Citation: Widodo, S.; Triastono, J.; Sahara, D.; Pustika, A.B.; Kristamtini; Purwaningsih, H.; Arianti, F.D.; Praptana, R.H.; Romdon, A.S.; Sutardi; et al. Economic Value, Farmers Perception, and Strategic Development of Sorghum in Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Agriculture 2023, 13, 516. https:// doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030516 Academic Editors: Hung-Hao Chang, Pei-An Liao and Jiun-Hao Wang Received: 2 January 2023 Revised: 10 February 2023 Accepted: 15 February 2023 Published: 21 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). agriculture Article Economic Value, Farmers Perception, and Strategic Development of Sorghum in Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia Sugeng Widodo 1, * , Joko Triastono 1 , Dewi Sahara 1 , Arlyna Budi Pustika 2 , Kristamtini 2 , Heni Purwaningsih 3 , Forita Dyah Arianti 4 , Raden Heru Praptana 2 , Anggi Sahru Romdon 1 , Sutardi 2 , Setyorini Widyayanti 2 , Andi Yulyani Fadwiwati 1 and Muslimin 1 1 Research Center for Behavioral and Circular Economics, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jl. Jend. Gator Subroto No. 10, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia 2 Research Center for Food Crops, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jl. Raya Bogor-Jakarta, Cibinong Bogor 16911, Indonesia 3 Research Center for Food Technology and Processing, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jl. Jogja-Wonosari KM 31.5 Gading, Playen, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta 55861, Indonesia 4 Research Center for Sustainable Production System and Life Cycle Assessment, National Research and Innovation Agency, Serpong, South Tanggerang City 15314, Indonesia * Correspondence: suge018@brin.go.id Abstract: Sorghum is an important food crop commodity in the midst of climate change conditions and the threat of a global food crisis. Sorghum, which has an adaptive advantage to all land conditions, is suitable for use as a food substitute for rice and wheat. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the economic value, farmers’ perceptions, and specific strategies for developing sorghum in Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The research was conducted in Wonogiri Regency, Central Java, and Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta from September to November 2022. The research was carried out through the observation of 120 respondents with indicators of farming characteristics and farmers’ perceptions of sorghum development, as well as focus group discussions (FGD) and depth interviews with indicators of internal and external factors for sorghum development. The analysis used is benefit cost (BC) to evaluate the economic value of sorghum farming, the Likert scale to determine farmers’ perceptions of sorghum, and Strength Weak Opportunity Threat (SWOT) to determine specific strategies for developing sorghum. The results showed that sorghum farming is feasible to develop in Wonogiri Central Java and Gunungkidul Yogyakarta because it provides a profit value greater than production costs with a BCR value of >1. The perception of farmers in Central Java regarding the development of sorghum is included in the very good category with an average value of 3.31, and the perception of farmers in Yogyakarta is included in the good category with an average value of 2.55. The operational policy strategy for developing sorghum in Wonogiri Central Java and Gunungkidul Yogyakarta is an expansion strategy (S-O). Keywords: sorghum development; farm household economic; economic value; farmer perception; strategic policy 1. Introduction Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a staple food for people around the world who live in semi-arid and subtropical countries in Asia and Africa [1]. Sorghum has anti- inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering properties so the consumption of sorghum as a food ingredient is increasing in high-income countries [2]. The high content of bioactive compounds in sorghum seeds and widespread public acceptance of sorghum as a breakfast cereal, beverage, and other products indicates a higher potential for sorghum consumption in the future in several countries such as the United States [3], Brazil [4], South Africa [5], and Kenya [6]. Agriculture 2023, 13, 516. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030516 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture