Sustainability analysis of beef production with Bali cattle in smallholder farms on Ceram Island, Indonesia

Even though being a region composed by islands and rich in water resources, beef production gains in importance on Ceram Island, Indonesia. A beef boom triggered the over-proportional selling of productive animals, threatening the sustainability of beef production in two farmer groups in the island, namely indigenous farmers who live as crop farmers, livestock keepers and fishermen and transmigrant farmers who came from other provinces in Indonesia, settled on the Island and live as food crop farmers, mainly producing rice and later becoming cattle keepers. The aim of the study was to contribute to the knowledge base needed for the design of sustainable beef production systems by analysing the sustainability of farms on Ceram Island, Indonesia. The Island was chosen by the provincial government as a centre of agricultural production in Maluku Province. The general hypothesis of this study was: farm resources and productive and reproductive performance of beef production in the mixed farming systems on Ceram Island differ according to the migratory status of farmers, leading to different economic efficiencies. Therefore, different strategies and interventions are needed to improve the systems. The study focused on districts with agriculture as the main economic activity, namely West Ceram and Kairatu districts in the west, and Bula district in the east.