Prospects for small farm goat production in a transmigration area of Indonesia : results of a survey

Results of the survey are presented. After briefly recounting the history of the area, the report describes the agricultural setting; husbandry of goats, cattle, and chickens; labor use by farm families; crop, livestock, and input markets; and formal and informal credit sources. The survey revealed that although Way Abung farmers clearly prefer to raise cattle, profitability and especially higher fertility and lower mortality portend a considerable potential for increasing goat production. Constraints to realizing this potential - poverty and lack of cash resources - should be removed in the next several years as a result of clove, fruit tree, and rubber plantation production. Currently, however, vaccinating poultry against Newcastle Disease and increasing the use of cattle in the slack agricultural season are more appropriate than are goat projects in the livestock sector. Goat projects relating to male and female breeding stock and production credit might be intitiated. If so, they should include research aimed at increasing high quality fodder on small farms.