Bauang, La Union - The government is now gearing up for the commercial release of planting materials of sweet sorghum varieties soon as it steps up effort to develop renewable energy sources from plants that are rich in ethanol for the production of biofuel.

A "National Cooperatives Testing Trial" is set to be launched next month in all regions through the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) along this line as experts predicted coming up with a Philippine variety of the crop in the next two years.

The team of experts from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) which conducted the study was commissioned by President Arroyo.

The group started working on the project through the seeds provided by the government of India through the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) headed by Director William Dar, a former DA secretary, as early as October 2004.

It was planted in four pilot areas located in Regions 1, 2 and 3 and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). Fiver varieties have been successfully tested in the Philippines and at least 68 other varieties will still be tested.

Eyed by scientists as a source of ethanol, the giant grass-like plant can grow and propagate in Philippine soil and fits the country's weather condition, thus growing and maturing faster for harvest than that in India where the seeds used in the research by Philippine experts came from.

Study revealed that sweet sorghum can produce ethanol better than sugarcane and is being developed as a source of renewable energy by experts in India.

While sugarcane has sugar content ranging from 11 percent to 14 percent, sweet sorghum has sugar content of at least 15 percent up to a high of 23 percent, which means it can produce higher level of ethanol.