Elite peanut variety to be commercialized in Region 2

One of the world’s best peanut varieties ever bred will soon become a part of the lush Cagayan Valley agriculture landscape.

Also, to be intercropped with the elite peanut variety, named "Asha", are sweet-stalk sorghum for ethanol (ethyl alcohol) production and pigeon pea (kadyos) for human food and livestock feed.

Seeds of the peanut, sorghum, and pigeon pea were distributed to farmers during the "National Peanut Festival" held recently at the Department of Agriculture—Cagayan Valley Integrated Agriculture Research Center (DA-CVIAR) in Iligan Isabela.

The three crops were bred by the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), currently headed by Director General William D. Dar, former Agriculture Acting Secretary.

The festival highlighted the Asha production technologies and the launch of the sorghum and pigeon pea varieties. (Asha is a Hindi word which means hope.)

It was organized by DA-CVIARC with the collaboration of the DA-Bureau of Agriculture Research (BAR), ICRISAT, DA-Agriculture Training Institute (ATI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), DOST Philippines Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Council (RAFC), state colleges and universities (SCUs) in Cagayan Valley, Iligan municipal government, and the provincial government of Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Viscaya, Quirino, and Batanes.

Among those present during the festival, which had for its theme "Sa Asha May Pag-asa", were Dr. Dar, Isabela Vice Governor Ramon Reyes, CVIARC director Dr. Teodoro Solsoloy, and PCARRD crops research division director Dr. Jocelyn Eusebio.

Last February, Indian President Prof. APJ Abdul Kalam presented foundation seeds of Asha and the sweet sorghum to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the Indian leader’s visit to the Philippines.

In initial R&D activities, Asha had been found to feel at home under Cagayan Valley agro-climatic conditions.

BAR, headed by Director Nicomendes P. Eleazar, is coordinating the project titled "Introduction, Promotion, and Efficient Seed Support System of ICRISAT ‘Asha’ Peanut Variety in Region 2".

Fully supported by Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban, the project is being implemented by DA-CVIARC and the DA-Cagayan Valley Lowland and Marine Research Outreach Station (CV-LMOS) in collaboration with ICRISAT.

Initials tests, as reported by ICRISAT, had indicated that the high-yielding (three tons per hectare) variety is commercially viable in the country.

The project on the sweet sorghum and pigeon pea are also being implemented by DA-BAR, PCARRD, and ICRISAT.

Forty-three lines of sweet sorghum from ICRISAT are now being evaluated at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, and the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Other involved are the Ilocos State Polytechnic College (ISPC) in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur; Pampanga Agicultural College (PAC) in Magalang town.

Sweet sorghum is a potential alternative raw material for ethanol.

Pigeons pea is a protein-rich crop known as Kardis among Ilocanos and Kadyos among the Tagalogs. — Rudy A. Fernandez