President Jokowi asked that a roadmap for sorghum planting be made until 2024.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said President Joko Widodo had requested that wheat substitutes be prepared immediately.
Airlangga Hartarto stated that Jokowi's request was disclosed in a limited meeting (ratas) on wheat and sorghum at the Presidential Office, Thursday (4/8/2022).
"Currently nine countries have banned wheat, namely Kazakhstan until September 30, Kyrgyzstan, India until December 31. Also Afghanistan, Algeria, Kosovo, Serbia and Ukraine," said Airlangga.
Airlangga stated that Indonesia must immediately develop a substitute for wheat. Indonesia has several alternatives besides sorghum, namely sago and cassava
Airlangga added that President Jowi also asked that sorghum planting be prioritized in Waingapu City District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
The President conveyed that the current realization of sorghum development is still sufficient in terms of land area. As of June 2022, the total area of land planted with sorghum is around 4,354 hectares and is spread across six provinces. The production of sorghum is 15,243 tons or an average productivity of 3.63 tons per hectare.
Seeing the development of sorghum cultivation, said Airlangya, President Jokowi requested that a roadmap or roadmap for planting until 2024 be made.
The target of the 2022 sorghum planting season is 15,000 hectares and is being developed to 100,000 hectares. In 2023 115,000 hectares of land will be prepared and in 2024 it will be 154,000 hectares.
