ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : Monthly Report June&July 2016

MONTHLY REPORT

JUNE & JULY 2016

#Cairui, @July2016, Lounching plant Leguminosa tree seeds with intercroping systems
in Suco Cairui, District Manatuto.

1.      JUNE – JULY ACTIVITY

1)      MoU signing ceremony

2)      Desposition letter for MAF staff

3)      New Bank Account

4)      ACIAR asset

5)      Brainstorm

6)      FR’s Salary and contract

7)      Meeting

8)      Field Visit

2.      ACTIVITY SUMMARY

1)      MoU signing ceremony

-           Finally, the Mou had sign at 23 June 2016.

-           MAF staff, ACIAR staff, UNTL, Australian Ambassy staff had join to this ceremony

-           All the works plan list “after the MoU sign” could be starting

2)       Desposition letter for MAF staff

-          After MoU sign, Celestino and DG had make a desposition letter to Ministry for MAF staff who would join to this project

-          At July 2016, desposition letter had approved and  the MAF staff could part on this project legally.

3)      New Bank Account

-           New bank account had finish open now.

-          We just waiting for check book and maybe on Monday Joana could take it.

ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : K Voices #1st Edition

ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : Beefing Up December 2015

From the project leaders Great news – we are in the final stages of receiving approval from ACIAR for a new beef research project. It is a large project and will be a major part of the life for many Timor Leste partners over the next 5 years.

Eric will stay and be project leader till May. The in-country project leader will be Drh Antonino do Karmo, who is a welcome new partner in beef production research. Mr Celestino Mali has been appointed in-country project coordinator to work with the project leader and coordinate MAF operations.

The new project will have strong linkage with ACIAR’s new crop project, planned to start in mid-2016.

We are in the final stages of the two beef projects led by UQ and UNRAM. Both have been quite successful in meeting their objectives. The big task ahead is to prepare the final reports and use the results in future research and farmer and adviser training.

Dahlan & Geoffry wish the families of everyone in the project team and all our friends across Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Australia a very happy and safe festive season.

Starting a new project means we will have transition to a new team. The main feature of the new team will be a major influx of MAF district staff who will play a central role. Senior management in MAF, from the Minister down, is strongly supportive of the new project and are very active under the leadership of Drh Antonino do Karmo in positioning appropriate staff and resources.

The current projects have launched the careers of many young animal scientists for Timor Leste. Unfortunately, we can only go forward with 5 of these young people, with addition of new graduates with business degrees coming into the project team. For those who leave us, we hope the valuable training they have received helps them gain employment using their new-found skills and knowledge.

ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : Beefing Up Oktober 2015

From the project leaders 

We are in the run-down to the end of the project in December with detailed plans in place to ensure we meet all milestones. Dahlan’s group recently visited to start up a final pen experiment.

On a recent visit, Elske invited Nurul from the University of Mataram. Nurul is a great addition to our project team with her skills as a communication specialist backed with her veterinary science experience. Scott is currently enjoying a trip to Timor Leste where he is working closely with the UNTL team to complete his report on beef markets. At previous visits we have seen opportunities created for us by other projects such as new butcher shops.

The next visit by Simon in November aims to transform the data collected by field researchers into new meanings for cattle weights for farmers. This is an exciting phase in the project.

The proposal for the next project is now with ACIAR’s external reviewers after a great effort by all the team in preparing the submission.

During Elske and Nurul’s 10-day visit to Timor Leste their workshops in Aidabaleten and Fatucahi with field researchers and MAF staff examined how best to support farmers exiting the project as it draws to a close. The team scrutinised barriers and opportunities for facilitation of learning in the field. They also had an update on outreach activities.

During the visit, Ms. Nurul explored feasibility for a video production to raise farmer awareness of new practices with assistance from field researchers and MAF staff.

Nurul and Elske worked hard, whizzing through training plans for the December workshop with field researchers, MAF & UNTL staff, extension officers and farmers. They also worked hard to draft the video story boards, preparing information relevant to the farmers and their situation.

ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : Beefing Up September 2015

From the project leaders 

Having Eric Thorne George as project coordinator based in Dili is yielding tremendous dividends. Eric provides a steady hand in guiding project operations. The excellent support from Joana is greatly appreciated.

Cattle in the ACIAR project pens at Loes research station will soon be sold to enable the experiments for which they were built to proceed. This will be a valuable experience for all involved. In addition, it will provide some much needed information on cattle diets made up from leucaena and dried maize stover.

We are currently gearing up for the final weighing of cattle in the project. This is an important event providing vital data to underpin future research.

Congratulations to Ezequil on the safe arrival of their new baby.

Innovative cattle yard design for smallholder farmers is a current feature of our research. The aim is to have affordable infrastructure that gives farmers excellent and safe cattle control, a vital element in effective beef systems.

The simple answer is to value them. Heavier cattle can be sold for a higher price.

Live weight is therefore a very important measurement in cattle research. If we have electronic scales, we can measure weight precisely. We must, however, take care that the animals have had access to water and feed before weighing or we may have an inaccurate result.

Where scales are not available, girth is used. This method is less precise, but has good accuracy in Bali cattle.

Our research shows average growth rate of young cattle in Timor Leste varies from 0.1-0.3 kg/day. This is low compared to an achievable level of 0.4-0.6 kg/day.