Mindanao Sorghum Program Gets Boost From Texas Family

Mindanao Sorghum Program

Gets Boost From Texas Family

Amarillo, Texas – A 75-year-old Texas family-owned Seeds company has pledged to support the country’s Sorghum Grains Development Program by supplying the needed seeds for an initial area of 4,000-hectares.

In my third visit to Texas today since I started the advocacy to introduce Sorghum as a complementary crop to Corn, Coby Kriegshauzer, company CEO, said Scott Seed Company could allocate more Sorghum seeds for the Philippines as the demand increases.

Scott Seed Company which was started by his grandfather, Ira Scott, 75 years ago, donated 5-metric tons of Sorghum Seeds in December 2019 to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) when I was Chairman.

The donated seeds were turned over to Gov. Edwin Jubahib of Davao del Norte and planted in demo farms all over Mindanao.

Two varieties performed well, the 505×5 and 504×15.

Today, Coby and his brother, Chad, along with plant breeder Chuck Cielencki, brought me to the company’s nursery in Amarillo to show me other promising hybrids.

I selected two more hybrids which would go with the first shipment next December.

It was actually Agriculture Attache Joy Javelosa who introduced me to Coby Kriegshauzer and his wife Karen in 2018 which started our friendship.

The Kriegshauzers said they would attend next year’s harvest festival in the Philippines.

The first shipment will initially be planted in Mindanao and the production will be supplied to a group of livestock and poultry cooperatives in Luzon who are producing their own feeds.

The production of Sorghum as a complementary crop to corn could help stabilize feed grains prizes in the country.

While corn is harvested twice in a year in the country, Sorghum could have two harvests with one planting through ratooning.

It is also drought resilient making it an ideal support crop to corn for feed production.

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