Improving smallholder crop-livestock systems in eastern Indonesia

• Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
• Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology (NTB), Indonesia
• Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Central Lombok District, Indonesia
• Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology (South Sulawesi), Indonesia
• University of Mataram, Indonesia

Beef consumption in Indonesia is rising, in part due to the westernisation of diets. Smallholder farmers in eastern Indonesia may be able to benefit from this demand if livestock production can be intensified. Bali cattle, the main breed, play a central role in the farming systems of eastern Indonesia, both for rainfed lowland and upland farmers. This central role makes increases in production dependent on, and certain to impact on, the rest of the system.

Increasing production will be built on three factors; forage supply and quality, effective herd management, and a better understanding of the trade-offs necessary to increase production. Social and cultural norms are important in maintaining the traditional system. These are underpinned by the role of Bali cattle in:
providing draft power for field operations;
capital savings to meet household demand;
building wealth and status, and
generating income.

Earlier ACIAR research has built an integrated crop-livestock systems model, based on conditions in eastern Indonesia, as well as developed improved herd management practices based on integrating breeding cycles and the farming system. Investigating different crop, forage and livestock options and how these interact with household economics will be the focus of this project. Scenarios will be developed and the best tested on-farm, using a participatory approach.

The objectives are to:
develop, test and apply tools, information and knowledge-sharing techniques appropriate for use at both farmer and extension levels to evaluate the impacts of management interventions into tropical rainfed crop-livestock systems;
communicate the outputs of the project to smallholder farmers, both in the immediate vicinity of the case study sites and more broadly across eastern Indonesia; and also to other providers of research and extension services.

Objective 1:
Undertake desktop studies to develop and test crop-forage-livestock options in partnership with groups of local farmers in a range of case study settings (Sulawesi, Lombok, Sumbawa) to identify `best-bet' options to profitably increase livestock production on smallholder farms;
Undertake on-farm trials of the identified `best-bet' options over a range of regional sites to test their technical efficacy under realistic field conditions
Monitor impact in terms of improving household welfare, the natural resource base and their social acceptance within existing smallholder practices.
Refine the existing simulation models to more closely mimic growth and yield performance of rainfed crops, multi-purpose fodder trees, forages and livestock production; and the consequences for household welfare for a wide range of smallholder settings in eastern Indonesia.
Objective 2:
Use the on-farm trial sites as ongoing extension platforms, along with conventional extension methods to demonstrate, raise awareness and promote acceptance of the farming systems approach to management and of the risks and benefits of the best bet options identified in partnership with the collaborating farmers.
Promote the expansion of local capacity to undertake farming systems research and extension activities by supporting the establishment of the 'Centre for Simulation and Modelling in Agricultural Systems' within the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at Hassanuddin University.