Annals of Arid Zone 34(3): 157-161, 1995

Rangelands and Their Improvement in India

Panjab SinghIndian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India

Abstract ; Grasslands are the major feed resources for livestock rearing in India sincetime immemorial. Due to exfremities of climate, poor management and the constraintsof grazing, these areas have been degraded at an alarming rate. Due to high grazing·pr~ssureand low to very low carrying' capacity these grasslands have undergone tremendous changesand now pose a serious threat and challenge for rehabilitation and ecorestoration of theirdepleted resources. It calls for an integrated approach for management of the vast grasslandareas. Technological opportunities available for restoration, regeneration and enhancementof biomass production require large scale development efforts. Future thrust areas of R&Dlay emphasis, besides others, on utilization of grasslands, protection of grasslands, stockingrates, ecosystem rehabilitation and people's participation in the entire gamut of activities.Stress is to be given on production, management and utilization for sustainable development.

Key wordS : Rangelands, forage, livestock, grazing, stocking rate. /

Rangelands/grasslands are a single resourcebase which contribute maximum herbage for 15%of the global livestock population in India. Al-though there has been an astronomical increasein the livestock population in India, the areaunder grasslands has gradually decreased. Theannual livestock population increased by 56%during 1961-1992. It was 2.19% during 1972-82(Singh, 1988). On the other hand, the area undergrazinglands has decreased from 13.26 millionha in 1980-81 to 11.60 million ha in 1989-90(Anonymous, 1993). Still, these grasslands/grazinglands are sustaining the ever increasinglivestock population and the livestock productbiomass scenario of the country is quite encourag-ing. The annual output of livestock products hasincreased from Rs. 106 billion in 1980-81 to Rs.516 billion in 1991-92; annual milk output from31.6 mt in 1980-81 to' an annual record of 56.6mt in 1992-93 (Anonymous, .1993).Similarly, theannual wool production increased from 32.0 mkg in 1980-81 to 43.3 m kg in 1992-93. Thegrasslands have also contributed to the foreignexchange earnings of the country by producingmore meat for export. In 1991-92, meat worthRs. 2310 million was exported from India ascompared to an export worth Rs. 614.9 millionin 1980-81 (Anonymous, 1993).

Under such an encouraging situation, weshould be more concerned about the rangelands.Since the grasslands, grazing by animals andproduction of animal biomass are interlinked,it is out of place to Considergrasslands in isolation.Grazing is equally provided by the hill slopes,forest openings, wastelands, etc. Besides, theforage availability is considerably added by thecultivated fodders, crop residues and con-centrates. In the cases where livestock dependentirely on grazing in the well defined grasslandsonly, the situation regarding forage availabilityis not so encouraging. However, the importanceof. rangelands/grasslands can not be underes-timated, and in case their production potentialreaches an optimum level, we can still achievehigher levels of animal biomass.

Present Situation

It is rather erroneous to accept that the Indiangrasslands, excepting the subalpine and alpineareas, are the true grasslands, since these arenot a climax community. Instead, these are resul-tant plant communities which have come intobeing due to unabated and enormous biotic ac-tivities. The clearance of arboreal componentfor fuel and timber, uncontrolled grazing andtrampling by animals resulting in the annihilation

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of bush and tree saplings and fire by the huntersin the past and local dwellers in the presenttime, have resulted in vast expanses of terraindevoid of any vegetation other than herbaceouselements and dominated by grasses and forbes.These are our present day grasslands.

Notwithstanding their origin, these grasslandshad been a major source of livestock rearingin India since time immemorial. Utilized in avariety of ways like sedentary, semi-migratoryand migratory systems of grazing, these grasslandshave always been complementary to animal rear-ing. At present, about 121 m ha area, whichcomprise about 40% of the geographical areaof the country, constitute the grazing lands. Dueto extremities of climate, poor management andconstant grazing, these areas have been degradedto an alarming stage. Such lands are less produc-tive than the well managed grasslands and maynot provide as much herbage and nutrition asthe grasslands do. Still, they are an integral partof various aniIP-al ~earing systems.

In the north-western part of the country, thehigh altitude subalpine and alpine pastures orgrasslands are grazed during short summer bythe migratory flocks, whereas they have to dependon the other grazing resources for remainingpart of the year, which may extend upto eightmonths. The western region, comprising Rajas-than and Gujarat, have' only 5.4% and 3.5% area,respectively, under grasslands. Yet the livestockproductivity of these states is quite high dueto grazing provided by other grazing lands. Inthe eastern region, the grasslands and pasturescomprise less than 1% area. Still the animalhusbandry is an important occupation of thepeople. The area under grasslands/pastures,their average biomass production and carryingcapacity for various states of India has beencompiled by Singh and Misri (1993). The highestcarrying capacity of the grasslands is in Kerala,where 1.47ACU (adult cattle unit) can be rearedon 1. ha of grassland, whereas it is the lowestin Haryana, where only0.20ACU can be sustainedon 1 ha of grasslands. In the semi-arid areas,the grazing intensity ranges from 1.04 to 51.08ACU ha-1 (Shankar and Gupta, 1992) against

the normal carrying capacity of 1 ACU ha-1.

