(EID-023) “A THREE IN ONE DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE”

A three in one package of benefits awaits local communities that would have the wisdom to appreciate it. By planting cassava and sorghum as a tandem of crops, they could produce not just ethanol, but also flour and feed ingredients, all money making products with proven demand. By some stroke of scientific luck, both crops could produce the three products, actually making it a six in one package if planted together.

Although this might sound like a trivial matter to some people, the significance of this opportunity could be measured in terms of the potential value of substituting our importation of oil, wheat, corn and soybeans, all ingredients for producing gasoline, flour and animal feeds. Saving money from the importation of these goods is one thing to consider, but on top of that, the package could potentially strengthen not just our food security, but also our national security in terms of our energy supply.

I say that this is an opportunity for local communities, but I say that with a wish that our national government agencies would also discover the benefits of this package, for the good of the nation. Since this opportunity cuts across multiple concerns such as energy, trade and agriculture, this should perhaps be taken up in a cabinet cluster, or perhaps even in the National Security Council (NSC).

The opportunity to produce flour locally also opens up yet another opportunity of producing rice substitutes such as noodles and buns, considering the many health problems that a pure rice diet brings. This being the case, it may be a good idea for the Department of Health (DOH) to join the cabinet cluster that would talk about steps to be taken.

On top of all the benefits that could come out of this package, there is also the prospective benefit of producing organic flours that will in turn produce organic breads, aside from producing organic feeds that will in turn produce organic meats.

One might say that this package of benefits is too good to be true, but it does not take a scientist to prove that this is for real. It also does not take a genius to discover that this is do-able, if only the local communities and the government agencies would realize the simplicity of these technologies.

In whose hands could we entrust these opportunities? Following the norm in the other countries, we should fund our universities and task them to turn these ideas into realities for all of us to take advantage of.