Chicago, Illinois, USA
March 18, 2015
Chromatin, Inc., an agriculture technology company, announced today that its newly introduced hybrid sorghum seed products have achieved unprecedented yields in East Africa.
Chromatin introduced the new hybrids at a grain sorghum workshop it hosted in Kampala, Uganda. To promote and support local growers, Chromatin’s workshop brought together over 50 stakeholders representing farmers, grain traders, insurance and financial supporters, NGOs, suppliers, representatives of end users, and the media.
Chromatin will distribute its high performing hybrid sorghum seeds across Eastern Africa to help meet the growing demands of the food and beverage industries, as well as meeting the growing needs for animal feed. “The need for reliable sorghum yields is rapidly increasing in this region and Chromatin’s hybrids are well equipped to meet local production demands,” said Rodney Coe, Chromatin’s Associate Director of Business Development and International Sales.
Recent reports have suggested that the demands of the brewing industry have put a strain on food supplies in Eastern Africa. This concern can be mitigated as growers shift from low yielding, open pollinated sorghum varieties—which typically yield only 0.5 to 1.0 MT per acre—to higher yielding hybrid sorghum that can produce up to five times as much yield. This practice would effectively result in more efficient land use, freeing acres that could be used to produce other staple crops such as soybeans and wheat.
David Kisa, CEO of Kapchorwa Commercial Farmers Association (KACOFA), operates a 2,400 acre farm in Uganda and attended the event. “We need to adopt modern farming practices in Uganda in order to bring farming into the 21st century,” Kisa said. “This means friendly financing, appropriate management, but most of all—we need high yielding hybrids. I have trialed Chromatin’s sorghum hybrids on our farm and produced 2.45MT per acre — per acre! That is unheard of!”
Ugandan Breweries Limited has become an important purchaser of sorghum in the region. The company’s Agribusiness Manager Joseph Kawuki noted, “Last year we needed 9000 MT for our brewing needs, but could only get 6000 MT from local production. Now, with Chromatin’s hybrids, I believe our farmer suppliers will produce the grain we need and have excess for other uses.”
Sorghum’s unique biology allows the crop to conserve water resources while producing high yields of grain and biomass on marginal land, making it an ideal crop choice for the dry and arid Eastern African region. AgroDynamics Ltd is one of the suppliers that plan to provide the hybrids to local farmers. “I am happy to be working with an innovative company like Chromatin. They are bringing agricultural solutions to the Ugandan market so that farmers and the country will benefit,” said Henry Kaliisa, Managing Director at AgroDynamics Ltd.
“We are pleased that growers around the world are rapidly recognizing the extraordinary yield potential of Chromatin’s sorghum hybrids,” said Charles Miller, Chromatin’s Vice President of Business Development and International Sales. “Chromatin is committed to changing the world with sorghum.”
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