The overall objective of the present project is to improve the incomes of Tibetan farmers on mixed crop/livestock farms by identifying ways of boosting grain, fodder and dairy production and facilitating the adoption of this technology on farms. The project builds on two earlier projects in Tibet: CIM/2002/093 'Intensifying grain and fodder production in Central Tibet farming systems' and LPS/2002/104 'Increasing milk production from cattle in Tibet'. Specific aims in this, the first year of the project, were: the establishment of research programs to improve methods of grain, fodder and dairy production; on-farm evaluation of methods to boost cereal, fodder and dairy production; and the enhancement of research and extension capacity in Tibet. Over the course of the year progress was made in most areas of project work, though some activities planned for the year could not be undertaken due to constraints on travel to Tibet.
Firstly, progress was made towards understanding Tibetan farming systems and constraints to grain and dairy production. Surveys on agricultural practices on 45 farms conducted by project team members in the latter stages of the agronomy project (CIM/2002/093) were analysed during 2008, allowing typical agricultural practices to be reported, and constraints to production and opportunities to improve productivity discussed. This survey is included in a paper accepted for publication in Crop and Pasture Science (title: Agriculture in central Tibet: an assessment of climate, farming systems and strategies to boost production): this provides an important baseline document for this and other agricultural development projects in Tibet.
Experiments were established at the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute in 2008 to evaluate different varieties of triticale as winter sown fodder crops, and the productivity of different varieties of oats and maize as spring sown fodder crops. Further to work initiated in CIM/2002/093 concerning crop nutrition, the nutritional status of wheat and barley crops in 16 fields across Tibet's cropping zone was assessed. Preliminary results indicate K, Mg and Zn to be marginal or deficient in many areas, suggesting that amendments with these nutrients should be a focus for future agronomic work. Animal house experiments investigating the productivity of different cattle breeds were designed during early 2009 and will commence by the middle of the year.
A crucial aspect of this new project is the emphasis on extension of technology to farmers. To this end, demonstration sites were established at two locations during 2008, at Chang Dru village, Naidong County, and at Dazi village, Medrogongga County. Two new technologies have so far been demonstrated in these areas: zero-till seeding of vetch as a double crop was demonstrated over an area of 50 ha in Chang Dru village in July 2008; and zero-till sown cereal crops have been established for winter wheat at Dazi. Zero-till sown double crops of vetch were popular with farmers at Chang Dru, and produced around 3 t/ha of quality vetch hay that farmers stored on roof-tops and farm walls. As of May 2009, zero-till sown wheat crops had established well at DaZi. The site at Chang Dru village is being used for demonstrating best practice livestock production in 12 farming households in 2009.
Over the past year, surveys were designed that focus on extension networks and household economics. These were pre-tested in two households during May 2009 and are scheduled for implementation in August 2009 - a year later than planned due to travel constraints.
Finally, progress was made during the project's first year in the development of research capacity among staff from the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute and the Tibet Livestock Research Institute. Three project staff members are currently the recipients of John Allright Fellowships for Masters study in Australia: Ms Wang Li and Ms Xiang Ba are studying for Masters degrees in Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, and Ms Pubu Drolma for Masters in Plant Health and Biosecurity at The University of Adelaide.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the incomes of Tibetan farmers on mixed crop/livestock farms by boosting grain, fodder and dairy production achieved through the adoption of technology on farms. The project builds on two earlier projects in Tibet: CIM/2002/093 'Intensifying grain and fodder production in Central Tibet farming systems' and LPS/2002/104 'Increasing milk production from cattle in Tibet'. Specific aims addressed in 2009 (the second year of the project) were: the establishment of research programs to improve methods of grain, fodder and dairy production; on-farm evaluation of methods to boost cereal, fodder and dairy production; and the enhancement of research and extension capacity in Tibet. Over the course of the year excellent progress was made in all areas of project work, despite some catch-up activities resulting from travel constraints in 2008 that limited Australian personnel entering Tibet.
Experiments were established at the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute in 2009 to evaluate different varieties of triticale as winter-sown fodder crops, and the productivity of different varieties of oats and maize as spring-sown fodder crops. Further to work initiated in CIM/2002/093 concerning crop nutrition, the nutritional status of wheat and barley crops in 16 fields across Tibet's cropping zone were assessed. Results from this survey indicate K, Mg and Zn to be marginal or deficient in many areas and a field-based response trial showed biomass and grain yield responses to foliar applied K fertiliser. Further work on K in particular will be carried out in an extensive field experiment established in April 2010. An animal house experiment comparing the productivity of different cattle breeds was undertaken during 2009. Further, an improved practice monitoring technology demonstration was initiated at 2 locations, firstly on the 13 trial farms in Chang Dru village, and secondly at a large scale commercial dairy (both in the Tsedang area). At these 2 locations the continual monitoring of feed and milk data on a daily basis, with varying feed rations, was monitored through 2009.