In the arid areas, the grazing capacity is only0.2 to 0.5 ACU ha-1 (Raheja, 1966). The situationis almost identical throughout the country.

Due to such enormous grazing pressure, thegrasslands have undergone a tremendous change.The edible species have been replaced by noxiousweeds. The regeneration of plants is very poor,leading to scanty vegetation cover. This hasresulted in tremendous soil and water losses fromthe grasslands. These losses ranged from 3.532to 33.951t ha-1 (Anonymous, 1991).The degrada-tion has taken place to such an extent that nowthe once productive grasslands are rated as classIV and V lands, i.e., wastelands. Gupta and Am-basht (1979) rated 80% of the grasslands under"poor" range condition class.

Various factors like terrain, scanty vegetationcover, extremities of climate, erratic rainfall, con-stant neglect and an ever increasing livestockand human population, have rendered thegrasslands as a fragile ecosystem. Only an in-tegrated approach can c'orrect the situation.Vegetating the depleted grasslands withoutprotection, proper stocking rate and constantmanagement can aggravate the fragility and thisenormous ecosystem can be lost for ever. Thesituation about other grazing lands is almost iden-tical, but proper management can convert theminto potential source of her,bage availability. Ourfuture endeavollrs should be focused on all typesof grazing lands for the sustained animal produc-tivity.

The Challenges

In spite of the inherent limitations of animalrearing viz-a-viz grassland production, theavailabilityof animal products has increased con-siderably during the past few years. This demandisgoing to increase manifold in the future becau~eof the increasing human population pressure.The greatest challenge to researchers is to enhancethe biomass production from the available landand to make the grassland production sustainable.The biomass production has to be increased inorder to create a balance between demand andsupply. Besides the grassland herbage, agrowastes

RANGELANDS IN INDIA 159

play an important role in augmenting the supplyof roughages. The animal pressure on 1 ha ofland providing agrowastes ranges from 0.75 to16.80. Similarly, the pressure on cultivated foddersis equally high. The states of Gujarat, Haryana,Punjab and Rajasthan have started fodder cul-tivation in a big way. Still the animal pressureon 1 ha of land put under fodder crops is 19.78,11.07, 12.90 and 15.95, respectively, in these states(Singh and Misri, 1993).

Various estimates have been made about thedemand and supply position of fodder for thewhole country. Singh (1987) estimated that by2000 AD, we may require 822 mt of dry matterper year for the mere maintenance of the animals.For higher productivity, we will require at least1253 mt of dry matter per year. Shankar andGupta (1992) estimated that we are short of69 mt of dry forage per annum. Besides~ theforage, the grazing lands have been providingfuel, timber and other minor forest products.We are losing about 1.5 m ha of forest landevery year due to various processes of degradation.Still 68% of rural and 45% of urban populationuse wood as fuel (Qazi, 1994). We have tomeet even this fuel demand from the given areawhich is to be utilized for both fuel and fodderproduction.

Opportunities

Researches undertaken on various aspects ofgrazing lands, animal rearing systems aIid res-toration of wastelands at the Indian Grasslandand Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI) and otherresearch institutions in the country have generatedenough technologies for restoration, regenerationand enhancement of biomass production fromall these systems. Soil working, reseeding, fenc-ing, bush clearing, provision of rest, adoption?f water and soil conservation, destocking, fer-tilizer application, introduction of legume andtreelbush and grazing practices are some of thebasic management options available for correctingthe situation and meeting the challenges.

Studies conducted at the IGFRI revealed thatafter the sowing of suitable species in a grassland,

. initial protection from grazing not only leadsto higher biomass yield, but also results in longer

-::Jpersistence of the plant species. Live hedge fenceshave been found to be the most economical andsuitable for initial and long term protection. Tan-don et al. (1982) found that the herbage productioncan be enhanced from 0.93 to 3.31 t ha-1 byinitial protection of the grasslands. Rotationalgrazing schedules have not been found suitablefor areas with annual rainfall between 250 and375 mm. For these areas, wet and dry seasongrazing on different sites with a proper stockingrate, is best suited for maximum production. Theoptimum stocking rates vary from place to place.IGFRI has found that a stocking rate of 25 to30, 20, 17, 13 and 6 ACU ha·1 should be main-tained on excellent, good, fair, poor and verypoor classes of grazing lands, respectively.

Availability of moisture by various moistureconservation techniques can lead to a sustainedavailability of herbage from a rangeland. Ahuja(1977) found that contour furrowing, contourbunding and contour trenching lead to the herbageincrease of 638, 168 and 165%, respectively, inthe grazing lands.

