Agriculture Business Week

Harnessing the rainfed areas in the country can contribute immensely to the food as well as non-food supply in the country. The thing to do is have a focused program on dryland agriculture, according to Dr William D. Dar whom we interviewed during his visit to the country recently.

Dr. Dar, by the way, is the current director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India. He has been there since 2000 and was supposed to have just two five-year terms but he has been given a third five-year term to serve the institute. A native of Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, he used to be the secretary of agriculture during the first year of the Estrada Administration and presidential adviser on rural development before he was recruited by ICRISAT.

The main focus of ICRISAT is to help farmers make the vast dryland areas in the tropics, particularly in Asia and Africa, productive in a sustainable manner. They conduct research on crops that are suited to dryland areas where water is scarce and where farmers are mostly poor. These include crops for food as well as biofuel.

VAST RAINFED AREAS
Dr. Dar points out that there are at least four million hectares of rainfed uplands and mountain areas that could be harnessed for food and biofuel production. Two million hectares of these, he said, are rice-based farming systems where farmers just grow one crop of rice a year and usually nothing else. Actually, there are many things that can be grown after rice to take advantage of the residual moisture. He explains that drought resistant crops could be grown, and these are the very crops that ICRISAT has been developing for the semi-arid tropics.

For the Philippines, he is very excited about sweet sorghum which is for biofuel production as well as for food. He has helped introduce a number of varieties from ICRISAT which are now being tried by farmers in Ilocos, Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao. The juice from the stalks is used to make biofuel as well as other products like syrup, vinegar and basi. The grains, on the other hand, are good for human consumption as well as for livestock and poultry feed.

Farmers in Ilocos Norte are reported to be benefiting from the introduction of sweet sorghum. A village-level extraction unit is enabling the farmers to produce syrup, basi and vinegar from the juice extracted from the stalks. In Alaminos City in Pangasinan, vinegar has been made by the local agriculturists from the juice experimental plants.

PIGEONPEA POSSIBILITIES
The food crops that can better withstand limited moisture in the soil are pigeonpea or kadios, peanut, chickpea or garbanzos, and corn. Some are perennial while others are annuals with relatively short growing periods. He is particularly upbeat on the many possibilities ofpigeonpea in the Philippines. For one, the young pods as well as the mature seeds are rich in protein and kadios is well liked by many Filipinos in many parts of the country. In the Ilocos, for one, it is a favorite vegetable for pinakbet. Of course, it could also be prepared in many other ways for human consumption.

Aside from its use as food, the kadios can also be planted for erosion control and for the suppression of weeds in young fruit plantations. Dr. Dar said that when planted in a cogonal area, kadios could easily suppress the pesky grass. That’s what he exactly did in his own orchard of young mango trees in San Miguel, Bulacan. In China, he added, they are growing a lot of pigeonpea today to control weeds and erosion as well as for food. He revealed that in 2000, only about 5,000 hectares were planted to pigeonpea. Today, there are 150,000 hectares devoted to this crop in China. The fruits are not only cooked as fresh vegetable, the seeds are also made into flour to produce noodles and snack foods.

BEST TIME TO PLANT
He recommends the planting of pigeonpea during the start of the rainy season in grassy areas. The plants grow very fast during this period and could suppress the weeds in due time. Most varieties introduced from India are much bigger than the local strains. Most of them are perennial and could grow as high as four meters tall. There is also what is considered an annual variety which is harvestable as early as 70 days from planting. This is particularly good for places with little residual moisture.

CHICKPEA YIELDS HIGH LOCALLY
Chickpea or garbanzos is another crop that is suitable for dryland cultivation. Most varieties are good for growing under cool climate such as Baguio or the Cordilleras but there are a few that have been developed for lowland planting. Dr. Dar has provided seeds of chickpea for experimental planting in Benguet State University. It was observed that the yield in Benguet is double that of the yield in India. It could yield two tons per hectare under Benguet conditions compared to only one ton in India.

The Philippines is still importing a lot of garbanzos but if local farmers can produce large volumes, these could be exported to India as that country cannot produce enough for its population.

Big-seeded peanut varieties have also been introduced in the country from India. The Isabela State University is said to be producing seeds for planting. Raffy Espiritu of Luna, La Union, has also been planting commercially one of the peanut varieties from India.

Of course, there are many other crops that could be grown by farmers in rainfed areas besides those mentioned above. What should be done is for the government to have a focused program in this area of agriculture. Dr. Dar and other agricultural experts have conceptualize an agency that could be called Philippine Dryland Research Institute, or something of that sort. This could provide the necessary technologies for dryland farmers.