Dr John Wilkins, Dr Alan Kaiser and Dr Tsamyu are part of an international research and extension team working to improve nutrition in Tibet's dairy herd.

Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute has hosted Tibet Livestock Research Institute (TLRI) scientist Dr Tsamyu as part of a three year international research project aiming to boost milk production in Tibet’s dairy herd.

"Butter, yoghurt and milk are prominent in Tibetans’ diets, but current production is not meeting the demand for dairy products," project leader Dr Alan Kaiser said.

"This project will have a big impact on the dairy industry in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region by helping farmers increase productivity to meet strong demand for milk products.

"Our project also aims to benefit farm incomes for mixed crop and livestock farming enterprises in the valleys of central Tibet."

Dr Tsamyu, a nutrition specialist, worked in Wagga Wagga for the past two months, to further her experience with animal house experimentation and associated laboratory techniques.

Dr Kaiser, also head of NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Wagga Wagga nutrition research unit said Dr Tsamyu, better known by her Wagga colleagues as Sam, had the opportunity to work at one of the best facilities for ruminant research in Australia.

"While here, Sam took part in animal house experiments to evaluate silages made from cereal crops harvested at different stages of maturity," Dr Kaiser said.

"These silages were analysed for feed quality and fed to steers to determine digestibility, liveweight gain and feed conversion efficiency.

"An animal house will soon be constructed at TLRI in Lhasa where Sam and the local research team will conduct nutrition experiments to examine various aspects relevant to Tibetan dairy production."

In Australia Dr Tsamyu was involved with the running of the animal house experiment, feed analysis and extension activities.

"She participated in extension activities teaching farmers the principles of evaluating feed quality in relation to animal nutritional requirements," Dr Kaiser said.

NSW DPI, the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Sciences and the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research are partners in the research project.