grasslands of india

Grass cover of India, economic aspects of grasslands, their problem and management , improvement of grasslands:

Grass cover of India, economic aspects of grasslands, their problem and management , improvement of grasslands Ramesh.K, 1 st year, M.Sc.,Agronomy(Forage Production)

Grass cover of India:

Grass cover of India

India:

India India, the seventh largest country in the world, latitudes 8 o and 37 o N longitudes 68 o and 97 o , Geographical area of 329 M.ha

Grassland of world :

Grassland of world

Grassland survey of India :

Grassland survey of India A reconnaissance survey of grasslands of India conducted from 1954 to 1962. It Revealed 5 major grass covers based on distribution. The distribution of grasses is primarily governed by Climatic factors, Latitudinal influence Altitude and topography Soil moisture relationship

Grasslands of India:

Grasslands of India Classified Into Five Types(Dabadghao And Shankaranarayan (1973) Sehima - Dichanthium grasslands Dichanthium - Cenchrus - Lasiurus grasslands Phragmites - Saccharum - Imperata grasslands Themeda - Arundinella grasslands Temperate - Alpine grasslands

Sehima - Dichanthium grasslands:

Sehima - Dichanthium grasslands Spread over the Central Indian plateau, Chota Nagpur plateau and Aravallis Covering an area of 1,740,000 km 2 . The elevation ranges between 300-1200 m. There are 24 species of perennial grasses, 89 species of annual grasses, and 129 species of dicots including 56 legumes.

Slide 8:

Dichanthium annulatum, Sehima nervosum, Bothriochloa pertusa, Chrysopogon fulvus, Heteropogon contortus, Iseilema laxum Heteropogon contortus Bothriochloa pertusa Dichanthium annulatum

Dichanthium - Cenchrus - Lasiurus grasslands:

Dichanthium - Cenchrus - Lasiurus grasslands Spread over an area of 436,000 km 2 , including northern parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Aravalli ranges, south-western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab. The elevation ranges between 150-300m. There are 11 perennial grass species, 43 annual grass species, and 45 dicots with 19 legumes

Slide 10:

Cenchrus ciliaris, C.setigerus, D. annulatum, Cymbopogon jawarancusa, Cynodon dactylon, Eleusine compressa, Lasiurus sindicus, Sporobolus marginatus, Dactyloctenium sindicum Sporobolus marginatus Cenchrus ciliaris

Phragmites - Saccharum - Imperata grasslands:

Phragmites - Saccharum - Imperata grasslands Cover an area of 2,800,000 km 2 in the Gangetic plains, the Brahamputra Valley. The elevation ranges between 300-500 m. There are 10 perennial grasses, 26 annual grasses, and 56 herbaceous species including 16 legumes.

Slide 12:

Imperata cylindrica, Saccharum arundinaceum, S. spontaneum, Phragmites karka, Desmostachya bipinnata Bothriochloa intermedia, Vitevaria zizanioides, Imperata cylindrica Imperata cylindrica Phragmites karka Saccharum arundinaceum

Themeda - Arundinella grasslands:

Themeda - Arundinella grasslands Cover over 230,400 km 2 and include the States of Manipur, Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The elevation ranges between 350-1200 m there are 37 major perennial grasses, 32 annual grasses, and 34 dicots with 9 legumes.

Slide 14:

Arundinella benghalensis, A. nepaolensis, Bothriochloa intermedia, Chrysopogon fulvus, Cymbopogon jwarancusa Apluda mutica, Arundinella khaseana, Pennisetum flaccidum Apluda mutica, Bothriochloa intermedia

Temperate - Alpine grasslands:

Temperate - Alpine grasslands Spread across altitudes higher than 2100 m and include the temperate and cold arid areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the north-eastern states. There are 47 perennial grasses, 5 annual grasses and 68 dicots including 6 legumes

Slide 16:

Agropyron conaliculatum, Chrysopogon gryllus, Dactylis glomerata, Danthonia cachemyriana, Phleum alpinum, Carex nubigena, Poa pratensis, Poa pratensis Dactylis glomerata

Economic aspects of grassland , their problem and management , improvement of grasslands:

Economic aspects of grassland , their problem and management , improvement of grasslands

Livestock Rearing:

Livestock Rearing An integral part of the various farming systems. Arable agriculture contributes a major fodder resource in the form of crop residues. Wheat straw surplus areas ( Punjab and Haryana to Himalayan hills)

Livestock population in India (Million):

19 Livestock population in India (Million) Livestock World India % of world Cattle 1371 222 16.49 Buffalo 170.7 95 56.77 Sheep 1024.0 59 5.76 Goat 767.9 124 16.21 Pig 956 18.5 1.93 Horse 55.5 0.8 1.44 Mules 12.8 0.3 2.34 Camel 19.1 0.9 4.71 FAO, 2004

