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Professor of IPB University Gives Study on National Sorghum Development Strategy (Kumparan.com)

Sorghum is a cereal crop with a carbohydrate content equivalent to rice. Sorghum contains nutritional values ​​such as B vitamins and iron, higher than rice. Because of this content, sorghum is considered able to help overcome the problem of malnutrition in some Indonesian people. Moreover, to be an alternative solution in the food crisis.

In making a roadmap for the development of sorghum in Indonesia, of course, it is necessary to study more intensive directions and policies. Prof Suryo Wiyono Professor of IPB University from the Faculty of Agriculture said that the sorghum center in Indonesia has a total land potential of up to 4,355 hectares. Compared to the average world sorghum productivity of 2.7 tons per hectare, the national sorghum productivity figure of two to three tons is not too far off.

According to him, the obstacles to the development of sorghum include the production technology which is not too advanced, compared to rice. Such as fertilization technology, pest management and irrigation. “The processing industry has not yet developed, so the availability in the market is small. Not to mention the limited substitution technology for wheat flour because the nature of its diversity is somewhat different from wheat," he explained in the Propaktani Webinar "Directions and Policies for the Roadmap for Upstream and Downstream National Sorghum Management" by the Directorate General of Food Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, (07/09).

He added that the opportunity to develop sorghum is very high, especially because of the geopolitical crisis that threatens wheat stocks. The threat of a food crisis can be a trigger to develop the potential of sorghum in three directions. Namely food, feed and energy, depending on each variety of sorghum.

Research and innovation of sorghum as an alternative to rice should be directed to substitute wheat, he continued. The three fields of the sorghum industry must also be distinguished by each region so that there is no competition.

According to him, the Faculty of Agriculture of IPB University has developed several sorghum research and innovations. Recently, superior varieties of sorghum IPB Sorice Putih and IPB Sorice Merah were released. This variety has several advantages, adaptive to acid soil and marginal land.

He explained that this species can also be ratified or harvested many times and is resistant to rust and stem rot. The potential yield reaches seven tons per hectare, comparable to the Bioguma variety. With a low glycemic index value, it can also be used as a healthy food alternative. IPB University has also developed SORINFER, a complete feed made from sorghum-indigofera which is produced in a mini factory scale.

“In the sorghum development strategy, it is necessary to identify and map the sorghum development. Because this product is competitive with corn, so the land used is better dry land whose quality is below corn (land) or ex-mining land," he added.

Another strategy, he added, is to improve sorghum production technology and research on sorghum processing technology so as to encourage industrialization. “Facilitating the pioneering sorghum industry that needs support or incentives from the government. Policy synergy so that in large-scale planting, processing and marketing have been directed. To make it easier, this synergy is carried out using a pilot area strategy," he said. (**/Zul) – Kumparan.com