Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Traditional Conservation Of Buffalo Breed By Pastoralists Through Maintaining Of Grassland Ecosystem, Banni-Kachchh, Gujarat-India, P. N. Joshi, Ramesh Bhatti, Sabyasachi Das

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Banni region, situated at 23019’N to 23052’N to 68056’E to70032’E, comprises around 25,00 sq.km area under Bhuj taluka of Kutch district of Gujarat state, is home of Muslim nomadic pastoralists and Meghwal Hindus. Banni is situated in Arid climate, with high temperature in most of time which reached maximum up to 480C -500C during May June. Pastoral community, call themselves Maldhari, in Banni region depends on Banni Grassland for the raring of their livestock mainly Banni Buffalo which registered as 11th buffalo breed of India in 2011. Maldharis even rearing unique Kankarej Cattle for Milk Production and selling bullocks …

Mitigating Policy Measures To Increase Fodder Availabilty In Natural Calamities Situations, Om Singh

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Though the availability of feed and fodder has improved in the last decade, still there exists a substantial gap between demand and availability of fodder in the country, particularly during the lean periods and at the time of natural calamities including droughts and or flood situations. Availability of adequate quantity of feed and fodder for livestock is essential for improving livestock productivity. Under the Rasthriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the States have sufficient funds and autonomy to undertake development of feed and fodder besides other agricultural and allied activities. There is a need to disseminate the benefits of using high …

Grasslands Are My Home: An Innovative Primary School Program Developed For Remote Chinese Villages, Limin Hua, Victor Squires, Chengzhang Zhao

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Environmental education is a useful tool for changing the mind-set of people and it has been developed over many years and in many countries. This paper reports the environmental education program funded by World Bank/GEF pastoral development project in northwest China. The involved writing training materials for students and teachers, teaching in classroom, practicing in filed, and interactions with parents. The purpose of the environmental education program was training a student to influence the whole family, educate a class and help manage a community. The result showed that the environmental education program had positive impact on student attitudes toward environmental …

Vegetation Dynamics In Relation To Land Use Within The High Altitude Alpine Grasslands Of Lesotho, Southern Africa, Nico Smit, G. Janse Van Rensburg

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The Kingdom of Lesotho is characterized by its unique geographical feature of being dominated by rugged mountainous terrain. It is also the only true alpine region in southern Africa that supports high plant species diversity. Large areas suffer from overgrazing and erosion, as well as over exploitation of its natural resources. The livestock industry in Lesotho has long been a vital component of the economic and social structure of the country and the alpine region is considered as an important grazing resource by local Basotho herdsmen. Consequently, a study was conducted with the two objectives: to determine the phytomass, grazing …

Sustainability Of Grassland Resources In Afghanistan: A Review, Yashpal Singh Saharawat, Hyatullah Esmati, Abdul Rahman Manan

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Afghanistan is land locked country with arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. Out of 65 million ha of its land area, grassland and pastures cover 30 million ha. The grassland is reducing significantly from last six decades mainly due to poor governance in the last three decades of war and conflict, non-existence of scientific capacity and capability, land encroachment, increasing population, urbanization, poor policies and support from the Government, consistent increase in the population of cattle (291%), goats (160%) and (donkeys 290%) during the last two decades (World Bank, 2011).

Constraints For Grassland Development In Kadesara Kala Village, Lalitpur, Bundelkhand: A Case Study, Ravi Pratap Singh, Rajiv K. Agrawal, Satendra Kumar, Sunil Kumar, M. M. Das, J. B. Singh, Satyapriya

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

India is maintaining a livestock population of over 500 million and has a grim situation of forage and feed deficit to the tune of 35.6% green fodder, 10.95% crop residues and 44% concentrate. In term of nutrients, the deficit is expected to the tune of 24.6 and 19.9% respectively by the year 2020. The gap is to be bridged up through development as well as extension of appropriate fodder production technologies suitable for different farming situation strategies. Fifty-eight % of the available fodder comes from grazing land and 42% from stall feeding with crop residues (30%) and leaf fodder (12%). …

