“Sorghum is no longer a simple alternative for the off-season…”
Willian Sawa is the CEO of Latina Seeds, a company focused on sorghum and corn genetics with operations in Brazil and Paraguay. Sawa has a degree in foreign trade from Fatec Internacional, an MBA from UniAmérica, and a postgraduate degree in Plant Nutrition from the Federal University of the State of Paraná.
Willian Sawa, CEO of Latina Seeds
AgriBrasilis – Is it worth it to plant sorghum in Brazil?
William Sawa – It is very worthwhile, both from an agronomic perspective for the farms’ production system and from an economic perspective, as it is a safer investment. Sorghum has already secured its place in the production window, so much so that it even gained ZARC (Agricultural Zoning of Climate Risk) in recent years. Sorghum’s planting window is just after when the corn planting window begins to close.
Sorghum is no longer a simple alternative for the off-season, and it will not take up the space of “viable” corn, which is corn planted within the ideal window according to ZARC (Agricultural Zoning of Climate Risk), that is, the windows for planting both crops are well defined and complement each other for the off-season. Corn can be grown in the best areas and following its ideal planting window, while sorghum can be grown in areas with the highest risk for corn, but also within its ideal window.
“It is very worthwhile, both from an agronomic perspective for the farms’ production system and from an economic perspective, as it is a safer investment”
AgriBrasilis – “One of the best tools for farmers to diversify is sorghum”. Why?
William Sawa – Diversification with sorghum can guarantee an agronomic return due to the quality of the straw that the grain provides to the system, and an economic return due to the low cost of implementation when compared to corn, with greater tolerance to high temperatures and water stress. Another positive factor is that sorghum is not affected by the stunting complex, caused by the corn leafhopper (Dalbuluis maidis).
Cover crops (millet, turnip, etc.) do not provide all of the positive factors mentioned above, not to this extent, especially because they do not produce grains for sale, with prices currently tied to those of corn.
AgriBrasilis – How do production costs compare with those of other grains?
William Sawa – The cost of implementing sorghum is approximately 50% of that of corn, both for grain and silage.
AgriBrasilis – What are the benefits of adopting forage sorghum in pasture conversion?
William Sawa – The main benefits, in my opinion, are:
- Quick return on investment (between 7/8 months);
- Intensification of livestock on pasture through higher stocking rates. Degraded pastures are vulnerable to pests, diseases and weeds, and because they have low support capacity and low animal weight gain. With a well-formed pasture, the fattening cycle of animals decreases, bringing money to the cash register faster;
- Reduced need to open or purchase new areas for livestock;
- In my opinion, this is the System to be adopted by the Interministerial Management Committee of the National Program for Conversion of Degraded Pastures into Sustainable Agricultural and Forestry Production Systems – PNCPD. The System is ready. All that is left is to implement it.
AgriBrasilis – What is the objective of the joint venture between Latina Seeds and Sementes Santa Fé? What synergy is expected?
William Sawa – We have been partners with Sementes Santa Fé for over 4 years. Our companies complement each other in several aspects and this operational joint venture was well structured, so that each one can focus on what they do best. Latina Seeds is focused on generating new products, with a lot of innovation, and Sementes Santa Fé brings its robust and traditional operations.
We want to be recognized as sorghum specialists. The use of this grain goes far beyond just the production of feed. There are many applications for grains and also for fibers.
AgriBrasilis – In what sense is sorghum “advancing along” with corn for ethanol production?
William Sawa – Today, any grain can produce ethanol, but sorghum is showing the best suitability when we consider costs and risks.
Another factor that has linked sorghum very well to ethanol production, in addition to the cost of implementing crops and lower risk compared to other crops, is the cost of grain for conversion to ethanol and DDG, since 1 kg of sorghum grain generates the same as 1 kg of corn grain, but at a cost of 80% of the value of corn. Off-season areas where corn poses risks may possibly be converted to sorghum, especially in the Center-West, North and Northeast of Brazil.
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