Cultivated Fodder crops :

Cultivated Fodder crops Winter--- Oats, Berseem ,Egyptian Clover, Fodder Rape Summer ----maize, pennisetum ,sorghum and cowpeas. Restricted to irrigated areas and land rich farmers. Intensive cultivation is restricted to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Pastures and Grasslands

Grazing resources in India (2000 – 2001):

Grazing resources in India (2000 – 2001) Resources Gross area (m.ha) Percentage Forests 69.41 22.70 Permanent pastures/grazing lands 10.90 3.60 Cultivable wastelands 13.66 4.50 Fallow lands 24.99 8.10 Fallow land other than current fallows 10.19 3.30 Barren uncultivable wastelands 19.26 6.30 Total common property 54.01 17.70 resources other than forests Forest area available for grazing 38.5

Cont..d:

Cont..d Small areas of grazing lands - Punjab (5.9%) and Haryana (8.9%), Higher areas of grazing lands-- Arunachal Pradesh (79.3%) and Nagaland (81.7%). Punjab and Haryana States have large areas under intensive fodder production. One ha of fodder cropped area supports 11 to 12 adult cattle units. Livestock production is more efficient from cultivated fodder than from the degraded grazing lands

holdings in India :

holdings in India Holdings In India Were:- Marginal (below 1 ha)---- (50.12 millions), Small (1-2 ha)-------- (16.1 millions), Semi-medium (2-4 ha)----- (12.5 millions), Medium (4-10 ha) ------(8.1 millions) Large (10ha and above)-----(2.2 millions).

Common property grazing resources (CPRs) :

Common property grazing resources (CPRs) CPRs are the resources to which the whole community in a particular village or a group of villages have rights of use as against exclusive rights of any individual. These resources include Village pastures or grazing grounds, Revenue common lands and wastelands, Community forests Other forests within a reasonable distance River banks, common threshing grounds, Village ponds/tanks, rivers and river beds

Con..d:

Con..d Between 84 to 100% of poor households gathered food, fuel, fodder and fibre items from the CPRs Only 10 to 28% of large farmers who dependent on the CPRs on these items

Cont..d:

Cont..d Fodder is the major item for which practically all rural poor depend on CPRs. The landless farmers graze their animals as well as collect fodder from the CPRs. The poor also own more of sheep and goats which can survive in a degraded environment. The poor also earn by rearing dry and unproductive cattle on behalf of the rich farmers.

Carrying capacity of Indian grasslands :

Carrying capacity of Indian grasslands The carrying capacity--- 0.20 to 1.47 adult cattle units (ACU)/ha. In semi-arid areas, stocking rates are 1 to 51 ACU/ha carrying capacity of 1 ACU/ha. In the arid areas, the stocking rates are 1 to 4 ACU/ha the carrying capacity of 0.2-0.5 ACU/ha The grazing intensity in the country is as high as 12.6 adult cattle units (ACU)/ha as against 0.8 ACU/ha in developed countries

Nomadic graziers :

Nomadic graziers Very ancient form of adaptation to arid and semi-arid as well as hill environment. Nomadic pastoralism is prevalent in the drylands of western India, the Deccan Plateau, and in the mountainous reaches of the Himalayas. Indian pastoralists can be classified into groups that practice horizontal movement patterns and vertical movement like in the mountainous regions.

Cont..d:

Cont..d The main animals associated with nomadism are sheep, goat, cattle and buffalo, Camel in Rajasthan and Gujarat, Donkeys in Maharashtra, Pigs in Andhra Pradesh, Yaks in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh And even ducks in southern India There are nearly 200 castes engaged in pastoral nomadism totaling nearly 6% of the Indian population (Agarwal, 1994).

Some examples of pastoralists of India :

Some examples of pastoralists of India Golla (cattle), Kuruma (sheep) of Andhra Pradesh. Monpa (yak) from Arunachal Pradesh. Rabari (cattle, sheep and goats) and Bharwad (small stock) from Gujarat. Kuruba (sheep) and Dhangar (sheep) from Karnataka. Raika/Rabari (camel, sheep and goats) and Gujjar (buffalo and sheep) from Rajasthan

Cont..d:

Cont..d These migratory graziers are a neglected lot. This was resulted in accelerated degradation of the eco-system along the migratory routes.

