Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

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Plate 7.9
Saddle horses on hitching line in the eastern steppe – Hentii.
Grasslands of the world
and desert, used for grazing camels, horses, cattle and goats, with very limited
hay harvesting; drainage is internal; oases produce vegetables and fruit.
Sown fodder
Some fodder was grown during the collective period, for hay , by negdels and
State Farms in the higher rainfall areas. Some silage was made by “mechanized
dairies”. The area dropped dramatically with the change of system, from
147 000 ha in 1989 (Table 7.4) to 25 000 ha in 1993 and is probably much
lower now. Oat (Avena sativa ) was the main hay crop; its cultivation suited
the wheat-growing equipment already available, a crop could be grown to the
hay stage in the short season available, and harvesting and curing was easy. All
operations were, of course, mechanized. Locally-saved seed was mainly used.
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) was a common silage crop; in the main crop
producing areas it can develop to the full heading stage with seed set, suitable
for ensiling, before low temperatures affect growth; it is very drought tolerant.
Sunflower seed cannot, however, be successfully ripened in the main silagemaking
zone; some farms arranged for seed production at lower, warmer sites
in Eastern Mongolia , but much of the seed was imported from Central Asia .
Alfalfa (Medicago spp.) has been cultivated on a small scale, under irrigation,
in the area of the Great Lakes in the northwest for a very long time. This was
expanded greatly during the collective period but is now on a lesser scale. Local
landraces are grown, probably M. media types , their seed set and production
is good in that area; the conditions of western Mongolia are excellent for haymaking
. Yellow-flowered alfalfa (M. sativa subsp. falcata ), has been grown
J.M. SUTTIE