Building agricultural knowledge and R&D capacity in Timor Leste: a small projects facility

A project steering committee has been established consisting of Dean of Agriculture National University Timor Loro Sa'e, currently Ir. Mateus Da Cruz; Director of Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Lourenco Fontes, the Project leader ACIAR Seeds of Life 2 project, Dr Harry Nesbit and Project Leader John Janes. The steering committee has met to consider and ratify the three mini projects

The signing of the Project MOU was delayed due to some additional requirements (concerning food security) by MAFF, and civil disturbances in East Timor therefore the project did not commence in April as planned. The MOU was signed on 30th September and commenced on 1 December 2006 following notification to the commissioning organisation in mid November 2006. Then continuing civil disturbances in Dili further delayed implementation by the commissioning organisation until January 2007. The university was not in session for a period and staff had returned to their home districts because of the dangerous situation in Dili. Staff had returned to Dili in January so meetings of the Australian Team Leader, mentors and collaborating organisation staff and could be effectively conducted. The project steering committee met on the 23rd January and discussed and ratified two of the proposed mini projects namely, MP 1 Analysis of farming systems in 13 districts MP2 Scoping the current and future market for beef .The committee requested further details on the proposed MP3 Alley cropping as an alternative to slash and burn.

Detailed project proposals on MP1 AND MP 2 were circulated and they were approved for commencement. In the case of MP3 a preliminary survey of potential sites that have stands of leucaena or other alley cropping species which have been established for 5, 10, 20, 30 years and that are representative of significant agro-ecosystems and available to conduct of a soil fertility study. Data collection is well advanced in the case of MP1 and MP2.

A national Agricultural workshop is planned for early September. Progress reports will be presented and discussed and research priorities for the next round of mini-projects will be considered.

Project implementation is at the halfway point having began in late November 2006, two months after the signing of the MOU by all the partners. All mini projects have proceeded satisfactorily despite periods of civil unrest and changes of staff in the partner country taking training opportunities.
The results of the three mini projects were reported at the 3rd National Agricultural workshop conducted at Hera in November 2007. This was followed by stakeholders working in groups with agricultural faculty to establishing research needs and priorities for Round 2 projects. The suggested research topics were developed into proposals and presented to the Project Steering Committee (PSC) on the 5th March for funding. Funding was approved for the extension of MP3 to a further 3 districts and for two new projects. Two other projects were referred back to the authors for modification and have been subsequently approved by PSC members.
Round 1 Mini-project reports
MP1 Analysis of farming systems: The mini project team interviewed 360 farming households made up of 120 randomly selected household heads in each of 3 districts Lospalos, Manatuto and Aileu. It was not possible to conduct surveys in the districts of Baucau and Viqueque due civil unrest. As a consequence Ailue was substituted for Baucau and the Viqueque survey was rescheduled to a later period.
The research identified the major farming systems in each district and described the characteristics of each system, identified constraints challenges and opportunities and reported to stakeholders.
There are 6 types of farming systems in Lospalos, Manatuto and Aileu. They are lowland irrigated rice; lowland rainfed rice; upland irrigated rice; upland rainfed maize; coastal and marginal areas. The dominant patterns of farm activities in these districts are paddy, maize, coconut, vegetable, coffee, and cassava.
In the district of Aileu there is the potential to develop vegetable, coffee and fruits production providing that transport infrastructure is developed and the linkage to existing markets, in country and export, are improved
In the district of Lospalos there is an opportunity to increase cattle and buffalo production based on improving the grazing system. There is potential to increase maize production the production and sale of coconut and candlenut.
In Manatuto there are opportunities to increase rice, coffee and fruit production and also goat production. In the coastal area of this district there is potential to increase fish production
The research team concluded that the opportunities can be realised by developing appropriate agricultural policies that will support the agricultural sector; develop infrastructure, provide assistance, and improve access to inputs of production.
The MP2 Scoping the current an future market for beef: The project team surveyed farmers, traders , markets, abattoirs and killing facilities owners and consumers in Suai, Maliana, Oekusi-Ambenu and Dili . In all 667 people were sampled in the survey made up of 227 randomly selected farmers, 114 fattening enterprises,17 traders, 6 abattoirs, 15 meat traders and 282 consumers
It found that at the production end of the supply chain, the availability of live cattle was limited by a 30% calf mortality rate that resulted from dry season calving onto a poor feed supply. Also, the retention of old female in the herd lowered the birthrate. Farmers need training on the benefits of managing calving time to a period of an adequate feed supply and in managing the herd age structure.
Market features
Farmers retain cattle for social and cultural reasons. Most cattle sales take place at the farm gate to traders who arrange transport. This reduces the direct cost of transport to the farmer however the buyer gains great bargaining power. The preference of buyers for older male animals, proximity of the seller to markets and road conditions are important determinants of price.
Supply chain features
This mini project identified the current structure of the market chain in the districts under study The complexity of the supply chain varies by district. Suai and Maliana districts supply live cattle to the local, Dili and Indonesian markets. Cattle traders, fatteners, abattoir and meat traders operate in the local and Dili markets. While fatteners and Indonesia buyers operate in the export market. In the Dili, district farmers sell cattle buyers who supply abattoirs that supply meat traders who sell to local consumers and restaurants in Dili. Local consumers prefer fresh meat from the local market rather than frozen meat from the supermarket.
MP3. Alley cropping as an alternative to slash and burn: The research team searched the country for sites with stands of leucaena 10, 20 and 30 years but only one was found that had a history of more than 10 years. Although the results were not significant there was a consistent trend that a 10+ year stand of leucaena compared to an adjacent untreated area improved the level organic carbon and soil structure. The PSC welcomed this research which focussed on an important environmental issue but the results were inconclusive.