MinDA to put up demo farm for sorghum plant in LASBUENASCAR

By Jennifer P. Gaitano

Farmers from the province of Agusan del Norte have received two sacks of Sorghum seedlings from the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) led by Secretary Manny Piñol.

Sorghum is an alternative for corn and is a grass specie cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol production. The municipalities of Las Nieves, Buenavista, Nasipit and Carmen (LASBUENASCAR), all in the province of Agusan del Norte were chosen to be Sorghum production sites.

“The average yield of this is about 8.4 metric tons per hectare. One good thing about Sorghum is that when it’s cut, it would still grow again twice or thrice,” bared Sec. Piñol.

Secretary Piñol assured the farmers that they would not worry much on where to market the Sorghum because MinDA will help them and there is already a market prepared for this. “It’s very clear that there is a market ready for this. These are huge markets not only those in the countryside, where products are sold at a very affordable price,” Piñol added. According to Alvin Aclan, provincial agriculturist, production of Sorghum fits the needs of the farmers, as their land is wide with good soil quality.

“We will assess the performance of this sorghum production in your area. I believe there is no need for fertilizers as your have a good soil quality. This is also the reason why we chose you as the first beneficiaries because we see potential in LASBUENASCAR,” Aclan underscored. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)