Japanese firms look to sow 1,000-ha super sorghum crop in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
Japanese firms look to sow 1,000-ha super sorghum crop in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
Two Japanese companies are seeking permission from a province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands to make use of the poor soil there to grow a drought-resistant grain.
NTS Partners Co. Ltd. and SOL Holdings have asked to be granted a total area of 1,000 hectares of plain land on eroded hills or in poor forests in Dak Nong to sow super sorghum seeds in the initial phase, they said during a recent meeting with the provincial administration.
The meeting saw the Japanese firms report results of their trial cultivation of the grain in several Central Highlands provinces.
Sorghum is an important crop worldwide, used for food, fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels.
The gramineous super sorghum is “known for a high crop yield with cane containing a very high content of sugar,” according to SOL Holdings.
After a year of working on test crops, it was concluded that the weather and soil in the Central Highlands in general, and Dak Nong in particular, suit the cultivation of super sorghum, the Japanese firms told local authorities.
The two thus want to start the first 1,000ha crop in Dak Nong, and will expand the farm if it yields positive results, they added.
SOL Holdings decided to commence the trial cultivation in March 2014.
The trial took place in fields covering an area of approximately 30 hectares in total, spread across numerous locations in the north, center, Central Highlands and south of Vietnam, which had been carefully selected for their geographical and climatic conditions, it said in a press release.
The trial cultivation was implemented under agreements the Japanese firm reached in late 2013 with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, local dairy firm TH Milk, and domestic sugar producer Lam Son Sugar.
SOL Holdings had told the Vietnamese partners that “there is significant potential to increase [sorghum] yields” in the Southeast Asian country.
“Vietnam currently produces an annual yield of 60 tons per hectare of sugar cane, and 70 tons per hectare of sorghum, an indigenous crop that is primarily made into livestock feed,” the company said.
“In contrast, the trial cultivation in Indonesia has produced an annual yield of 430 tons per hectare of super sorghum.”
The Japanese company underlined the success of super sorghum cultivation in Indonesia and the benefits of the grain as both a crop and an energy source at a conference for major national companies from the sugar, dairy and ethanol industries hosted by the agriculture ministry in early 2014.
After the event, the ministry and a number of the attending companies “agreed that super sorghum cultivation should be inaugurated in Vietnam as well,” SOL Holdings said.
