Manila, The Philippines
November 16, 2007
By Madel R. Sabater,
Manila Bulletin via SEAMEO SEARCA
Former Agriculture Secretary Dr. William Dar said yesterday that
with three varieties already identified to produce good yield,
the Philippines is prepared to use sweet sorghum as a bioethanol
source to counter the increasing fuel prices in the world
market.
Dar, now the director general of the
International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in
India, said that sweet sorghum has a "systematic development" in
the Philippines as three out of eight varieties have already
been identified to produce excellent yield.
"Where sugar grows, sweet sorghum can grow," Dar said, adding
that it can also grow in areas where tobacco, cotton, corn, and
rice grow.
Dar said ICRISAT developed sweet sorghum varieties for 12 years
and took two years to test the varieties. The testing and
adoptation of varieties are being shared by ICRISAT with the
Philippines.
Adaptation trials have been conducted in Central Luzon and
Ilocos Norte since 2005 in coordination with the Philippine
Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources
Research and Development (PCARRD) of the Department of Science
and Technology (DoST), and the Bureau of Agricultural Research
(BAR) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Dar said that aside from its use as bioethanol source, sweet
sorghum is also used in India for power generation in
distilleries, livestock feed, compost, and as flour.
"Walang sayang (Nothing is wasted). It answers the goal of food
security, poverty reduction, and energy. It is also a climate
change crop as it does not emit sulfur and is a clean fuel," he
said.
Sweet sorghum (sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a multi-purpose
crop yielding food in the form of grain, ethanol from its stem
juice, and fodder from its leaves and bagasse. Sweet sorghum
thrives under drier and warmer lands.
It can be grown throughout the year with minimum water supply as
it requires only one half of the water required to grow maize
and around one eighth of the water required to grow sugarcane.
Sweet sorghum is grown in Northern and Central Luzon, Oriental
Mindoro, Capiz, Negros, South Cotabato, North Cotabato,
Bukidnon, Zamboanga, and General Santos City. |
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