Sorghum is uniquely adapted to dryland and used by the Indonesian government to optimize the utilization of dryland and increase farmers’ incomes. The objective of this study was to analyze the contribution of sorghum to increasing income and the level of welfare of dryland farmer households in Wonogiri, Central Java, Indonesia. The study was conducted from October to December 2022 using a survey method through direct interviews with purposively selected sorghum-growing farmers. A set of questions included household income and expenditure. The average total income and expenditure indicators, poverty line figures, RMW, and ERFHI were used to measure the welfare level of farmer households. The study found that the income derived from sorghum contributes 22.87% to total household income and tends to increase household income by 29.65%. According to the average total income earned, farming households were in a prosperous condition. This can be seen from the total income, which is higher than the total expenditure, the average per capita income higher than the poverty line, the average total income higher than RMW, and the value of ERFHI at 1.25. Income derived from sorghum has increased by 21.43–56.00% from less prosperous households to prosperous ones. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the existing literature on sorghum development and farmers’ income and to be a reference for policy makers in formulating poverty alleviation programs and improving the welfare of farmer households, as well as expanding sorghum development by optimizing the utilization of agroecological, economic and social resources.

The high sedimentation rate of Rawapening Lake is both an environmental challenge and a potential resource. Seedlings currently rely on single-use plastic polybags, which contribute significantly to plastic waste. The use of mineral soil as a growing medium can accelerate natural resource depletion. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of utilizing lake sediment as an alternative seedling media through soil block technology. An integrated Life Cycle Assessment was conducted to quantify the environmental impacts, and Multidimensional Scaling was applied to assess sustainability across environmental, technological, economic, social, and institutional dimensions. Field data from ten seedling producers using soil blocks and ten using polybags were analyzed. The results showed that soil block media reduced Global Warming Potential by 48% compared to polybags, increased phosphorus and organic matter content, and was more financially efficient, with an increase in productivity of 90.24% and a revenue cost ratio of 24.56%. Sustainability analysis classified the innovation as moderately sustainable, with the highest scores in the environmental and technological dimensions. Institutional support was identified as a limiting factor. These findings suggest that sediment-based soil block media are a viable, lower-impact alternative for seedling production, although scaling up will require policy and institutional support.

Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen Kesatuan

The Kampung Unggul Balitbangtan (KUB) chicken is new superior native chicken released by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture that has been developed in various regions across the country, including Central Java. The purpose of this study was to look at how KUB chicken development is performing at the farmer level in Central Java Province. A survey was used to conduct the research from February to March 2022. Semi-structured questionnaires were used and distributed to interview 30 KUB chicken farmers who were scattered in 6 districts, i.e. Semarang, Karanganyar, Brebes, Tegal, Kudus, and Kota Salatiga. The information gathered includes the farmer’s occupation, experience, and purpose for raising, population distribution, male to female ratio, feed, and product sales. Data were tabulated and descriptively analyzed. The findings revealed that civil servants (41%) dominated KUB chicken keepers, followed by breeders (34%), and housewives (10%). They have 1–2 years of experience raising chickens, depending on when the KUB chicken program was introduced in Central Java. Chicken were raised for dual purpose (60%), fattening (23%), and breeding (13%) with sex ratio: 1 rooster for 5 hens. The feed used were the mixed feed (34%), commercial feed (23%), and fermented feed (20%). Prices for KUB chicken products vary greatly, with non-hatching eggs costing IDR 2,000–3,500, day old chick (DOC) costing IDR 6,000–9,000, per kg live weight costing IDR 37,000–50,000, pullets costing IDR 90,000–100,000, and cockerels costing IDR 110,000–125,000. In conclusion, KUB chicken is beneficial to farmers, they employ strategies to boost efficiency, but somehow the product selling price varies.

Beef has been seen as one of the strategic commodities in Indonesia. As the awareness of people to protein consumption increasing, demand for beef and its prices are also rising. However, the rising consumer price of beef is not followed by the increasing price of beef at the producer level. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the transmission of beef prices at the consumer and producer level. This study used secondary data from the Agency for Central Statistics of Indonesia. The data used were the consumer and producer prices of beef from 2008 to 2016. The data were analyzed using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The results show that the prices of beef at the consumer and the producer level are asymmetric and have uni direct relationships. The consumer prices of beef influence the producer prices of beef and not vice versa. It is recommended for the Government to formulate policies that could facilitate transparent information for every actor along the beef market chain. In the long-run, the Government needs to increase the population of domestic cattle and give incentives to domestic cattle farmers with large business scales.