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

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Grasslands of the world
grazing , but are not used further east. Yak are important in Ladakh in India ,
Nepal and Bhutan , and a few are present in the coldest parts of Afghanistan
and Pakistan. In Bhutan and eastern India, some mithun (Bos gaurus ) and their
crosses with cattle are raised. Buffalo are kept in some farming areas, but are far
more important on the plains. Indigenous breeds are used throughout, except
in some urban areas, notably Quetta, where Afghan refugees have brought
exotic black -and-white cattle and management skills.
In Nepal and Bhutan , buffalo graze the lowest pastures, cattle slightly higher,
cattle × yak hybrids the high pastures, and pure yak the highest. Seasonal
movements mean that the winter pastures of one group may be the summer
pastures of that below.
It is generally agreed that Himalayan pastures are overstocked and degraded
(Plate 11.23), although there is little historical evidence as to their former state.
Regulations concerning forest grazing , stock numbers, seasons for using various
pastures, as well as grazing fees, were codified in the late nineteenth century
for India (including present-day Pakistan ), but with increasing population and
political pressure these rules are not always observed.
India
The Himalayan lands have been described above. This is based on Misri (1999).
India has the largest cattle herd of any country, 226 million (FAOSTAT, 2004)
and also has 97 million buffalo; these are mainly raised by sedentary groups
and fed on opportunistic grazing , crop residues and, in some cases, usually
irrigated , fodder. The irrigated tracts of northern India have intensive fodder
production for stall-fed stock, and a similar situation is found in the irrigated
tracts of Pakistan .
The grazing of animals takes place on a variety of grazing lands . Pastures and
grasslands have often resulted from degradation and destruction of forests until
savannahs are formed. True pastures as climax vegetation are found only in subalpine
and alpine pastures in the higher altitudes of the Himalayas. Dabadghao
and Shankaranarayan (1973) have grasslands classified into five types .
• Sehima – Dichanthium grasslands are spread over the Central Indian plateau,
Chota Nagpur plateau and Aravallis. The elevation ranges between 300
and 1 200 m.
• Dichanthium – Cenchrus – Lasiurus grasslands cover northern parts of
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Aravalli ranges, southwestern Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and
Punjab. The elevation ranges between 150 and 300 m.
• Phragmites – Saccharum – Imperata grasslands are in the Gangetic plains,
the Brahamputra Valley and the plains of Punjab. The elevation ranges
between 300 and 500 m.
• Themeda – Arundinella grasslands are found in the States of Manipur,
Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and
Kashmir. The elevation ranges between 350 and 1 200 m.