(Tetum) Soon to rock Timor-Leste are up to 11 varieties of sweet potato, beans and rice that are currently being tested for suitability with over 500 farmers across the country.
If the varieties perform well and prove useful to Timorese farmers, they will be officially released and distributed through the National Seed System for Released Varieties in the next two years.
(Tetum) In rural Timorese communities, a large portion of people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. As agriculture is often seasonal, this can mean incomes can be as well. During the harvest, most farmers have a source of income sufficient to cover their needs, but during other times of the year there are often no savings to pool from.
(Tetum) Many farmers appreciate the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ improved varieties of maize, rice, peanut, sweet potato and cassava because of their good characteristics – they are productive, locally adapted, can be replanted again, and yield well under traditional practices.
Today, on World Environment Day (5 June), let’s take a closer look in this infographic at how these released varieties are also helping reduce hunger in Timor-Leste while protecting the natural resources farmers rely on (water, soil, plants and animals) and improving biodiversity.
(Tetum) The ability to collect, analyse and disseminate accurate and reliable Timor-specific research data is the foundation from which Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries-Seeds of Life (MAF-SoL) operates its programs. The groundbreaking, grass-roots research conducted over the past 13 years has resulted in MAF-SoL’s development and MAF’s release of 12 more productive varieties of staple crops on which SoL phase 3 is building the National Seed System for Released Varieties (NSSRV). The system will deliver good quality planting materials (both seeds and cuttings) to Timorese farm families. These varieties are selected specifically for Timor-Leste’s topography, geography and socio-economic structure. Recently, MAF-SoL has increased its use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) across all tiers of its projects, from on-farm trials to monitoring and evaluation. (more…)
