Technology piloting of sweet songhum through the use of marginal lands in the region of Panay [Philippines]: an initiative towards increasing farmer's income and land productivity

Through the efforts and continued support of Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Agricultural Research [Quezon City, Philippines] (DA-BAR), sweet songhum has been successfully launched in the Philippines as a potential feedstock for ethanol production. It can also be a source of food, fodder for animals, organic fertilizer and even biomass for power generation by utilizing other parts of the crop. In addition, sweet sorghum is a short maturing crop that enables two to three croppings per year. It is because of these characteristics that sweet sorghum can be a viable crop to attend to the challenges on food security and rural development. Previous projects on sweet sorghum production, including the commercial production, showed encouraging results on the agronomic and economic potential of the crop. Since 'land use' is one of the issues being raised on biofuels feedstocks, it is significant to determine the viability of the crop in marginal lands, in terms also of its agronomic and economic potential. Technology piloting of sweet sorghum in four provinces of Panay [Philippines] was conducted in ten marginal plantation trial sites of Capiz, Aklan, Iloilo and Antique. The agronomic potential was evaluated based on the land types, water-logging, soil pH and slope location at different agronomic parameters while the economic potential was determined based on the potential farmers income and Return on Investment (ROI). Results of the study proved that sweet sorghum can thrive well in either flat or hilly areas. Water-logged conditions had highly affected the growth and yield performance of the crop. It is best that they are planted in soils that are well drained and in pH near neutral thus, to achieve this the application of lime must be implemented as to provide proper available nutrients to the soil and plant. Slope locations of sweet sorghum are best in middle and lower portions where the soil depth is thicker for plants to thrive and be productive. From the total actual production cost of the marginal flatland (corrected pH) plantation trial site of Antique, the average annual farmer's income was estimated to be PhP 70,532.50 at an average seed yield at 3 ton/ha/cropping and cane yield of 50 ton/ha for two croppings at a buying price of PhP 13.00 and PhP 1000.00, respectively. The income can be as high as PhP 229,932.50 depending on seed and cane yield and buying price. From the financial analysis conducted, the ROI was computed to be 60.39% and a payback period of three years. Thus, it can be concluded that sweet sorghum is agro-economically competitive at corrected marginal conditions suitable for sweet sorghum cultivation. However, waterlogged areas and uncorrected soil pH conditions can lead to unprofitable scenario.