USAID extends $4.98-M funding for sweet sorghum production

MANILA, Philippines - India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), which has several scientific initiatives in the Philippines, is participating in a $4.98-million research program funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for the

intensification of sweet sorghum production.

The research institute announced over the weekend that the program will be led by the University of Georgia’s Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory.

In a statement, ICRISAT said the five-year research project will use new genomics tools to produce sorghum lines that have better drought and heat tolerance and ratooning ability.

New production systems for sweet sorghum would also be studied.

 â€œThe project offers a unique opportunity to fully exploit the potential of new genomic tools in improving efficiency and effectiveness of sorghum improvement programs,” said ICRISAT director general William Dar.

“The smallholder farmers in the drylands will be the final beneficiaries of this research, contributing to move them from impoverished subsistence farming to prosperous market orientation,” he added.

ICRISAT noted that although sorghum is the most drought-tolerant of the major cereal crops in the world, moisture stress remains one of the major constrains to its production.

In the Philippines, it is being studied if sweet sorghum can be mass-produced as a cheap alternative to corn feed and as feed stock for ethanol production.

Several farmers in Ilocos and Central Luzon have already begun cultivating the crop in small quantities.

Several growers have also begun to manufacture other products from sweet sorghum such as sweeteners with a lower glycemic index level, gluten-free flour and personal care products.

A variety developed by ICRISAT-SPV422 – is now being used to make sweeteners.

ICRISAT extends its technologies to Filipino farmers through partnerships with the national government, educational institutions and local government units.

In sweet sorghum production, for instance, ICRISAT has a partnership with the Mariano Marcos State University in Ilocos Norte that has tested several promising lines such as ICSV 93046, ICSV 25340 and ICSV 25300.

Other Phl initiatives

Aside from initiatives in the propagation and use of sweet sorghum in the Philippines, ICRISAT is also engaging Filipino farmers in the cultivation of its other mandate crops such as groundnut chick pea and pigeon pea.

Pigeon pea and chick pea are being promoted as an intercrop to be used for human consumption and animal feed while groundnut is being promoted for commercialization.

Chickpea consumption in the Philippines has been steadily increasing but the country has to import from neighboring Asian countries to fill the demands.

ICRISAT is also working on increased aflatoxin (fungal infection) management in groundnut.

Aflatoxin contamination is one of the major constraints in groundnut trade.