January 16, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

For Livestock and Poultry! SORGHUM DEMO FARM STARTS IN NAAWAN, MISAMIS ORIENTAL

Manny Piñol August 24, 2020 2 min read
On Wednesday, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) turned over ten 20-kilo bags of Sorghum Seeds to Mayor Dennis Roa of Naawan, Misamis Oriental, a 4th class municipality.
The Sorghum Seeds good for 20 hectares were part of the donation of the Scott Seed Company of Hereford, Texas which arrived early this year.
MinDA is promoting Sorghum farming as a complementary crop to the traditional corn as Mindanao is expected to become a powerhouse for livestock and poultry in the coming years.
Sroghum is a versatile crop which is drought resilient as it needs only 25% of the water requirements of corn and could be ratooned twice after the first harvest, which means a total of three harvests with just one planting.
In addition to that, Sorghum stalks and leaves are still green at harvest, unlike corn which dry up and turn brown, thus making it an ideal source of silage for cattle and small ruminants.
Sorghum could also be an intercrop to Coconut.
Sorghum, however, is a largely unappreciated and less understood crop thus the problem confronting it is market acceptance.
When I was Agriculture Secretary, I met with the big feed millers and consulted them about the acceptability of Sorghum and they expressed enthusiasm but raised issues about the sustainability of the supply.
Following that consultation, DA included in its 2019 Budget P100-M for Sorghum Development but this was later realigned to other programs when I left the Department.
Both MinDA and the Texas Sorghum seed producers group led by the benevolent Coby Kriegshauzer whose family owns Scott Seed Company are now working on their ends to push the Mindanao Sorghum Development Program.
The Texas Group and MinDA are both reaching out to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture to support the Mindanao Sorghum Development Program.
#ContinuitySustainability!
#PabagobagoWalangNababago!
#AgricultureIsCommonSense!
(This video material was prepared by the Beauty & Bounty of Mindanao Media Team and shot entirely in Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)
https://fb.watch/aK1i36Xkv8/

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