Grow-your-own sea cucumbers

Sea cucumbers have a high market value both as a food and a medicine in China and other parts of Asia. These sausage-shaped marine invertebrates have for centuries been collected in the shallow waters of the Pacific and South-East Asia. However, overexploitation in recent decades has left wild populations of sea cucumbers greatly depleted.

Since wild sea cucumbers have become hard to come by, there has been a growing interest in producing them using aquaculture techniques.

A new ACIAR publication, ‘Asia-Pacifictropical sea cucumber aquaculture’, brings together the Proceedings of a symposium held in New Caledonia last year, organised by ACIAR, together with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The publication includes a wealth of new research on aquaculture techniques, as well as reviewing hatchery production, sea-ranching, export markets and tenure issues. 

Happy Seeder cuts smog, saves soil

New technologies to reduce pollution and increase soil fertility in rice-wheat crops are under the microscope in a new ACIAR Impact Assessment Series report.

The report, ‘Rice-wheat cropping systems in India and Australia, and the development of the Happy Seeder’, was published in April this year by ACIAR.

The Happy Seeder is an implement that attaches to the back of a tractor and allows the direct seeding of wheat into rice stubble. While direct seeders have existed for some time, the Happy Seeder allows the seed to be sown directly into combine-harvested rice stubble.

Tim Purcell leaves lasting legacy

The latest publication in ACIAR’s Monograph series is the Indonesian version of Making value chains work better for the poor: a toolbook for practitioners of value chain analysis (ACIAR Monograph No. 148).

It is dedicated to Tim Purcell who tragically passed away on Sunday 11 March 2012 at his home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

As a Managing Editor and publisher of the original toolbook in English, Tim's collaborative and ‘open-door’ approach to sharing information freely made this latest ACIAR edition of the toolbook possible, and so easy.

Measuring impacts: looking at livelihoods

“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results” Milton Friedman.

When attempting to evaluate whether ACIAR policies or programs 'achieve results' we're looking at more than whether the innovation has made an impact on a smallholder farmer's income.

The latest publication in our Impact Assessment Series has introduced a livelihoods-oriented methodology that can be used to assess the multidimensional poverty-reducing impacts of investments. The report outlines a mixed-method approach using a suite of quantitative and qualitative tools.

ACIAR CEO, Dr Nick Austin, introduces the report: A methodology for assessing the poverty-reducing impacts of Australia's international research.

New poverty study

The latest report to be published in ACIAR’s Impact Assessment Series looks at the role that agricultural growth has played, and will play, in reducing poverty in China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Vietnam.

The poverty status of each country was assessed in terms of monetary indicators as well as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (based on health, education and living standards) .  The report showed that, since the 1980s, all countries made substantial progress in reducing poverty, although to varying degrees. The poverty-reducing impact of agriculture depended on the types of agriculture, the relative size and growth rate of agriculture compared with non-agriculture sectors, the level of public and private investment in agriculture, and the level of government policy support.

               

 Given the high concentration of the world’s poor in developing countries and particularly in rural areas, further substantial reduction in poverty requires lifting the growth of the agriculture sector through increased agricultural productivity. Further investment in agricultural research and development across many countries will be necessary if the potential of agriculture to meet emerging food needs and to contribute to poverty reduction is to be realised.

The report can be downloaded for free, or purchased online, from http://aciar.gov.au/publication/IAS076. Complimentary copies may also be possible. For ACIAR’s distribution policy, see http://aciar.gov.au/publication/distributionPolicy.

               

Georgina Hickey, ACIAR Publications Manager

New ACIAR publication

The latest book to be published in ACIAR’s Monograph Series is a quality control manual for the production of biofertilisers for rice crops in Vietnam.


Biofertilisers contain micro-organisms that promote the uptake of nutrients and growth of plants. Use of biofertilisers can reduce the need for more costly and environmentally damaging chemical fertilisers.

ACIAR research has shown that rice yields in Vietnam can be maintained and even increased with reduced application of chemical fertilisers, after treatment with the biofertiliser ‘BioGro’. However, the benefits of reduced fertiliser costs and increased rice yields can only be achieved if there is adequate quality control of biofertiliser production and application.