While many forages suitable for improving livestock production in mixed crop-livestock systems in the tropics have been identified, their adoption has been limited. Before farmers will introduce new forages into their farming system an important prerequisite is that the change will be considered profitable, will have an acceptable level of risk and will not interfere with food security. This paper describes a whole farm systems approach used to identify the benefits of new forages to improve Bali cattle production in the smallholder mixed crop-livestock systems of eastern Indonesia.

This report presents findings from a project aiming to help smallholder farmers improve cattle production in eastern Indonesia by introducing forages into their cropping systems. It identified several factors constraining livestock production in smallholder farming systems, and found that most technologies needed to address the constraints are already available in Indonesia or elsewhere, but have not yet been adopted by local farmers.

This paper presents key findings from a research, development and extension program conducted between 2001 and 2009 in six villages in South Sulawesi and Central Lombok to develop and test a participatory, farming systems approach for evaluating and increasing the adoption of strategies for improving Bali cattle production in the smallholder farming systems of Eastern Indonesia.

This case study presents the research and outcomes of three ACIAR-funded projects to improve Bali cattle production for smallholders in eastern Indonesia. The projects—conducted between 2001 and 2008—developed and tested an approach that combined the principles of participatory, on-farm engagement with farmers, and farming systems analysis and modelling. Their main purpose was to encourage the uptake of technologies that improve the productivity and welfare of smallholder households.

Small animals are a significant source of meat in rural areas during times of food shortage or when there are sudden unexpected food requirements for ceremonies. This paper assesses the potential, opportunities and constraints in rearing small animals for integrated rural development in East Nusa Tenggara based on experiences and a review of studies. It finds that small animals such as goats, sheep, chickens, pigs and ducks are potentially a major component of integrated rural development.

This report presents the findings of an ACIAR-funded project that aimed to develop understanding and insight of the goat supply chain in South Sulawesi and identify possible interventions that would improve smallholder and supply chain profitability. One of the main findings was that an iodine deficiency existed in the diet of goats, which was overcome by applying Providon solution to the skin of goats. The project also identified the need among goat producers to regularly weigh their animals for breeding, husbandry and marketing purposes.

This paper examines factors affecting the reproduction level of Kacang and Peranakan Etawah goats under the village production system. The study was conducted in two regencies in Central Java as part of a doe productivity evaluation program under the village production system. Reproduction data of 173 Peranakan Etawah and 189 Kacang does were collected through on-farm research over 20 months. The reproduction traits examined were parity, type of birth and litter weight at weaning.

Goats are the most important small ruminants produced and consumed in Indonesia, in particular in some parts of Eastern Indonesia. They play an important economic and socio-cultural role in the lives of many small holders. This article presents a broad picture of the goat sector in Indonesia.

This paper assesses the influence of environmental (non-genetic) factors of kid production traits of Kacang goats under smallholder production systems in Purwodadi regency in Central Java. The traits evaluated in this study were birth weight, weaning weight and pre-weaning growth weight. The environmental factors assessed were sex, type of birth, and dam's parity (1-7). Data was analysed statistically using the General Linear Model. The results showed that dam's parity, birth type and sex of the kid were significant sources of variation for Kacang kid production traits.

Etawah crossbred dairy goats are easy to maintain and are capable of utilising the leaves of various food crops, legumes and crop wastes as feed. This paper explores the application of an integrated business model of Etawah crossbred dairy goats with cocoa through utilization of estate cocoa waste as goat feed in East Java. Research was conducted with 25 farmers in two villages in the highlands of Ngawi district, over a one year period in 2009.