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.

ACIAR Timor Leste Beef : Beefing Up August 2015

From the project leaders

The end of December is racing towards us – the end of the project. But it will herald a new project to build on what we have achieved so far. We plan to have the Phase 2 submission to ACIAR for their review in September.

Our two beef projects are working well together. This will be exemplified by the bull-feeding experiment soon to start at Loes, with people from both projects having input into how this will be conducted to answer a good question and develop capacity for as many people as possible.

We are very pleased to have Eric Thorne-George on the team as project coordinator in Dili.

Eric comes to us from a stint with ILO, with whom he will maintain close contact.

Having such a person in the team is a major bonus for everyone. His leadership in all project activities is exemplary.

Eric is a spare-moments writer of fiction and fact. His talent emerges in this newsletter describing a farmer visit in Fatucahi.