RANGELAND RESEARCH

 

What is the significance of rangelands and range management?            

Ans. The major land uses in the country are agriculture, forestry and livestock production of cultivated area, about five million hectares (24%) is barani (rainfed) whereas 16m.ha (76%) is irrigated. About 60% of the total area of the country comprises rangelands. The area partly supports 93.5 million head of livestock. Rangelands are mostly used for livestock grazing in northern Pakistan. Balochistan, which covers about 40 percent area of the country, primarily depends on livestock production from its rangeland, similarly in The Punjab and Sindh, livestock rearing is an important source of income in the arid and semi arid areas. Currently, sheep and goat obtain major portion of feed from rangelands while horses, donkeys and camel receive about half of their feed from rangelands. 

 

What is the importance and role of forests in agriculture?

Ans. Forests play an important role in balancing the gaseous fluctuations especially of CO₂ CO, and O₂ in the environment, due to combustion of various fuels i.e. wood, natural gas, petrol, diesel and many others in the daily use of the people as well as by various industries of the country. Apart from this, forest fullfill the requirement of furniture, building material and feed for the livestock through their leaves and pods especially for browsing animals.

Forests also control the run off losses and provide anchorage to the soil, thus minimize erosion losses and enhance the life of head works, dams and canals. Therefore water use efficiency in Agriculture sector is enhanced. Forests are natural way of controlling green house effect on agriculture crops as well as on human health.   

 

How much area is under forests in Pakistan and how it can be increased? 

Ans. Forests occurs over 4.5 percent area of the country, which produces only about 0.3 million cubic meters timber and about 0.4 million cubic meters of fire wood. The estimated annual demand is 1.9 million cubic meters of firewood. The shortage is met from farmlands and by imports of wood and wood products worth about Rs. 1.8 billion per annum (Pakistan Economic Survey 2004-2005).

Forests can be increased through various campaigns of plantation by active participation of Government organization, NGOs and CBOs etc. And by educating the youngsters about the importance of forests covering almost all aspects of forest management and their uses at grass root level.

 

Technologies developed by PARC to maintain and improve rangelands? 

Ans.  Technologies developed by Rangelands Research Program located at NARC are as under:

i. Shelterbelt Technology

Under this technology multiple rows of trees and shrubs are planted at the right angle to the direction of the wind. For establishment of shelter-belts locally adopted, hardy species like Tamarix aphylla (frash), Acacia nilotica, (kikar, babul) and Prosopis cineraria (Jand, Kandi) are preferred. Frash proved to be an ideal species to withstand hot desiccating wind. It is easy to establish as compared to other species, relatively fast growing and has readily available market. Shelterbelts are easy to establish as planting material is locally available. For raising of frash shelterbelts, one year old cuttings are planted at right angle to the direction of the prevailing wind before monsoon.

ii. Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT)

Under the SALT system, the degraded slopes are divided into strips of land for cultivation (4-6 m wide depending upon gradient) separated by double hedgerows of nitrogen fixing trees or bushes planted along the contour lines. These hedgerows are the key elements of the entire system. They act as erosion barriers and stabilizers for hill slopes. The hedgerows also contribute to soil fertility through nitrogen fixing and the biomass of the hedges is either used as mulch for soil cover and soil moisture conservation or as animal fodder to be recycled back into the soil as compost.

iii. Ranching Models for Different Ecological Zones.

