Herbaceous legumes provide several options for increasing beef cattle productivity in eastern Indonesia

Context Increasing demand for livestock products in developing countries provides opportunities for smallholder farmers to increase and diversify their income through increased livestock production. However, livestock production in these systems is often limited by inadequate animal nutrition, and farmers need ways to increase the availability and quality of livestock feed without compromising yields of food crops or increasing the area of land planted to forages. Aim Using eastern Indonesia as a case study, we explore the potential for herbaceous legumes, integrated into existing mixed crop–livestock systems, to address specific production issues in smallholder beef systems. Methods Through a series of in-village feeding demonstrations, we tested three opportunities to increase livestock production through the use of herbaceous legumes: (i) increasing reproduction rates of cows by maintaining their liveweight (LW) and body condition score during the dry season; (ii) increasing the survival and LW gain of unweaned calves; and (iii) increasing LW gain of growing bulls. Key results Small amounts of legume (~10 g DM/kg LW) were enough to maintain LW of cows grazing poor-quality grasses and crop residues during the dry season. At higher levels of inclusion in the diet (~20 g DM/kg LW), feeding legumes increased the LW gain of growing cattle and survival of unweaned calves, providing benefits similar to a purchased concentrate, but at lower cost. Conclusions Our results demonstrate how strategic use of herbaceous legumes can increase beef production from low-input systems by maintaining LW of cows, and increasing survival of unweaned calves and LW gain of growing bulls. Implications Integration of herbaceous legumes into existing cropping systems removes many of the barriers to supplementary feeding. Improved livestock nutrition does not need to be based on purchased concentrates or increases in land used for forage production. The results are applicable to many other mixed crop–livestock systems throughout Southeast Asia.

Formulating diets based on whole cassava tuber (Manihot esculenta) and gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) increased feed intake, liveweight gain and income over feed cost of Ongole and Bali bulls fed low quality forage in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Context Formulating rations with high energy and protein feeds such as cassava tuber and gliricidia, is an important strategy to increase liveweight gain (LWG) of bulls and improve profitability of smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Aims Two on-farm experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of increasing the supplementation level of a mixture of cassava (Manihot esculenta) whole root tuber powder and fresh gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) on feed intake and LWG of Ongole and Bali bulls given fresh corn stover and elephant grass, respectively. Methods Two experiments were conducted, each with five treatments: a basal diet of fresh corn stover (Experiment 1 for Ongole bulls) or elephant grass (Experiment 2 for Bali bulls) fed ad libitum or this diet supplemented with a combination of cassava tuber (whole root tuber including peel, sun-dried and ground) and fresh, chopped gliricidia (1:1) on estimated dry matter (DM) basis, at DM levels of 0.4, 0.8, 1,2 and 1.6% liveweight (LW)/day. Each experiment was run for 18 weeks, consisting of a two week adaptation and 16 week experimental period. Parameters measured included basal DM intake, supplement DM intake, total DM intake, total water intake, faecal pH, daily LWG, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and income over feed cost (IOFC). Key results Increasing supplement level linearly (P < 0.05) decreased basal diet intake, but linearly increased total DM intake and LWG (P < 0.05) in both breeds. Basal diet DM intake was reduced at the rate of 0.43 kg/kg of supplement DM consumed for both Ongole and Bali bulls. Water intake and faecal pH were not affected (P > 0.05) by increasing supplement intake. Inclusion of cassava tuber and gliricidia supplement up to 1.6% LW/day, increased total feed DM intake (up to 3.28 and 3.18% LW/day, for Ongole and Bali bulls, respectively) and LWG (maximum Ongole bulls 0.69 kg/day and Bali bulls 0.46 kg/day). Daily income over feed cost (IOFC) increased significantly (P < 0.05) in association with increased supplement intake in both Experiments 1 and 2. Using the derived model without supplementation, the value of IOFC was only IDR 7802/day and IDR 7687/day, for Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The highest IOFC was achieved at a supplement intake of 1.6% LW/day with values of IDR 13949/day and IDR 12543/day for Experiments 1 and 2 respectively. Conclusions The addition of a cassava tuber and gliricidia mixture up to 1.6% LW/day increased LWG and profit for smallholders fattening bulls. Implications Formulating a ration with cassava tuber and gliricidia can be economically beneficial in cattle fattening systems in Indonesia.

Spatial Assessment of Degraded Lands for Biofuel Production in Indonesia

This study spatially estimated degraded lands in Indonesia that have limited functions for food production, carbon storage, and conservation of biodiversity and native vegetation and examined their suitability to grow biodiesel species (Calophyllum inophyllum, Pongamia pinnata, and Reutealis trisperma) and biomass species (Calliandra calothyrsus and Gliricidia sepium). Results showed ~3.5 million ha of degraded lands potentially suitable for these species in Indonesia. With the all-five-species scenario, these lands had the potential to produce 1105 PJ year−1 of biomass and 3 PJ year−1 of biodiesel. With the biodiesel-only-species scenario, these lands showed the potential to produce 10 PJ year−1 of biodiesel. Despite this energy potential, however, the land sizes were too small to support economies of scale for biofuel production. The study findings contribute to identifying lands with limited functions, modeling the growth of biofuel species on regional lands, and estimating carbon stocks of restored degraded lands in Indonesia.

Assessing the sustainable development and intensification potential of beef cattle production in Sumbawa, Indonesia, using a system dynamics approach

The intensification of beef cattle production in dryland areas of East Indonesia has the potential to substantially raise the incomes of smallholder farmers that dominate the sector. In this study we assess the potential for intensifying beef production on Sumbawa Island, by introducing a household feedlot production system (2–20 animals) based on the Leucaena leucocephala (leucanea) tree legume as an improved source of feed. We used a system dynamics approach to model the entire value chain, accounting for herd dynamics, demand dynamics and seasonality. Our findings complement the growing body of biophysical evidence about the potential success of this intervention, by simulating improvements in the annual profitability for beef farmers in the project area of up to 415% by 2023. Increases in farm profit were shown to depend near equally on the higher productivity of the leucaena feeding system and an associated price premium, demonstrating the importance of supporting improved agricultural production with better marketing practices. The intervention was also shown to generate positive or neutral benefits for the main post-farm value chain actors. Importantly, it also reduced the GHG emission intensity of outputs from the beef herd by 16% by 2020. We explored number of scale-out pathways, including a relatively moderate pace of autonomous adoption for our main analysis, resulting in the accumulation of 3,444 hectares of leucaena 20-years after the initial project phase, which could sustain the fattening of 37,124 male cattle per year. More ambitious rates of scale-out were found to be possible without exceeding the animal and land resources of the island.