Increasing Sorghum Production on Marginal Land in the Framework of Food Procurement Post-Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 outbreak has been going on for more than a year in Indonesia, causing many people to die and lowering the economic level of the community. People's income and food availability decreased. The procurement of staple foods has always relied on the production of rice and corn. Sorghum is a cereal crop that has the potential to increase the availability of staple foods and can produce well on marginal land, so as not to reduce the area of rice and corn planted. Chemically, sorghum seeds are very likely to be able to substitute or complement the use of materials derived from rice, corn, and wheat. Sorghum is also potential to be used as industrial raw material. Sorghum stalks can produce sap as raw material for bioethanol. Sorghum leaves can be used as fodder for ruminants. Sorghum seeds can be used as a staple food for humans, poultry feed, can be used as flour, bread, snacks. In many countries, except in Africa, India, and America, Sorghum is less attractive to farmers than rice, corn, and wheat. The superiority of Sorghum needs to be socialized more intensively to the community so that farmers are interested in planting it and people like to consume it. The development of sorghum cultivation will reduce dependence on rice, corn, and wheat as well as make sorghum an important economic commodity.