Company promotes sesame

Sesaco Corporation, Paris, Texas, reminds farmers that American sesame production stands to reap the benefits of a confluence of factors. An expanded market, improved plant varieties for mechanized harvesting, drought tolerance, and physiology make sesame more ideal for farmers looking for profitable options in crop rotation. Sesame can also work into the rotation in order to clean fields with grassy weed problems. It also provides better residue for no-till systems.

Sesaco Corporation President Glenn Smith said, "There always will be a market for sesame seed and [sesame] oil due to its unique nutritional and flavor profile."

Worldwide market demand for sesame has steadily increased over time. China, once a large net exporter of sesame has become a net importer. In addition to China, Japan, Korea, the Mediterranean and Europe share large markets for sesame. The sizable U.S. demand is supported by imports.

Marketwise, as an oilseed, sesame tends to follow other oilseeds, like soybeans and sunflowers. However, its premium flavor and natural antioxidant properties cause sesame to differentiate itself in the market. Therefore, it does not compete with other oilseed crops for market share. In addition to its placement on hamburger buns and baked snacks, sesame is used as a primary ingredient for Hummus.

Historically, the major holdup for extensive sesame cultivation was the shattering of the seed at harvest, so it had to be carefully hand harvested. This practice still is implemented in 99 percent of the world's sesame production.

"Sesame is the oldest oilseed commercially traded, but without a way to harvest it mechanically and since the shattering problem was so difficult to solve, it got left behind when other oilseeds went widespread," Smith said.

Through selection and breeding, the shattering problem has been solved, and according to Smith, Sesaco has the only successful mechanically harvested varieties available today. Through more than 66 years of conventional breeding trials by sesame plant breeders, Derald and Ray Langham, sesame has become viable for U.S. production. With help from the likes of Sesaco and the American Sesame Growers Association (ASGA), American producers can now look toward expanded production.

Smith believes an additional 500,000 acres of U.S. sesame would not even make a dent in the market. Fritz Schwarz, executive director of ASGA, Washington, D.C., said $100 million of U.S. imports and in excess of $1 billion worth of sesame that moves in international trade can be replaced by domestic production each year. American farmers should be able to take a 20 percent share of this export market without any problem.

Sesame currently is a program crop. The next major obstacle for expanded production is that sesame be included in USDA's Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) program.

"Currently, there are approximately 8 to 10 thousand acres [of sesame] grown in the U.S.," Schwarz says. When ASGA requested an MPCI pilot program, USDA officials believed that there were too few acres grown to justify the need for such a program. However, the Texas AgriLife Extension wrote a letter to ASGA stating that an estimated 300,000 acres could be reasonably expected in five years once a MPCI pilot program was instated.

The areas recommended for the pilot program include parts of the High Plains, Rolling Plains, Trans-Pecos, and Rio Grande Valley. In all, there are 15 counties in Texas, and 6 in Oklahoma, Schwarz says.

For more information, call 800-737-2260, or visit www.sesaco.net or www.sesamegrowers.org.

7/21/08
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Date: 7/22/08

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