkakaibigan!
(In this video which I personally filmed, Coby Kriegshauser, owner of Scott Seed Company, demonstrates the planting of hybrid Sorghum seeds in their trial farm in Amarillo, Texas.)