This paper reports on the 'ACIAR cassava project in Indonesia', where a farmer participatory approach was used in an effort to increase the productivity of cassava-based cropping systems via adoption of higher yielding varieties and improved cultural practices. The report commences with a brief history of cassava research and development efforts in Indonesia, before providing quite an extensive methodology section outlining the farmer participatory research trials that were conducted.

Cassava roots in Indonesia are being used for food, feed and industrial purposes, which includes products such as chips/gaplek, flour, starch, and sweeteners such as high-fructose syrup, dextrose, maltose and sorbitol. The new utilization of cassava roots focuses on the new demand for fuel-ethanol.

The demand for cassava has increased significantly in the past 40 years. Area harvested has however declined, but yields have more than doubled in this time. This paper commences with a summary of cassava production in Indonesia since its introduction in the 18th century, the initial development of exports and development of cassava in dried forms as a means of addressing food scarcity.

This paper details a field survey conducted in three dairy cattle production centres (Malang, Kediri, and Blitar) of East Java on the use of cassava pulp as feed. The authors found a very high usage of cassava pulp as additional feed for dairy cows, particularly in the dry season when a large supply of the pulp was available. The report identifies a number of advantages identified by farmers of feeding cassava pulp to dairy cattle, including improving palatability of concentrate feed and increasing milk yield.

This paper reviews cassava research in Indonesia prior to 2000 and presents the key achievements in farmer adoption of new technologies to increase cassava yields and income. The improved practices the authors examine include land preparation, erosion control, planting material, plant growth management through plant population and spacing, planting time, weed control, cropping systems and fertilization. The research highlights that cassava planting time is affected by cropping system, soil type and water availability.

This paper presents the experiences of using farmer participatory research to develop and transfer cassava production technologies to maintain soil productivity, reduce erosion and increase farmers' incomes. The research was conducted over a five year period in two districts of East Java: Blitar and Malang. A Rapid Rural Appraisal was initially used, in which farmers identified problems and proposed potential solutions.

This study explores the impact of new cassava processors in Sukadana, East Lampung district in Lampung province on the production and prices of cassava in the area. A survey of eighty cassava farmers was carried out to explore their relationships with processors, their production cost structures and their cultivation practices. The study found that harvesting age was a critical factor to determine the cassava yield and price in the study area.

This report explores the potential for cassava production in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province in response to a proposed project to grow and export cassava chip for further processing into bio-ethanol in China. Initial field research found the region to be well suited to growing cassava with large areas of arable land and cassava yields comparable to other regions of Indonesia.

Lampung is the primary cassava producing region in Indonesia, yet the province regularly experiences prolonged dry periods. This study examines drought tolerance for varietal selection prior to distribution, assessing the potential impact of drought (two or more months of <100mm rainfall) on root yield, starch yield and content in five selected varieties. Trial design comprised a 0.1ha plot of each variety (no replication) with sub-plots of staggered planting dates to impose dry periods at different growth stages.