Project aiming to improve cattle productivity in Timor-Leste

Charles Darwin University

A decline in feed availability for cattle during Timor-Leste’s dry season may be having a severe impact on the region, but a new research project exploring alternative feeding methods, specifically silage, aims to minimise its impact on farmers and cattle. 

The project, which began earlier this year, will evaluate silage as a feeding alternative for farmers to use during the region’s dry season. 

Silage is made from crops or pastures, which are fermented in the absence of oxygen to maintain feed quality, to then be provided to cattle as a source of food. 

The project is being led by Maria Paula Ortiz-Rodriguez, who this year began her PhD journey with the Research Institute for Northern Agriculture (RINA) at Charles Darwin University (CDU).

Cattle are a crucial economic and cultural asset in Timor-Leste but the productivity of Bali cattle during the region’s dry season, from June to November, may be hindered due to various factors, including decrease availability of feed. 

It is a strategic priority for the region’s government to increase its food production and exploring this alternative feeding method alongside animal husbandry changes could play an important role in improving livestock productivity. 

“Livestock is of great cultural importance, and they bring money to the tables of farmers, but there isn’t a lot of infrastructure systems or extension services to support farmers in making the best decisions for their livestock production systems,” Ms Ortiz-Rodriguez said. 

“Farmers are faced with not having a lot of food during the dry season. It’s a challenging time for everyone. The lack of feed available for cattle during this time may be contributing to weigh loss and overall condition of the animals.

“Farmers want to learn more and manage cattle better to make profitable decisions, and we’re focusing on silage as one of the alternatives that could help farms deal with these challenges.”

Animals, the environment and human wellbeing are intrinsically connected and for Ms Ortiz-Rodriguez, this intersection is best represented through agriculture. 

Ms Ortiz-Rodriguez is a veterinarian who has lived and worked around the world. She was introduced to agriculture while working on a dairy farm in New Zealand, and after a time as a SCUBA diver and coral propagation instructor in Thailand, she made her way to Australia and back to agriculture in Tasmania. 

While at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, she met her now supervisor RINA Associate Professor of Sustainable Pastoral Systems Beth Penrose who had the perfect postgraduate opportunity at CDU. 

“Because of my background as a vet I want to work with animals, but I’m also passionate about people and human behaviour and how through animals we can achieve human health and wellbeing,” Ms Ortiz-Rodriguez said. 

“Agriculture has a very important role to play in making us more resilient as humans, but agriculture also needs to be resilient.

“The world is changing and we’re not going back to the decisions humans made decades ago. Climate change is influencing the way we’re eating, and agriculture sits in the middle of this. Without agriculture we don’t have food.”

“Instead of raising the impact of agriculture, we need to increase the benefits without hurting anyone.”

Ms Ortiz-Rodriguez outlined the purposes of this project at the 1st Northern Australia Universities Alliance postgraduate research conference in April, hosted by RINA in association with James Cook University and Central Queensland University.

She is also the recipient of a scholarship through the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering’s Elevate: Boosting diversity in STEM program. 

Raphaella Saroukos she/her
Research Communications Officer
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