Indonesia

Research Priorities

Improved policies to underpin agribusiness development

The importance of increased agricultural productivity in Indonesia has been underlined by recent food price rises and concerns about food security. ACIAR continues to support the assessment and development of economy-wide and industry-specific policy options.

Livestock production and biosecurity

Policies and systems for better management of animal disease
The role of government at all levels is important in limiting the effect of animal diseases and also preventing the introduction of new diseases. The introduction of regional autonomy has created difficulty in implementing nationwide policies and strategies. ACIAR’s animal health program supports the development of evidence-based resource allocation and the formulation and implementation of policy for prevention and control of trans-boundary animal diseases. Key diseases of focus include highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), classical swine fever (CSF) and foot-and-mouth-disease (FMD).

Strengthening smallholder beef production systems
The major cluster of beef research projects has a focus on eastern Indonesia. The cluster includes several projects emphasising technology development for on-farm application by smallholder farmers, including improvements for better managed and timed reproduction and calf weaning, and use of nutrients (planted fodders and crop by-products). Factors affecting wider adoption of technical interventions are being assessed and on-farm work is being integrated with projects that assess broader characteristics of the beef supply chain.

Research to underpin the development of competitive horticultural and field cropping systems

The focus of ACIAR’s support to the horticultural sector in Indonesia is on tropical fruit and vegetable production and market systems, aiming to develop environmentally and socially sustainable and integrated production systems and improve the market competitiveness of the industry. Tropical fruits research is focused on management of major diseases of banana and citrus fruits, and development of integrated wide-area systems for the management of fruit-fly infestation. For vegetables the primary focus has been on improving returns to smallholder farmers for the major commercial crops of potatoes, brassicas, alliums and chillies, particularly through developing a more consistent supply of better quality product, fostering closer linkages to markets and implementing integrated crop production systems.

Profitable smallholder aquaculture systems

A consultation held with Indonesian Fisheries R&D agencies in May 2010 determined priorities for ACIAR’s fisheries program: capture fisheries, aquaculture and postharvest processing. For the near term, ACIAR’s focus in aquaculture will be on diversification, planning for aquaculture development, fish health in mariculture systems and value-adding for the marine lobster industry through grow-out of baby lobsters collected in the wild.

Sustainable use and management of fisheries and profitable utilisation of forestry resources

Capture fisheries management
Indonesian marine capture fisheries are among the largest and most productive worldwide, and are critical to the nation’s economic development and in providing food resources to millions of people. Indonesian fisheries production is at least 20 times that of Australia but the capacity to investigate and control these fisheries is very limited, particularly at the provincial level. ACIAR’s focus will be on improved management of important marine fisheries (tunas and other pelagic fishes). Interlinked studies into several commercially important common or cross-border fish stocks between Indonesia and Australia provide a shared and better view of the fishery characteristics and resource status of a number of high-value, internationally shared stocks.

Forestry resource management
ACIAR’s forestry projects in Indonesia focus on enhancing and sustaining value from both extensive forest plantations and natural forests. Priorities include: improving plantation management and investment decisions by smallholder farmers; introducing new wood products and processing technologies matched to market demands; and investigating systems for enabling payments for carbon sequestration by natural forests.

Profitable agribusiness systems for eastern Indonesia
ACIAR’s research program specifically targeted to eastern Indonesia has three research themes:

Adapting smallholder management practices to reduce vulnerability and improve profitability
In many staple food and cash crops of eastern Indonesia, uptake of simple improvements in crop management has been patchy, limiting the capacity of smallholder farmers to take advantage of new markets. Several ACIAR projects aim to improve the resilience, productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers through improved crop management, better market linkages, diversified farming systems and agricultural options that are more robust in the face of increasing seasonal climatic variability.

Benefiting from high-value products
The production of high-value products by the smallholder sector is a mechanism for helping smallholder farmers increase cash flow and reduce livelihood vulnerability. ACIAR research aims to help the transition from staple crops grown for food security to higher value products for particular markets, including market specification, and factors between production and market.

Increasing demand for animal protein
Urban populations in Indonesia are growing at a rate of 4.4% per annum and will inevitably be associated with higher consumption of livestock products. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (USA) predicts a growth rate of almost 6% per annum in meat demand in Indonesia to 2020, with only a 2.5% annual growth rate in domestic production. Understanding the supply and demand dynamics of the animal protein market and improving productivity are critical to fulfilling changing market demands and improving smallholder livestock producer profitability.