San Fernando, Pampanga—The Department of Agriculture needs about 200,000 hectares of land to be cultivated for sorghum as an alternative to corn farming, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Andrew Villacorta told reporters Wednesday.
Villacorta said the department would identify the areas from different regions.
“DA research have it that sorghum is viable in tropical countries like the Philippines and it has a big market abroad,” said Villcorta.
He said the drought that hit the Philippines greatly affected corn farmers. The DA earlier reported corn production fell 20 percent in the first quarter due to the drought.
“This is why we encouraged our corn farmers to shift to sorghum production,” he said. “Sorghum production has been found out to be viable in Central Luzon and other farming regions throughout the country.”
