Environmental management of underutilized climate-resilient crops on sustainability of sorghum farming in emerging agricultural system

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Climate change, land degradation, water scarcity, and rising food demand have increased the need for sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural systems. Although sorghum possesses substantial ecological potential due to its drought tolerance, minimal input requirements, and adaptability to marginal lands, it remains critically underutilized. The translation of these agronomic advantages into sustainable agricultural practices is fundamentally constrained by underdeveloped market, institutional, and regulatory frameworks. The study objectives were to assess the sustainability status of sorghum farming systems in Indonesia and identify structural leverage variables influencing environmental management performance.METHODS: The study used an integrated framework combining Rapfish–multidimensional scaling and matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification. Primary data were collected from expert stakeholders utilizing a mixed-methods approach that comprised structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. A total of ۴۳ sustainability attributes were assessed across six dimensions: environmental, economic and market, social and cultural, technical and agronomic, institutional, and policy and regulatory. Sustainability indices were calculated using Rapfish–multidimensional scaling technique and subsequently validated via Monte Carlo simulation analysis. Key leverage variables were examined using matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification to classify influence dependence relationships.FINDINGS: The overall sustainability index was recorded at ۴۷.۶۸ percent, reflecting a lower level of system sustainability. Among the evaluated dimensions, the environmental component demonstrated the strongest performance, with an index of ۷۴.۵۱ percent, followed by technical and agronomic dimension at ۵۵.۳۷ percent. The economic, socio-cultural, and institutional dimensions consistently exhibited sub-optimal performance. The weakest performance was found in the policy and regulatory dimension, with an index of ۲۴.۰۴ percent, indicating that weak governance and regulatory support were main constraints. The structural analysis identified extension services, research institutions, and intergovernmental coordination as driving variables, while climate adaptation capacity, certified seed availability, and access to finance acted as sensitive linkage variables.CONCLUSION: Sorghum farming in Indonesia has environmental potential but remains constrained by weak governance, limited institutional capacity, and underdeveloped market structures. The sustainable management of climate-resilient agriculture necessitates a integrated framework comprising coordinated environmental governance, robust innovation systems, sustainability-oriented value chains, and targeted policy instruments. The integrated framework provides a practical decision-support approach for identifying sustainability status and prioritizing structural interventions in emerging agricultural systems.

کلیدواژه ها:

Climate-resilient agriculture ، Sorghum farming ، Sustainable agriculture management ، Multidimensional scaling (MDS) ، Matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification (MICMAC).