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

288
Plate 7.14
Polled yak in autumn – Arkhangai.
Grasslands of the world
areas where previously they were a minor herd component. Production of raw
combed product varies from 250 g (female) to 340 g (male castrates) per head.
Twinning is commoner in goats than in local sheep , and weaning rates of 100
percent or more are claimed.
Most of the dairy products of the herding sector are consumed at home.
Cows and mares are the main milk sources, but ewes are milked for a few
weeks after weaning in some areas. Lactations are short and all cattle are usually
dried off by December, when feed has become scarce, to avoid strain on the
developing calf. Much of the milk in the short season is processed domestically
to conserve it for later use. A wide range of traditional dairy products are made,
but clotted cream and dried curd are the main ones. Fermented mares’ milk,
airag , is a favourite and saleable beverage; it is also distilled to produce an alcoholic
drink, rakhi , and the residues of the distillation may be added to curd.
Evolution of stock numbers
The numbers of the five species between 1918 and 1996 were shown in
Table 7.10. Since grazing pressure depends on species as well as overall
numbers, these figures have been transformed into stock unit s (on the basis of
the traditional bod ) in Plate 7.3. The transformation is crude and does not take
account of the different stages of maturity of animals within the herd, but serves
for rough comparisons. Present stock numbers are high, but those of 1996, in
terms of livestock units, are little higher, by about 6 percent, than those of 1950
immediately prior to the development of collective management . Historically,
there was a very rapid rise between 1918, a time of troubles, and 1930, when the
national herd reached levels approaching those of modern times.
J.M. SUTTIE