Improving productivity and profitability of smallholder shrimp aquaculture and related agribusiness in Indonesia

Following a prolonged contractual dispute, Part H funds were released in June 2007 and remaining Payment 1 funds in October 2007, i.e. 10 months after the formal 1 January 2007 start date. These delays forced us to postpone project inception until June and, during the period up to October, to focus on low-cost preparatory/organising/scoping activities. Most importantly, the delays forced postponement of pond-level implementations and other activities closely linked with cropping calendars.

This report, while retaining (by agreement with ACIAR) the start and milestone dates detailed in the project document, covers activities in the period 1June 2007- 31 May 2008 only.

Activities to date include:
Four volunteer farmer groups were selected for BMP implementation - 2 in Demak district, Central Java; 1 in Barru district and 1 in Pinrang district, South Sulawesi;
A 15-point BMP program with full supporting technical information was developed;
New-entrant farmers and project technician-extensionists (TEs) were trained in BMP implementation;
A Project Officer was appointed, staff roles and responsibilities defined, and data collection, recording and reporting systems established;
Generic and project-related extension training was conducted for university-based 'train the trainer' extensionists, provincial and district extensionists;
Project Epidemiologist (Indonesia) has enrolled in doctoral program at Gadjah Mada University (GMU); risk factor study design completed;
Project Coordinator and senior diagnostician (ex GMU) completed shrimp pathology training at Mahidol University, Bangkok.
'Shake-down' trial implementations, conducted during the less favourable cropping period (Dec 07-Mar 08), were completed in 2 ponds in Demak using 2nd draft BMPs (1 success, 1 failure);
Formal, full BMP demonstrations, during the most favourable cropping period (May 08-Sept 08), have begun in 4 ponds (2 Demak; 1 Barru; 1 Pinrang), matching control ponds also monitored;
Planning for a study of socioeconomic determinants for BMP program adoption and compliance, led by a consultant fisheries socioeconomist from Hasanudin University, Makassar, is at an advanced stage.

Observations during the reporting period indicate that the spread of serious shrimp pathogens, notably WSSV, across Indonesia during the past decade has had much more serious long-term consequences for traditional farmers than for better-resourced intensive farmers. In WSSV-endemic areas, implementation of BMPs directed at host/environment/pathogen interactions is the key to successful shrimp farming. Furthermore, project activities to date indicate the need for close interactions in these implementations between shrimp health management, extension, socioeconomic, soil and infrastructure issues. In this context, key emerging issues for the project, with some proposed responses, include:
A serious constraint to provision of fisheries extension services in Indonesia has emerged. Because of limited resourcing, district Dinas staff, proposed as key providers under the project's working 'model' for wider dissemination and adoption, are in reality unable to engage with farmers on any significant scale. This unexpected and critical deficiency, together with the lack of any obvious alternative provider, has been brought to ACIAR's attention. In response, ACIAR has agreed to run a cross-sectoral 'constraints to adoption' workshop during 2008. Meanwhile, we plan to use existing funds to support Dinas extensionists' activities as detailed in the project's crop calendars. This will be done in the expectation that, in a yet to be identified way, Dinas staff will provide extension services under the 'model'.
Serious infrastructure shortcomings combined with unexpected, marked variations in soil type, even within individual farms, will have important implications for BMP implementations, particularly during scale-up to farmer group levels; to address this, we propose working closely with FIS/2002/076.
There is limited understanding of environmental conditions and BMP options in traditional, macroalgae-dominated growout ponds; project-funded masters programs for both province-based Senior Technical Officers (STOs) should remedy this deficiency.
Recent suspension of the UPP credit scheme further limits shrimp smallholder access to credit; we expect this will be addressed under ACIAR's proposed 'constraints to adoption' workshop.
We expect political will, together with farm-level successes, will strongly influence wider program adoption:
Both Central Java province and Pinrang district administrations have signalled they will fund independent, parallel BMP programs provided the project's round 2 demonstration trials succeed;
During 2008, DGA will recruit and train ~300 new graduate field staff to support aquaculture development in targeted areas; some will be deployed to work with smallholder shrimp farmers. DGA's expectation is that Provincial and District governments will subsequently seek funding to expand the scheme within their jurisdictions. Such expanded deployments could provide an important vehicle for wider program dissemination under Sub-project 2.

Optimal project progression will require a cross-discipline approach to BMP implementation via linkages with related ACIAR and other projects. This should identify evidence-based, risk-related criteria to assist ACIAR and others in geographically locating projects aimed at benefiting Indonesian smallholder shrimp farmers.