Completed Research Activities

 Pilot Program to support East Kalimantan Smallholder Farmers Successfully Manage Australian Breeder Cattle

UNE provided monitoring support to East Kalimantan Dinas Peternakan animal husbandry staff and their partners with the importation of Australian breeder cattle. Inputs were confined to the distribution and establishment phase of the project, where activities focused on ensuring that animals were appropriately managed and that the immediate needs to achieve good levels of animal welfare were addressed.

Cattle grazing in East Kalimantan

Funding Organisation
Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries

Completed in 2016

Contact
Professor John Gibson

 Value chain analysis of the tea-tree oil industry in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam

Collaboration between the University of New England, Center for Sustainable Production and Consumption (Hue, Vietnam), and Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry.

Funding Organisation
Endeavour Scholarship

Completed in 2015

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

 Dairy Genetics East Africa, Phase 2

Continued farmer engagement and data collection from DGEA1 in Kenya and Uganda and gathered baseline information on status of dairy genetics in Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Funding Organisation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Completed in 2014

Contact
Professor John Gibson

 Adoption study of the ACIAR project: Improved productivity, profitability and sustainability of sheep production in Maharashtra, India through genetically enhanced prolificacy, growth and parasite resistance

This is a short term project to evaluate the impact and level of adoption of the technologies developed under ACIAR project AH/2002/038.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed in 2014

Contact
Professor Steve Walkden-Brown

 Nutrient management in low-input rice-based farming systems of southern Myanmar

Funding Organisation
University of New England

Completed in 2014

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

 Conventions in cross-border trade coordination the case of organic food imports to Germany and Australia

Collaboration between the University of New England and Cologne University, Germany.

Funding Organisation
Cologne University

Completed in 2013

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

The effect of cutting source, potting media and auxin treatment on stem cutting propagation of Melaleuca cajuputi Powell, Thua Thien Hue Province

Collaboration between University of New England and Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam

Funding Organisation
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam

Completed in 2013

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

 Curriculum development for graduate studies in organic agriculture, Maejo University

Collaboration between the University of New England and Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Funding Organisation
University of New England and Maejo University

Completed in 2013

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

 Soil fingerprinting approaches for improving biosecurity and the livestock sector in the Mekong region

The aim of this small research activity was to determine the potential of soil fingerprinting techniques, which have been developed for purposes such as soil science, criminal forensics, geological exploration and archaeology, to provide evidence for animal origin in assist with biosecurity. This project developed a completely new approach to livestock tracking/provenancing. This was done by combining spectral analysis with data mining, using the concept that soils are spatially unique (i.e. have a spectral ‘fingerprint’). The approach was received enthusiastically by Cambodian government agency representatives.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2012 - 2013

Contact
Dr Matthew Tighe

 Dairy Genetics East Africa

Research phase of a proposed long-term implementation program to develop and deliver appropriate germplasm into the small-holder dairy sectors of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (initially). Research includes determining in situ which genotypes work best for poor farmers and working with key players to develop a sustainable business model for widespread delivery of appropriate germplasm.

Funding Organisation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Completed 2010 - 2013

Contact
Professor John Gibson

 Modelling veld production using MODIS LAI in South African rangelands

The aim of the project was to design and validate protocols for ground-truthing remotely sensed data in approximating feed availability.

Funding Organisation
National Research Council of South Africa

Completed 2012

Contact
Dr Isa Yunusa

 Enhancing production and marketing of maize and soybean in north-western Cambodia and production of summer crops in north-eastern Cambodia

Maize is a relatively new crop in Cambodia with substantial potential but risk of declining sol fertility if not properly managed. The project develops and disseminates appropriate production, harvest and post-harvest methods.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2011

Contact
Professor Bob Martin

Adoption and performance of ‘clean and safe’ vegetable farming systems in northern Thailand

Community garden in the Kusuman district, Thailand

Completed in 2011

Contact
A/Professor Paul Kristiansen

 Developing capacity in natural resource management in Bhutan

Several visits have taken place and several MSc/PhD students recruited. PSLP under development to assist in development of a suitable university curriculum.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2009 - 2011

Contact
Dr Karl Vernes

 Review of ACIAR project AH/2006/166 "Improving veterinary service delivery in a decentralised Indonesia"

This was a short term consultancy to conduct a mid-project review of this ACIAR project.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2011

Contact
Professor Steve Walkden-Brown

 Diversification and intensification of rain fed lowland cropping systems in Cambodia

This project seeks to develop double cropping options for a rice/non-rice (mung bean, soybean and peanut) system for small-holder farmers in Cambodia, and to promote non-rice crop technologies that are efficient users of water and deliver higher financial returns to growers.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2006 - 2010

Contact
Professor Bob Martin

Final report

 Investment strategy for livestock genetic improvement in sub-Saharan Africa

The project explored the drivers and opportunities to invest in livestock genetics to improve livelihoods of poor farmers in SSA. Recommendations were made to the Foundation funding the project on four potential projects for investment that were expected to yield a large impact on farmer livelihoods.

Funding Organisation

Completed 2009

Contact
Professor John Gibson

 Gines-Mera Memorial Fellowship

An investigation of the minimum level fresh grass needed to supplement rice straw in the diet of cattle; Effects on feed intake, the rumen ecosystem and diet digestibility.

Funding Organisation
CIAT
Centre for Tropical Agriculture

Completed 2009

Contact
Dr Darryl Savage

 Developing profitable beef business systems for previously disadvantaged farmers in South Africa

The aim of this project was to empower small-scale/emerging farmers in South Africa to be self-sustaining by opening new markets for their beef products. The project work was designed specifically to:

  1. develop SA's resource-poor farmers and their networks, benchmark and develop the role of cattle from emerging farmer herds and improve performance through the SA commercial beef system;
  2. increase knowledge of relationships between components of herd profitability in (sub-tropical environments); and
  3. provide the means for ongoing genetic and non-genetic improvement of tropically adapted beef cattle.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2004 - 2008

Contact
Dr Heather Burrow (Beef CRC)
Associate Professor John Thompson

 Improved productivity, profitability and sustainability of sheep production in Maharashtra, India through genetically enhanced prolificacy, growth and parasite resistance

This project consolidated and field tested, under shepherd management, the improved reproductive rate and parasite resistance of Decanni sheep, using genes that have been introduced from other Indian breeds as a result of earlier ACIAR funded research. A post-project workshop led to the publication: Use of the FecB (Booroola) gene in sheep breeding programs in India.

Funding Organisation
ACIAR

Completed 2004 - 2008

Contact
Professor Steve Walkden-Brown

Final report