Deterioration of Indian pastures:

Deterioration of Indian pastures The Large Bovine Population, Free Grazing Practices, Lack Of Management, Natural constraints like Extremes of temperature, Steepness of slopes, Variable precipitation, Scarcity of moisture in arid and semi-arid situations

Cont..d:

Cont..d Himalayan pastures is alarming due to the severe pressure of the sedentary, semi-migratory and migratory graziers. Weeds such as Stipa, Sambucus, Aconitum, Cincifuga, Adonis, and Sibbaldia have heavily infested these pastures.

Problems in improvement of grasslands :

Problems in improvement of grasslands Climate . : Quantum of precipitation imposes the greatest limitation on productivity of grasslands specially in the arid and semi-arid regions. In tropical grazing eco-system, precipitation plays a vital role in production which ranges between 0.2 t/ha in 50 mm rain to 30 t/ha under 1850 mm rain. Grassland production is also related to use patterns, grazing intensity and soil factors

Dwindling grazing resource:

Dwindling grazing resource Grasslands are being brought into cultivation throughout the tropics. Thus both crop and livestock production suffers . In Asia, whereas permanent crop land increased by 3.3% between 1970-85, the total area under permanent pastures declined by 2.8% (WRI, 1989). The highest loss of grazing lands is probably occurring in semi-arid zones. In more humid areas, where less land is available for crop expansion, farmers are forced to shorten fallow cycle thus reducing availability of fallow grazing.

Excessive livestock population:

Excessive livestock population The country’s livestock population which was 292 million in 1951 rose to 445 million in 1987 and 470 million in 1992 In 40 years, the livestock population increased by 60%. The grazing potential both within and outside forests, have not only shrunk considerably due to indiscriminate heavy grazing, but in many areas the existing forests have actually disappeared. The practice of keeping large numbers of relatively unproductive cattle, particularly near the forests and the unlimited grazing rights have resulted in over-exploitation of the grazing resource.

Paucity of funds:

Paucity of funds The government’s low priority to the improvement of grazing and fodder resources in the country’s successive Five Year Plans. In spite of the Animal Husbandry sector contributing about 24% of the output of the Animal Husbandry and Agriculture sectors together, the outlays for Animal Husbandry development has remained extremely meager in the Plans. As small as 6% of the public sector outlays for Agriculture was provided for Animal Husbandry in the Sixth Plan.

Cont..d:

Cont..d Allocation for development of feed and fodder resources come from within the allocation made to the Animal Husbandry sector. The allocation for fodder development varies from 0.5 to 5% of the resources of the Animal Husbandry sector.

Absence of pragmatic policy:

Absence of pragmatic policy No agency either in the government or outside has been made responsible for development of vast grazing resources 90% of the livestock population depend on CPRs. Unutilized improved production technologies that have been developed by research institutions like Central Arid Zone Research Institute. Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute. the various Agricultural Universities.

Con t…d:

Con t…d National Wasteland Development Board (NWDB) and National Afforestation and Eco Development Board (NAEB) support projects in some selected areas.

Lack of seed availability :

Lack of seed availability There is acute shortage of pasture grass and legume seed material, no agency having been made responsible for production of these seeds Improvement of an additional 1 M.ha of wastelands, 10 M tonnes of cultivated fodder seed, 25,000 tonnes of range grass and legume seed 500 tonnes of fodder tree seed per year. availability is only 20, 15 and 10%, respectively

Cont..d:

Cont..d The Ministry of Environment & Forests, during the Eighth Five Year Plan drew up a scheme for production of tree and pasture seeds with 100% grant from the center. While the states used the funds for setting up infrastructure for tree seed production, not enough attention was paid to production of seeds of grasses and legumes.

Improvement of grassland:

Improvement of grassland

Improvement of pasture resources:

Improvement of pasture resources Initial protection from grazing of newly improved grasslands lead to better establishment and higher biomass 3.31 tonnes/ha against 0.93 tonnes/ha without protection. Live-hedge fencing has been found to be economic and suitable.

Cont..d:

Cont..d Extensive grazing studies have revealed that the appropriate stocking rates 25-30 ACU/100 ha excellent, 20 ACU/100 ha good, 17 ACU/100 ha fair, 12 ACU/100 ha poor 6 ACU/100 ha very poor

Cont..d:

Cont..d Basic moisture conservation techniques contour furrowing, contour bunding contour trenching

Cont..d:

Cont..d Plant nutrition IGFRI studies, on natural pastures Pastures must have 14% of the area under edible bushes to obtain best production results Grass Normal yield Yield @40kg N Sehima nervosum , 4.1 7.6 Heteropogon contortus 3.4 5.6 Iseilema laxum , 4.5 6.4

Slide 48:

Silvi-pasture systems on degraded grazing lands have enhanced biomass by up to 7-15 tonnes/ha/year. Horti-pasture systems -additional herbage availability of 35-48 tonnes/ha

Slide 49:

Thank you