Understanding Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention For Adopting Improved Grassland Using The Theory Of Reasoned Action, In The Highlands Of Central Mexico, Carlos Galdino Martínez-García, Carloss Manuel Arriaga-Jordan, Adolfo Armando Rayas-Amor, Peter Dorward, Tahir Rehman

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Low adoption of improved grassland among small-scale dairy farmers has been attributed to different factors such as farmers and household characteristics, farm characteristics, institutional characteristics and capital constraints (Martínez-García et al., 2012). Several researchers illustrate the importance of farmers’ attitude, beliefs and social pressure from the salient referents in the adoption of innovations (Rehman et al., 2007; Rossi Borges et al., 2014). Regarding Mexico, there is a lack of information about understanding of attitudes, beliefs and social pressure underpinning farmers’ intentions to adopt agricultural innovations. In contrast to many adoption studies, it focuses on an innovation that …

An Overview Of Current Status And Future Prospects Of Grassland Resource In Sri Lanka, Disna Ratnasekera

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

In Sri Lanka, nearly 12,000 km² of the total land area is under grass (Pemadasa, 1990). Use of grassland for livestock through traditional way goes back a number of centuries. Almost 20% of the countryside of the earth is covered by grassdominated flora, which includes numerous communities (Pemadasa, 1990).The cohesiveness of traditional societies and social groups in livestock rearing led to complete approaches that resulted in appropriate, environmentally sound sustainable technologies in sustainable grassland management. However, due to growing population and mismanagement, Sri Lankan grasslands are deteriorating. Moreover grasslands play key role in livestock production and environment stability. There …

Soil Seed Bank Study On Abandoned Fields And Semi-Arid Grassland, South Africa, P. J. Malan, T. Myburg, Hennie A. Snyman

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Up to the 1980’s marginal soils in the central grasslands of South Africa were successfully ploughed for crop production, but unfortunately those soils soon proved to be uneconomical. Due to high input costs, low maize prices, and unreliable rainfall, the Department of Agriculture soon implemented the “soil conversion scheme” to promote the conversion of those ploughed marginal soils to permanent pastures. Regardless of the implementation the soil conversion scheme, many farmers unfortunately just abandoned some of these marginal fields, not establishing permanent pastures. This led to many hectares of unproductive previously cultivated fields, referred to as abandoned fields. It was …

Biodiversity Mainstreaming In South Africa’S Production Landscapes: Lessons And Achievements, Aimee Ginsburg, Anthea Stephens, Mahlodi Tau, Emily Botts, Stephen Holness

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

South Africa’s grasslands are critically threatened and many biodiversity priority areas lie in production landscapes. This is a challenge best addressed by an approach aimed at strengthening the enabling environment, and innovating, piloting and mainstreaming new models for biodiversity management into production sectors, namely agriculture, forestry, urban development and coal mining. The Grassland Programme (a 20-year partnership between government, conservation agencies, non-governmental organisations, and private sector) has implemented this approach to sustain and secure grassland biodiversity and ecosystem services for the benefit of current and future generations. In five years of implementation, notable achievements have been in shaping policies and …

Community Structure Of Oribatid Mites In Improved Grasslands: A Case Study From Central India, Sharmila Roy

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

About 14% of the land in Central India (25º20'-26º30'N and 79º45'-78º15'E) is classified as grass/range lands, most of which is degraded. In order to improve condition class of these areas, several land development programs have been undertaken by various agencies. However, long term implications of such interventions are not understood properly. Since oribatid mites constitute an important part of soil ecosystem(Noti et al. 2003) having intricate relations with the niches in soil and their community structure is a swift reflection on ecosystem habitat structure, complexity and other factors, this study was planned.