A crucial aspect of this new project is the emphasis on extension of technology to farmers. To this end, demonstration sites were established at two locations in 2008, at Chang Dru village, Naidong County, and at Dazi village, Medrogongga County. Two new technologies have so far been demonstrated in these areas: zero-till seeding of vetch as a double crop was demonstrated over an area of 50 ha in Chang Dru village in July 2008; and zero-till sown cereal crops have been established for winter wheat at Dazi. Zero-till sown double crops of vetch were popular with farmers at Chang Dru, and produced around 3 t/ha of quality vetch hay that farmers stored on roof-tops and farm walls. In 2009, zero-till sown wheat crops were established at Dazi.
Over the past year, surveys were designed that focus on extension networks and household economics. These were pre-tested in two households during May 2009 and the extensive survey was completed in August 2009. Extensive development of a household model incorporating the socio-economic and farming systems information gathered from the surveys and associated fieldwork occurred in the second half of 2009.
Finally, progress was made during the project's second year in the development of research capacity among staff from the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute and the Tibet Livestock Research Institute. Three project staff members are currently the recipients of John Allwright Fellowships for Masters study in Australia: Ms Wang Li and Ms Xiang Ba are studying for Masters degrees in Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, and Ms Pubu Drolma for Masters in Plant Health and Biosecurity at The University of Adelaide. Tim Heath who spent 4 months as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development on the project in Lhasa in 2009 helped other TARI and TLRI staff to improve methods of agronomy and language skills, as well as assisting with agronomy experiments and farm surveys. It is planned to host another Youth Ambassador to assist on the project in 2011.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the incomes of Tibetan farmers on mixed crop/livestock farms by boosting grain, fodder and dairy production achieved through the adoption of technology on farms. The project builds on two earlier concurrent projects in Tibet: CIM/2002/093 'Intensifying grain and fodder production in Central Tibet farming systems' and LPS/2002/104 'Increasing milk production from cattle in Tibet'. Specific aims addressed in 2010 (the third year of the project) were: the establishment of research programs to improve methods of grain, fodder and dairy production; on-farm evaluation of methods to boost cereal, fodder and dairy production; and the enhancement of research and extension capacity in Tibet. Over the course of the year excellent progress was made in all areas of project work.
Experiments were established at the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute in 2010 to evaluate different varieties of triticale as winter-sown fodder crops, and the productivity of different varieties of oats as spring-sown fodder crops. Crop Nutrition experiments were carried out at TARI and at several locations across the project area. Further to work initiated in CIM/2002/093 concerning crop nutrition, the nutritional status of wheat and barley crops in 16 fields across Tibet's cropping zone were assessed. Results from this survey indicate K, Mg and Zn to be marginal or deficient in many areas and a field-based response trial showed biomass and grain yield responses to foliar applied K fertiliser. Further work on K in particular was carried out in extensive field experiments in 2010 with some responses noted but some trials were non-responsive. An animal house experiment comparing the productivity of different cattle breeds under varying feed rations was undertaken during 2010. Further, an improved practice monitoring technology demonstration was initiated on the 15 trial farms in Chang Dru village. At this location the continual monitoring of feed and milk data on a daily basis, with varying feed rations, was monitored through 2010 and is continuing in 2011.
A crucial aspect of this new project is the emphasis on extension of technology to farmers. To this end, demonstration sites were established in 2010, to show the fodder producing ability of winter sown Triticale. In 2009, zero-till sown wheat crops were established at Dazi. In 2010, follow-up interviews were conducted with households in Mozhugongka, Bailing and Naidong previously interviewed in 2009 to gather detailed information for use in the modelling of household crop-livestock systems. This was supplemented with interviews and information sourced from new households as well as from other sources such as local leaders and agribusiness enterprises. The information has been used to further develop the household model and to refine the scenarios to be investigated by the model. The model is now at an advanced stage of development and capable of examining the impacts on households of the innovations identified elsewhere in the project. Additional funding has been allocated for this part of the project in 2011 allowing Australian staff to spend more time in Tibet transferring the model to the local researchers and extension staff.
Finally, progress was made during the project's third year in the development of research capacity among staff from the Tibet Agricultural Research Institute and the Tibet Livestock Research Institute. Two project staff members successfully completed John Allwright Fellowships (JAFs) for Masters Study in Australia: Ms Wang Li completed her Master's degree in Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, and Ms Pubu Drolma completed her Masters in Plant Health and Biosecurity at The University of Adelaide. These two staff members have now returned to Tibet and are proving valuable contributors to ongoing project work. Ms Xiang Ba is still on track to complete her Masters Degree in Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. Another project staff member from TARI (Jin Tao) was successful in obtaining a JAF for 2011 and is currently undertaking intensive English training prior to applying to The University of Adelaide for PhD entrance.
The start of 2011 involved a key project workshop in Adelaide for the project combined with the associated ACIAR project LPS/2005/129 'Mineral Response in Tibetan Livestock' The week long workshop brought together 10 local staff from Tibet and all Australian project personnel from both projects. It was a great opportunity to bring together all staff and ensure a successful start to the final year of the project as well as to discuss opportunities for the future and collaboration between the two projects