The first year of the project was initially devoted to making the necessary institutional arrangements for implementing the project. In Indonesia this now involves five research institutes and universities, i.e. Brawijaya University, Research Institute for Legumes and Tuber Crops (RILET), Assessment Institute of Agric. Technologies (BPTP) - East Java, the Central Research Institute for Food Crops (CRIFC) and the Soil Research Center (SRC); an NGO, Budi Mixed Farming, will join the project in the second year. In East Timor this involves mainly the Center for Research and Extension and the Food Crops Department, both under the Ministry of Agric., Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), as well as the National University of Timor Leste (NUTL).

In Indonesia the project builds on previous collaborative cassava experiments and farmer participatory research (FPR) activities, while in East Timor it builds on four years of participation with cassava in the Seeds-of-Life project. Thus, previous experiments were used as "demonstration plots" where farmers from the surrounding area could participate in the evaluation and selection of the varieties or technologies being tested, using their own criteria for selection. In Lampung province of Indonesia, where cassava is used mainly for starch extraction, farmers selected mainly for high yield, and to a lesser extent, high starch content. Unfortunately, most of these selected varieties or breeding lines still had insufficient planting material for wide-spread testing in FPR trials. In Yogyakarta Province, where cassava is grown for human consumption and some processing, farmers selected mainly for high yield and good taste (sweetness). In the two sites in East Timor where cassava is almost exclusively used for human consumption, farmers selected mainly sweet varieties with good taste and texture, almost irrespective of yield or starch content. Their selection criteria may change in the future as the utilization of cassava roots (and leaves) diversifies. The experience pointed clearly to the importance of involving farmers, and possibly traders, in the selection of new varieties. In Lampung, farmers also evaluated the treatments in a long-term fertilizer trial, which clearly showed the importance of application of K, and to a lesser extent N and P, to maintain high yields of cassava and prevent nutrient depletion of the soil.

The two cassava variety trials harvested in East Timor produced high yields and fairly high starch contents at the high-elevation site in Aileu, and very high yields but low starch contents at the low elevation site in Betano. The soil in the latter site is extremely deficient in micronutrients, especially Fe and Zn, which seriously affects the growth of some varieties, especially the two local ones, but not that of others. At this site there are also serious problems of low plant stand either due to poor or poorly conserved planting material, extreme micronutrient deficiencies, inadequate soil moisture after planting, or excessive weed competition due to untimely weeding. This needs further investigation and improvement. The good soil, high temperatures and a shorter dry season makes this a near optimum site to produce high cassava yields. In Fatomaca, in the northeastern part of East Timor, cassava growth was very poor this year, most likely due to a heavy infestation of termites in the original planting material. Research may be needed to develop better ways of storing planting material during the long dry season to prevent termite infestations.

The FPR trials planted with farmers in this first year of the project were generally not too successful. In Indonesia this was mainly due to a lack of planting material of the farmer-selected varieties and breeding lines, especially in Lampung and Yogyakarta, and in East Timor due to lack of experience in conducting this type of trials with farmers. This is usually the case during the first year in a new country. After the two cassava and FPR courses planned for Jan 2006, the objectives and the methodology of farmer participatory research will become much clearer, and both the number and quality of those trials should improve. Besides FPR variety and fertilizer trials, it is likely that FPR pig or goat feeding trials using cassava roots and leaves will be initiated in East Timor and Indonesia, respectively.

The first year (Sept 2004-Aug 2005) of the ACIAR Project CIM/2003/066, "Enhancing the Adoption of Improved Cassava Production and Utilization Systems in Indonesia and East Timor" was initially devoted to making the necessary institutional arrangements for implementing the project.
In Indonesia this now involves five research institutes and universities, i.e. Brawijaya University (UNIBRAW), the Research Institute for Legumes and Tuber Crops (RILET), the Assessment Institute of Agric. Technologies (BPTP) for East Java, the Central Research Institute for Food Crops (CRIFC) and the Soils Research Institute (SRI). A NGO, Budi Mixed Farming, joined the project in the second year. In addition, Lambung Mangkurat University (LMU) in south Kalimantan, is interested in joining the project and may start some limited activities during the third year.
In East Timor , the project is being implemented mainly by the Research and Extension Center as well as the Food Crops Department of the Ministry of Agric., Forest and Fisheries (MAFF) in Dili, with help from MAFF staff in the districts for the conducting of on-farm and farmer participatory research (FPR) trials. The National University of Timor Leste (NUTL) is also involved, mainly in the collection and characterization of local cassava varieties.

During the first year of the project most experiments were conducted on-station or on-farm, managed by research staff. This served to identify the best varieties or production practices in a particular region. Oftentimes, at time of harvest farmers from surrounding villages were invited to a field day to help evaluate the new varieties or practices and to select those most suitable for their own conditions. During the second year (Sept 2005-Aug 2006) some on-station and on-farm trials continued to confirm the results of the first year, but more and more farmers were involved in conducting FPR trials on their own fields, testing a limited number of varieties or practices that they had selected earlier. While the farmers decided which technologies to test in these trials, researchers and local extortionist helped farmers set out the trial, provided the planting material or other inputs, and regularly visited the trials to solve any problems the farmers may have encountered. At time of harvest, researchers and collaborating farmers helped each other to harvest all the trials and to determine the yields and starch contents. Other farmers from the village or nearby communities were also invited to evaluate the treatments in these FPR trials and to discuss the results obtained. From this, farmers would either select new treatments to test in FPR trials the following year, or start adopting those practices or varieties that they considered most useful for their production fields.
In 2005/06, in Indonesia, our collaborators conducted 13 on-station or on-farm experiments, and 36 FPR trials in three pilot sites in East Lampung, Sukabumi and Malang districts. Most of these produced good results and farmers are starting to adopt some of the tested and selected technologies. In addition, the Dept. of Animal Nutrition of UNIBRAW conducted an experiment on the feeding of cassava leaf silage to sheep with positive results. Some farmers in Malang district have already tried feeding cassava leaf silage to sheep, goats and cattle and will be trained and encouraged to conduct FPR feeding trials on the use of cassava roots and leaves during the coming year. Also, staff from BPTP in Malang have been working with farmer groups in two villages to develop new cassava-based snack foods, and to help these groups produce and market these new products in order to diversify the utilization of cassava anour collaborators to supplement their farm income.
In East Timor including staff from the ACIAR/AusAID Seeds of Life 2 Project , our collaborators conducted five on-station experiments and 17 FPR trials in Aileu, Manifahi and Bobonaro districts. Unfortunately, data could be obtained from only 7 trials as others were either poorly maintained (severe intercrop and weed competition and/or damage by free-roaming animals) or were prematurely harvested by the farmers. With increased personnel and budget available, the supervision and management of these FPR trials in East Timor will improve during the third year.

Plans for the third year of the project includes the continuation of some on-station and on-farm experiments, but with major emphasis on FPR trials in 20 sites (villages) in Indonesia and in 10 sites in East Timor. The project will need to expand rapidly to more and more sites and reach more farmers in order to achieve widespread adoption of new varieties and improved technologies and have a significant impact on cassava yields and farmers' income.