NE town eyes title of Phl's Sorghum Capital

MANILA, Philippines - Nueva Ecija town wants to be the Sorghum Capital of the Philippine.

The town of Cabiao in Nueva Ecija is laying claim to the title of being the Sweet Sorghum Capital of the Philippines.

A planning session was held recently to prepare a program that will promote and utilize sweet sorghum as envisioned by Dr. Talens Rivera of the Central Luzon State University (CLSU).

The event, organized by CLSU, involved the new partnership between Cabiao, (Nueva Ecija) and Candaba, (Pampanga) in the prospect of propagating sweet sorghum plants and by-products in the two provinces. 

Dr. Rivera is the project leader of a project titled “Social Preparation and Further Capability Building for the Promotion of Sweet Sorghum Utilization” which is funded by the Bureau of Agricultual Research (BAR).

Cabiao Mayor Gloria Crespo-Congco noted that sweet sorghum is a smart and versatile crop. And with the intensified promotion of the crop as food, feed, fuel, fertilizer, it is not surprising that many farmers are interested in planting sweet sorghum. Also, there are lots of food and non-food products that can be produced from sweet sorghum plant, which can address the country’s food security.

She said it would be prudent to focus first on attaining good and competitive price/s for the grains. The mayor discussed the idea of “one bakery per barangay” utilizing sweet sorghum flour for pastries and baked products. This will be done in collaboration with Mayor Jerry L. Pelayo of Candaba, Pampanga, she concluded. 

Dr. Rocelyn M. Barroga of CLSU’s Research, Training and Extension (RET) unit, said they will extend technical assistance to interested individuals and organizations that would latter venture in the production of said sweet sorghum.

Dr. Barroga likewise encouraged participants to work together and help conceptualize the Sweet Sorghum Development Plan.

Sweet sorghum has likewise been picked as the product of choice for Nueva Ecija under the government’s One Town-One Product (OTOP) program.