The Impact Of Surface Coal Mining On The Pre- And Post-Mining Agricultural Potential Of The Grassland Biome Of Southern Africa, Wayne F. Truter, T. Bredell, J. Olivier, D. Van Heerden, P. Mosebi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Surface mining of coal is widespread in the grassland areas of the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa, and is the main cause of many environmental impacts in this agriculturally important region. To ensure healthy and productive vegetation after the reclamation process, disturbed soils need to be ameliorated and re-vegetated with locally adapted grass species to protect, preserve and improve soils for future agricultural use. To date, soil compaction is regarded as one of the main factors that cause severe restrictions in the effective rooting depth of plants, and the level of compaction is strongly influenced by altered soil water contents, …

Cenchrus Ciliaris And Stylosanthes Seabrana For Grassland Development In Semi-Arid Areas Of Maharashtra, Nandini Nimbkar, B. V. Nimbkar

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

A high proportion of grazing lands on the semi-arid Deccan plateau of Maharashtra, India are severely degraded and have experienced considerable loss of perennial vegetation and soil due to erosion. Consequently, these grazing lands have very low levels of pasture and animal productivity, water use efficiency is low and in combination these factors are threatening grazing systems of the local shepherd community. In Maharashtra 42% of the land is either covered with forest or scrub vegetation or left as culturable wasteland. Much of the efforts in land management have been directed towards forestry land with little attention given to private …

Plant And Animal Responses To Different Grazing Regimes On A Meadow Steppe In Northeast China, Deli Wang, Zhiming Yang, Ling Wang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Grazing by domestic herbivores is often considered to be an essential factor governing grassland vegetation and animal production (Hodgson and Illius 1996). During recent decades, there is increasing interest as a fundamental interaction between plant-animal interface, especially for the simultaneous or interactive responses of plants and animals to grassland grazing regimes (Liu et al., 2015), which benefits on improving the efficiency of grazing or grassland resource management. To achieve sustainable animal productivity and maintain the stability of grasslands, farmers or stakeholders need to employ optimal grazing strategies or regimes based on practical grassland vegetation and environments. Unfortunately, up to date …

Effect Of Sheep Grazing And Rainfall On The Ecology Of Lasiurus Sindicus-Dominated Grassland In Hot Arid Zone Of India, Suresh Kumar, J. P. Singh, K. Venkatesan

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Thar Desert in India is very fragile owing to frequent drought and low rainfall which causes extreme stress on biodiversity of region especially on livestock due to limited seasonal grazing resources. Despite inhospitable and harsh climate, as well as anthropogenic pressures, Indian arid zone has 682 species belonging to 352 genera and 87 families. Some 63 species are introduced belonging to 37 genera and 9 families. Compared to other deserts of the world, this desert has higher number of endemic species, i.e. 6.4%. Poaceae and Leguminosae are the largest species. All these species have typical habitat-plant cover …

Abundance, Diversity And Importance Of Some Insects In Grasslands Of Indian Arid Zone, Nisha Patel

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Grasslands in arid regions are home to a large number of species of insects, which are well adapted to living in this ecosystem. Insects constitute a major part of the total faunal biodiversity of these grasslands and provide valuable ecosystem services such as pollination, decomposition, nutrient recycling, being important links in the food chain, etc. Diversity of entomofauna is a good criteria for judging the health of a grassland. However this diversity has not yet been properly studied. In the present study, attempt was made to unravel the diversity of some groups of insects in the grasslands of Indian arid …

Leaching Of Nitrate From A Grassland Field, Abdulfatah F. Aboufayed

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Agricultural activities are the major cause of non-point pollution. Mechanization of agriculture, artificial fertilizer use and overall intensification of farming has played a major role in the increased incidence of pollution by agricultural activities. Carton et al. (2006) reported the effects of agricultural practices on nitrate leaching from an intensively managed dairy farm and showed that mean concentrations of nitrate nitrogen in the groundwater beneath the farm during the two monitoring years exceeded the maximum admissible concentration (MAC) for drinking water. While average nitrate nitrogen concentration in soil water were less than MAC, there was a trend for increased nitrogen …

Impacts Of Future Climate Change On Net Primary Productivity Of Grassland In Inner Mongolia, China, Qiuyue Li, Xuebiao Pan, Jiaguo Qi, Lizhen Zhang, Xiaoyu Wei, Zhihua Pan, Yinlong Xu

