KRRB UNRAM and CSIRO Australia Coach Thousands of Cattle Raisers in Sumbawa

TIMESINDONESIA, MATARAM – Large Ruminants Research Consortium (KRRB) of Universitas Mataram (Unram) cooperated with CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) to coach thousands of cattle raisers in Sumbawa.

This coaching has been performed since 2016. According to the Head of KRRB, Prof. Ir. Dahlanuddin, M.Rur.Sc.d, Ph.d, the coaching was to inform how to gain the weight of the cows effectively by using River Tamarind plant as cow feed.  

TIMES Indonesia (timesindonesia.co.id) visited the cattle raisers in West Sumbawa and Sumbawa, along with Prof. Yusuf Akyhar Sutaryono and Prof. Adji S. Dradjat on Friday (19/10/2018). Prof Dahlan said that the cattle raisers in Sumbawa encountered a difficulty to find high quality food for their cows, especially in dry season. “They usually let the cows wander around the grassland or feed them with any food available there,” he said. “In dry season, there is no nutritious food for the cows,” added Dahlan.

That’s why, KRRB Team cooperated with CSIRO to give solutions to the cattle raisers to plant River Tamarind plants in their own lands.

 “We imported the seeds of River Tamarind from Australia, and it is given freely for the cattle raisers. Then, we coach them how to cultivate River Tamarind and how to use them as the cow feed,” he explained.

River Tamarind is drought resistant, high in protein, easy to digest, fleas tolerant, and it could be harvested until 30 years. Besides, it does not need any fertilizers.

Prof Dahlanuddin admitted that it was difficult to find the cattle raisers who wanted to plant River Tamarind and use it as cow feed. But, after they knew the financial advantages from this program, there were a lot of cattle raisers in Sumbawa doing the same program.  

That’s why, the team would always try heard to cultivate River Tamarind in Sumbawa so that the cows in West Nusa Tenggara, especially in Sumbawa, could be the main source of high quality beef.

 “The local people in here cannot be insisted. They always want to see the proof. If there is a successful cattle raiser, the other cattle raisers will consider about preparing the cow feed,” he explained

Exclusively for using River Tamarind as cow feed, the professor from University of New England Australia, led the research team in the framework of ARISA (Applied Research and Innovation System in Agriculture) that has been funded by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Australia since 2016.

They have been coaching more than a thousand of cattle raisers in Sumbawa and East Sumbawa by cooperating with the regional governments. (*)

**) Ikuti berita terbaru TIMES Indonesia di Google News klik link ini dan jangan lupa di follow.

Advertisement