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A researcher working on a legume crop that is drought-tolerant and can cope with waterlogging is hoping his work will lead to better outcomes in his home country of Timor-Leste.

Dr Marcal Gusmao is UWA’s first PhD graduate from Timor-Leste and will use the knowledge gained at UWA to continue working on improving crop yields and training agricultural science graduates in the tiny country located some 650 kilometres north-west of Darwin.

His doctorate in agricultural science will enable him to pass on methods of improving crop yields to his students at the National University of Timor-Leste, where he is also working for a United Nations development program on climate change.

Timor-Leste is among the world’s 10 poorest countries. Almost half its population relies on subsistence agriculture and goes through a twoor three-month “hunger season” every year between one harvest and the next.

Dr Gusmao’s research involved assessing grass pea which, unlike other legumes, produces a respectable seed yield under stress. He has presented his findings at international food legumes conferences in Turkey and Syria, thanks to funding from the Australian Centre of International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and a UWA Postgraduate Research Travel Award.

Dr Gusmao enrolled at UWA after meeting UWA's Institute of Agriculture (IOA) Director, Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique, in Timor-Leste in 2006. Professor Siddique encouraged him to apply for a John Allwright Fellowship from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

UWA is also involved in a major program to alleviate hunger in Timor-Leste. The Seeds of Life III program – a collaboration between ACIAR, AusAID, UWA, and the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries – aims to increase production of Timor-Leste’s staple food crops.

“Dr Gusmao has every reason to be very proud of himself,” says Professor Siddique.

“There is no doubt in my mind he will make a valuable contribution to achieving food security in Timor-Leste and will serve as an inspiration to other bright students in his country to choose agricultural studies as a career path which is rewarding on both a personal and national level.”

Photo: (L-R) Emeritus Professor Alan Robson, former Vice-Chancellor, with crop researcher Dr Marcal Gusmao, principal supervisor Erik Veneklaas and Dean of the GRS Dean, Alan Dench.