Pampanga-based firm asks ICRISAT to develop sweet sorghum varieties

A Filipino-owned company that intends to venture into the ethanol-producing business has asked India-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to develop better-yielding sweet sorghum varieties for its $100-million bioethanol project in Pampanga. “The First Pampanga Biofuels Corp. has sought technical help from us [as] they look for [funds] for its bioethanol project," said William Dar, ICRISAT director-general. According to ICRISAT, it is presently developing new sweet sorghum varieties that “would have greater yields per hectare and possibly higher sugar content." “[Sweet sorghum] is the way of the future," Dar said, noting that its diversified uses will help the Philippines in its food security program and free the country from its dependence on other food crops for ethanol use. “Sugarcane will remain a mainstay but we need to build up the commercial viability of sweet sorghum in the future," he said. Dar pointed out that the Philippines could still catch up with China, which, at present, is heavily investing on sweet sorghum propagation for bioethanol production. The surging cost of fossil fuel has urged the government to produce ethanol-based fuel, while enticing foreign firms to put investments in ethanol manufacturing. The country’s demand for ethanol is presently fielded by imports, mostly from Brazil and Australia. Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources such as sugarcane, sweet sorghum, corn, cassava, and any sugar-bearing crop. According to the Philippine Fuel Ethanol Alliance, the use of ethanol in gasoline will help the government save as much as $825 million from fuel importation in over ten years. - JE/OMG, GMANews.TV