(Tetun) Seeds of Life’s efforts to improve food security in Timor-Leste have been praised in a recent aid evaluation report by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
The SoL program was given a green rating – the highest possible – for its good progress in seed distribution and policy development, a result of strong collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF). (more…)
(Tetun) In the period July 2013 to June 2014, around 41,000 farmers – on average 33% of all foodcrop farmers in Timor-Leste – were growing one or more MAF-released varieties, a recent Seeds of Life survey has found.
Results were drawn from interviews in August and September 2014 with 702 foodcrop farmers in 60 sucos across all 13 districts as part of the MAF-SoL Adoption Survey. (more…)
(Tetun) Soil phosphorus levels can now be tested in Timor-Leste for the first time ever thanks to recent training given to five Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) staff with assistance from the Crawford Fund.
During a visit by two Australian soil analysis experts in October, they conducted a 3-week training in which MAF staff also learned how to test soil pH and electro conductivity. All future soil testing for these characteristics will continue to be done locally in MAF’s laboratory at Comoro. (more…)
(Tetun) Due to concerns about near-El Niño conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) has advised farmers not to plant crops until the wet season has definitely started.
The official advisory was issued by the MAF Director General of Agriculture & Livestock, Januario Marcal, and distributed to MAF district offices and Radio and Television Timor-Leste (RTTL) late last week. (more…)
