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

The Russian Steppe 411
rainfall , annual forages such as oats, rye, Sorghum sudanense, vetches and
peas were experimented with for over-sowing but the recommended list is
considerably reduced for normal pasture sowing (after proper land cultivation
): Medicago sativa, M. s. subsp. falcata, Onobrychis, Bromus inermis, and
Agropyron pectiniforme with, in addition, for the dry steppe: Agropyron sibiricum
and Festuca sulcata (Larin, 1956). No indications exist as to what extent
such sowings have been experimental or commercial, nor to what extent implementation
was hindered by the obvious limitations of seed availability of some
of these unusual species. Remarkable in this listing is the absence of Festuca
arundinacea . More recent experience has shown that Agropyron cristatum is
perhaps the best grass for sowing (T. Veenstra, pers. comm.).
As was customary at the time, complex mixtures were considered superior
to single-species as a matter of course, on purely theoretical grounds, such as
risk aversion . More modern thinking – not shared by biodiversity adherents
– has it that less competitive species, however productive, are better left out
from mixtures from the start because they are doomed to disappear rapidly
from the sward anyway. The aim should be the “ecological combining ability”
of potential partners, an ability that does not necessarily have much to do
with morphological or botanical differences. As long as alleged advantages of
complex mixtures cannot be substantiated, simple mixtures are advocated, if
only to reduce seed costs. A considerable amount of energy was spent in FSU
days on calculating “norms” for sowing of each species in accordance with
Goststandart (All-Union State Standards).
THE DILEMMA
Many observers regard virgin steppe as not productive enough as a grazing
or fodder resource. Sown pastures have great potential but require a high
level of expertise and are often too short-lived. Continuous arable cropping
consists mostly of wheat, with yields of grain scarcely higher than that of the
old steppe’s hay . The irony is that in FSU over half of the grain was fed back
to livestock. The steppe is on the one hand too fertile not to be cropped and
to be left to “ranching”, but on the other too dry to be cropped intensively
and permanently. All three pathways – grazing, cropping and an integration of
the two – have in the past been explored, both empirically and experimentally.
In the view of the authors, the best alternative land use is one crop of wheat
alternated with long spells under grass fallow , or sown pastures of shorter
duration. Alfalfa is grown separately on the best and irrigated land. Grass hay
is brought in from the floodplains. Marginal land is best returned to steppe.
CROP-PASTURE ROTATION S
V.R. Vil’yams (1922, 1951) was one of the first scientists to publish research
results on the subject (“travopol’naya”) and on the special role of grasses in soil
fertility. Crop rotation regimes used to be strictly preached, but in FSU practice