 Land classification is done on the basis of physiography and natural vegetation. Area is divided into different sites according to its capability. Each site delineated is planned for proper land use. The flat area is put under dry land farming and crops like sorghum, millet etc. are grown to be conserved as hay and silage to overcome the feed shortage during lean period. On slopes silvi-pastoral models are developed by planting suitable multipurpose trees and reseeding with improved grass and legumes ecotype. Water points are also developed at appropriate places for uniform distribution of livestock. Cash crops like sesame, wheat, barley and mustard are also grown at proper sites to enhance farm income. Local species like ber are raised by top working and grafting with improved varieties. Apiculture is also an Integral part of the model which not only increases income through honey production but also enhances crop yield through pollination.

iv. Low Cost Plant Nursery 

Raising of nurseries provide quality planting stock and self-employment opportunities to the farmers where they can use their free time for nursery operations. Precious plants such as indoor ornamental plants, fruit and forest trees using nursery facilities, ensure sustainable economic returns. By using scientific techniques plants can be raised and a farmer can earn a reasonable income by selling them. This technology is highly environment friendly, is ecologically and economically sustainable. Nursery techniques for various multipurpose tree species have been developed and perfected. Under these techniques large number of saplings can be raised with minimum cost and labour. Special emphasis is given to the low cost local material for developing nurseries for forest, fruit and ornamental plants. Moreover, expertise, regarding grafting budding of trees/shrubs has also been standardized.

v. Forage Reserves on Marginal Lands

This technology covers the following aspects of forage plants:

Method of sowing different grasses e.g.

(i) seeding method (ii) Rootstock planting.

Various sowing distances.

Different cutting intervals and levels.

Optimum harvest level. 
Various grass/legume mixture interpretation.

Seed collection.

 

What are the major achievements of PARC in rangelands improvement?

Ans. The following are the major achievements of Rangeland Research Program, NARC/PARC:

 ¨      Forage and Pasture Research Units have been established at NARC, Islamabad ; Thal (Punjab); Dhabeji (Sindh); Mastung      (Balochistan), PFI (NWFP) and Muzaffarabad (AJ&K).

 ¨      Promising forage grasses and legumes have been selected for different ecological regions of Pakistan. Moreover, production   technology including sowing methods and time, improved cultural and management practices for the promising  grasses  have been standardized.

 ¨      Range improvement practices were demonstrated in Pothowar, Thal, Tharparkar and Mastung  area.

 ¨      Techniques for rehabilitation of vast range areas through range reseeding have been developed. Reseeding of degraded rangelands with improved varieties of forage grasses and legumes has resulted in increased forage and livestock production.

 ¨      Various range management and pasture establishment techniques suitable for subtropical dry areas of Pothwar have been developed after integrated range resources surveys and determining grazing capacity.

 ¨      To reclaim vast areas of the Thal desert, Shelterbelt technology has been developed and successfully implemented. Vast desert area has been reclaimed from the hazards of wind erosion and shifting sand dunes. Keeping in view the impact of this technology, this project was awarded with the UNEP award for environmental protection.

 ¨      A ranching model has been developed for the Pothwar area. By adopting this model, production of rangelands can be improved 3-4 times. This model can also be replicated in other parts of the country with certain modifications depending upon socio-economic and environmental conditions.

 ¨      To ensure supply of planting material for farmers, private individuals, NGOs government agencies and research trials, a high-tech plant nursery has been developed at NARC, planting stock of various multipurpose tree species are raised from local and exotic seed sources.

 ¨      SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology) has been tested and modified according to the climatic and physiographic conditions of the sub-mountainous areas of Himalayan range in the country. This technology which requires no or very little external inputs can play an important role in sustainable use of sloping agricultural lands.

 ¨      To document the economically important plant species of the Cholistan desert and create awareness among the students, general public, botanists and pharmaceuticals for the longterm preservation and exploitation on sustainable basis, available plant species have been collected and Ethno-botanical description compiled.

 ¨      National Program of Action to Combat Desertification in Pakistan has been developed and submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development.

 ¨      The following research based technologies have been developed, tested and evaluated and  been handed over to the    Transfer Institute, NARC for onward transmission to the end users

•  Introduction and development of shelter belts for deserts.

•  Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) for hilly and mountainous areas.

•  Ranching model for Pothwar tract

•  Establishment of high-tech and low-cost nurseries.

   

  Resource Person

 

Taj Naseeb Khan SSO

taj_naseeb@yahoo.com

[Last updated: November 15, 2006]