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

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Plate 11.31
Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia ).
Grasslands of the world
The land tenure system is a major constraint to grassland management .
Common areas are grazed free of charge, so are not managed properly.
Boundaries of pastures are not clearly determined nor assigned to village
communities .
The number of people in agriculture declined to 34 percent in 2000. Young
rural people spend up to ten months annually in cities. Labour requirements
are met by hiring shepherds or modifying the system to more labour-effective
strategies. As the rural population declines, specialist animal producers are
increasing their herd sizes. Rotational grazing is ignored because it requires
extra investment. Herdsmen are well aware of its benefits, but continue to
graze all parts of the grasslands from early spring until winter .
Reduction of fallow has been a major government concern over the past
25 years, and has given fruitful results in increasing forage and grain legume
production. The area of fallow was 4 900 000 ha in 1998, compared with
8 400 000 ha in 1979.
S.G. REYNOLDS