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of grassland is a key variable of terrestrial ecosystems and is an important parameter for characterizing carbon cycles in grassland ecosystems. In this research, the Inner Mongolia grassland NPP was calculated using the Miami Model and the impact of climate change on grassland NPP was subsequently analyzed under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2, B2, and A1B scenarios, which are inferred from Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) climate model system. The results showed that: (1) the NPP associated with these three scenarios had a similar distribution in Inner Mongolia: the grassland NPP …

The Changing Patterns In Grasslands And Soil Fertility Along The Eastern Eurasian Steppe Transect Across China–Mongolia–Russia, Xiangyang Hou, Leonid Ubugunov, S. Tserendash, Haijun Chen, Wenjun Han, Xiangjun Yun, Ding Yong, Wang Zhen, Lei Ji

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

This paper analyses the adaptation and change in species along the north-south Eastern Eurasian Steppe Transect across China – Mongolia – Russia and considers the implications for climate change and management. The plant community diversity, above-ground biomass, N:P ratios of community and of dominant species, soil N (nitrogen), soil P (phosphorus) and AP (available phosphorus) contents were studied along a 1400 km north-south transect. The main findings were: (1) the community diversity and productivity decreased with the increase in latitude and a significant negative correlation was found between the many plant characteristics and latitude (P < 0.05) – decreasing diversity, biomass and N:P ratios; (2) soil AP content was lowest in Inner Mongolia, whereas no significant change in soil total P with latitude was found in China-Mongolia-Russia transect, a significant positive correlation was detected between the soil nutrient (N and AP) and latitude (P < 0.05); (3) a significant positive correlation was evident between plant community P content and soil AP content (P < 0.01), but a negative correlation was found between community N:P ratio and soil AP content (P < 0.05). The soil AP content can be used as a soil properties indicator to reflect the plant communities P content and N: P ratio. It is suggested that greater human activities in Inner Mongolia may be an important factor affecting soil AP content, community N:P and plant growth.

Effects Of Livestock Grazing Intensity On Reproductive Changes In Festuca Ovina L., Somaye Alidoost, Masoume Amirkhani, Mousa Akbarlou, Mansour Mesdaghi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Reproduction and re-generation strategies, whether by sexual or asexual means, are important attributes of grazed plants. The Gramineae family is the main element of rangelands, grasslands and grassland ecosystems by virtue of their seed production and distribution mechanisms, and their tolerance of environment stresses (cold, heat, drought). Festuca ovina is a highly palatable and productive plant that has been recommended for drilling and sowing in the steppe and semi-steppe rangelands of Iran. The aim of this study, which was located in the Ghorkhoud region in North-east Iran, was to investigate the effects of different grazing intensities on reproduction of this …

Aboveground Biomass And Soil Moisture As Affected By Short-Term Grazing Exclusion In Eastern Alpine Meadows Of The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, Haibo Liu, Jianping Wu, Wen Wang, Xiaoli Jin, Zhenheng Liu, Wenhua Du

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Heavy grazing substantially influences grassland vegetation and animal nutrition on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau (Guo et al. 2003). Degradation is characterized by a reduction in vegetation height, reduced ground cover decrease in species diversity (Wang et al. 2007).

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of short-term exclusion from grazing on aboveground herbage, forage nutritive value, and soil moisture in an alpine meadow in the eastern zone of the plateau. Three farms, applying different intensity of grazing over the summer months, were compared.

Spatial Variability And Seasonal Change Of Radioactive Caesium Concentration In Grassland Vegetation, Mikinori Tsuiki, Saaya Eguchi, Yusuke Nagata, Takeki Maeda

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The damage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 resulted in serious radioactive pollution over Eastern Japan. The distribution of radioactive fallout was largely determined by wind and rainfall patterns in March 2011. Distribution patterns were not necessarily in accordance with the distance from the nuclear power plant. In Iwate Prefecture (160 to 340 km north of the nuclear power plant), the amount of fallout of radioactive material in the southern region was greater than in the northern, but the distribution pattern was complex (Fig. 1, Tsuiki …