“Impressive!” Sorghum Drone Seeding Awes American Experts

The new technology we have adopted in planting Sorghum in large tracts of land using Agricultural drones has impressed the American experts who attended yesterday’s launching of the private-sector led Sorghum Program in Polomolok, South Cotabato.
“This is a game changer in Sorghum farming which we could not do given our soil conditions in Texas,” said Coby Kriegshauser, CEO of Scott Seed Company of Hereford, Texas.
He said that while Philippine has high moisture, Texas has very hard and dry soil.
Coby, who co-owns Scott Seed Company with his brother, Chad, arrived in the Philippines Friday with his son, Barry, and Sorghum breeder Chuck Cielencki.
After former Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Southseas Agri-Aqua Ventures, Inc., launched the DJI Agras T30 Agri Drone, the Sorghum seeding in a .7-hectare area was done in less than 10 minutes.
When the drone seeding was done, two 55-hp CLAAS tractors with rotavators pulverized the soil to ensure that the seeds are covered.
The Sorghum seeds had been coated with fertilizer, a technology offered by the Norwegian fertilizer company, Yara International.
The seeds were also soaked in solutions to protect these from fungus and ants.
With that done, a smaller drone, DJI Agras T20, hovered over the planted area to apply pre-emergence herbicide.
Coby Kriegshauser said the drone seeding technology could boost Sorghum production in the Philippines to address concerns on the high prices of feed materials.
“This is impressive. This is a technology which should be spread to boost production,” Chuck Cielencki, the Sorghum breeder and expert said.
The Sorghum Drone Seeding was an idea that I and GRAINSCO consultant Joemel Fresco developed as we explored ways on how to fasttrack planting and reduce labor cost.
It was first experimented in the SAAVI Demo Farm in Makilala, North Cotabato.
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