Minister Of Agriculture Syahrul Wants To Develop Sorghum To Become A Strategic Commodity

Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo hopes that the development of sorghum agricultural land can be wider in order to increase sorghum production so that it becomes Indonesia's strategic commodity as well as an alternative staple food.

"I hope that with this initial step we want to develop from only 200 hectares, the Regent promised with a road map of up to 3,000 and even 10,000 hectares," Syahrul said as quoted by Antara, Monday, August 22.

According to Syahrul, sorghum is an important commodity that can be used as a substitute for wheat.

He invited farmers not to forget the commodity of sorghum which can be processed into noodles, which currently in Indonesia still uses wheat.

The Minister of Agriculture also explained that sorghum is a native Indonesian plant that does not require a lot of water, less fertilization, and its stems and leaves can also be used for sugar and animal feed.

Therefore, he invites the community to develop sorghum plants as other strategic foods. Moreover, this plant also has great potential for world food needs.

"Let's build this plant. We invite all parties and of course there are government powers to back it up, including institutional guarantees to banks," he said.

The Minister of Agriculture hopes that this planting can be expanded to 3,000 hectares from the previous 200 hectares, then increased to 10,000 hectares so that sorghum really becomes Indonesia's strategic commodity.

Director General of Food Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi, said that sorghum is Indonesia's leading commodity that can be used for various needs.

He said, sorghum starting from the stems, leaves, and roots can be used.

"This means that it is zero waste, the leaves, stems and fruit can be used. Sorghum is also a drought tolerant plant and does not require a lot of water during its growth. Sorghum is even harvested repeatedly (3 to 5 times) in one planting period," said Suwandi .