Challenges and alternative solutions in developing sorghum to support food diversification in Indonesia

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) has the potential to be developed as an alternative food to substitute wheat and rice in supporting food diversification programs. However, the development of sorghum in Indonesia is progressing very slowly. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which caused the price of wheat to rise and the threat of a food crisis, became the right momentum to accelerate sorghum development in Indonesia. This study aims to examine the challenges in developing sorghum in Indonesia. Primary and secondary data were collected from discussions in “WhaApps Group As.Agri.Sorghum Indo/MASI”, which involves various parties related to sorghum, as well as webinars related to sorghum and literature review. The method employed was descriptive qualitative analysis. The study results show that sorghum development in Indonesia faces problems and constraints from cultivation (on-farm), harvesting, postharvest, processing, and marketing to utilization/consumption of sorghum (table) that make it progress very slowly. To accelerate the role of sorghum in the food diversification program, efforts to solve problems and constraints in the development of sorghum in Indonesia need to be integrated from upstream to downstream and involve all relevant stakeholders.