Visit highlights partnerships between Indonesia and Australia

Left to right: Members of Sumber Rejeki Farmers Group, Sukarara Village (Central Lombok) meet with Julien de Meyer (ACIAR), Yusuf Sutaryono (Mataram University), Peter Horne (ACIAR) and ACIAR CEO Nick Austin

The importance of Australia’s agricultural research program in Indonesia was highlighted during a recent visit by the ACIAR Chief Executive Officer Dr Nick Austin.

In Jakarta, Dr Austin met with the Minister for Agriculture, H. Suswono, senior staff at agricultural research agencies, and Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer. He also visited the Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor Agricultural University and ACIAR projects in Lombok.

ACIAR’s aims in Indonesia

ACIAR has been supporting collaborative research projects in agriculture, fishery and forestry in Indonesia for over 25 years. The current program, with a budget of A$11.7 million, supports 59 projects in eleven provinces, in eastern Indonesia, and in parts of Java and Sumatra.

“The ACIAR research program aims to help boost farmers' incomes in two ways, by increasing the productivity of crops, livestock and aquaculture; and by fostering the development of integrated agribusinesses, focusing on high-value commodities which have strong market demand,” Dr Austin said.

ACIAR is also working in partnerships to help Indonesia manage pest and diseases, improve postharvest processing and market development of products, manage forestry and fisheries resources sustainably, and improve farmer links to markets.

Seeing benefits on the ground

While in Lombok, Dr Austin visited ACIAR research projects helping smallholder cattle producers, mango growers, peanut farmers and lobster growers to increase their productivity and profitability.

The ACIAR cattle project at Kayangan, for example, is boosting producer’s profits through new management techniques, including better breeding, improved cattle stall facilities and feeding of forages.

Now 36 cattle stalls across central Lombok have achieved calving rates of over 85 per cent compared with the regional average of 50-65 per cent; calf mortality has halved; and the growth rate of calves among participating farmers has nearly doubled.

Links

Australian Embassy media release: http://www.indonesia.embassy.gov.au/jakt/MR10_026.html