Limited information exists about the growth of young Bali calves under local feeding strategies which are likely to be adopted by farmers. In this article, the authors examine a range of diets designed to increase the growth rate of young Bali cattle and develop practical feeding strategies to complement weaning in order to improve cattle production systems of smallholder farmers in Central Sulawesi. Three experiments were conducted to determine liveweight gain and feed and water intake of weaned Bali cattle offered a range of feed types.

This article examines feeding management practices of smallholder producers at two sites in East Java—lowland and upland—in order to assess the potential for improving beef cattle production based on the availability of local feed resources. The research uses data gathered from a survey of 184 farmers in 2010, focusing on household and farm characteristics, cattle numbers, cropping patterns, and feeding practices, especially with regard to rice straw.

The Bali government has introduced three beef cattle development schemes in recent decades to increase the income of smallholder farmers by improving their productivity and to support high quality beef production through improved technology. These schemes are the Beef NES scheme (conducted under a contract farming system between farmers and finance providers), the Food Safety Credit scheme (providing subsidised credit to farmers) and the Food Safety Project (a cooperative-type arrangement under government credit).