Fertilizer application is one of the most im-portant management options for enhancingbiomass yield. Investigations at IGFRI revealedthat the annual forage yield from naturalgrasslands of Sehima llervoslIm, Heteropogoll COIl-tOltus and Iseilema laxum can be increased from4.13 to 7.56, 3.47 to 557 and 4.49 to 6.37 tha'\ respectively, by application of 40 kg N ha·1(Shankar and Gupta, 1992). Herbage productionfrom the Himalayan grasslands can be enhancedfrom 1.78 t ha·1 to 7.01 t ha·1 by the applicationof 60 kg each of Nand P ha·1 (Sharma andKoranne, 1988). Introduction of legumes in thegrasslands can improve the nutritional qualityof herbage and can also compensate for nitrogen·application. It has been found' at IGFRI thatby introduction of 14 different legumes, the soilgets enriched to the extent equivalent to 40 kgN ha·1 and the herbage yield increases from3.3 to 4.0 t ha·1 ..

160 SINGH

Controlled burning and weed eradication aresome of the important practices for biomass in-crease in the grasslands. A grazing land havinga high density of bushes (1300 bushes ha-1) mayyield only up to 0.8 t ha-1, while with total eradica-tion of bushes, the herbage yield can be increased

. to 4.2 t ha-1 (Kaul and Ganguly, i%3). However,for a sustained availability of herbage from agrassland, it has been recommended that 14%of the area should be covered with bushes.

In, order to meet various requirements likefodder, fuel and timber from a single land unit,introductiml of silvipasture system in the grazinglands bokl$ ,pr()mises. For various agroclimaticregions of the country, suitable tree species havebeen identified by Singh (1992). It was foundat IGFRI that planting Leucaena leucocephalain rangelands can provide additional biomass of20 t ha-l, Acacia torlilis 14.6 t ha-1 and Albizziaamara 9.5 t ha-1.

Apart from the above major technologies,there are other technologies now available forvarious regions and ·systems. These have to beintegrated and the grassland/grazing land manage-ment has to be a coordinated endeavour wherebyenhanced biomass is obtained, soil and wateris adequately conserved, and the environmentis improved. Once these are obtained, therewill be a need for proper management so thatthe whole system remains sustainable.

Future Thrust Areas of R & D

Utilisation of grassland

The grassland herbage should be used withutmost care. In established or natural grasslandsdeferment in grazing schedules is important toallow some time for vegetation to completebiological cycle to produce and disperse seed.

. Grasslands reseeded with perennial speciesshould not be grazed during the first year ofestablishment. In the second year, grazing maybe permitted after seed dispersal, and in sub-sequent years grazing should not exceed the car-rying capacity of the grassland, which shouldbe predetermined in each situation.

Protection of grasslands

In order to introduce controlled grazing,fences are a prerequisite in most dry areas. Witheffective fencing, pasture yield may register morethan 3-fold increase within five years.

Stocking rateA suitable stocking rate should be determined

and strictly adhered to, according to the typeand strength of a herd and the biomass availablefrom the rangeland. Herd diversification isanother important aspect of the grasslanddevelopment strategy. An area containing bothgrasses and shrubs may be utilised best witha combination of different ruminant species anddifferent grazing habits.

Ecosystem rehabilitation

Rangeland rehabilitation needs to be initiatedwherever necessary, by planting suitable plantspecies, management of eroded grasslands, stockcontrol, better land management and destocking.Different management systems significantly in-fluence rangelands and livestock health throughtheir effect on soil, water, nutrients and biomassyield.

EducationThe most important factor for bringing about

desired management is the creation of a cadreof sophisticated and educated range managers.Inclusion of range management as a subject inthe curriculum of various universities should begiven priority.

Financial inputs .

A major social and economic need is fora flexible credit system which allows capital tobe borrowed from financial iristitutions fordevelopment and purchase of livestock. Therepayment schedule should be ~n a long termbasis with nominal interest.

Marketing

Suitable marketing networks for livestockproducts should be created by the government,in which the produce is purchased directly from

RANGELANDS IN INDIA 161

the producer at a remunerative price. A system. of support price may also be introduced.

Health coverHealth coyer schemes, totally or partially

financed by the government, should be imple-mented . in the areas of livestock production.

Fodder conservationTo supplement forage availability from ran-

gelands, efforts should be made to bring moreareas under fodder cultivation and agroforestrysystems. This will greatly reduce the pressureon rangelands. Creation of fodder banks indrought-prone and other potentially dry areasshould be given priority. The fodder availablefrom these banks can save a lot of preciouslivestock.

People's participationKeeping in view the social and cultural factors,

participation of people is the most importantinput for range and livestock management. Theprevailing management practices have to be care-fully studied and blended with those envisagedto be superimposed. It is ultimately the localpeople whose participation can lead to successfulimplementation of the programmes.

Research Needs

Research programmes should stress the fol-lowing points:

Collection, evaluation and introduction ofsuitable legume species with high palatabilityand drought resistance.

Breeding and biotechnological programmesto create palatable, high-yielding and 6tress-resistant grasses, shrubs and fodder trees.

Evaluation studies for diversification of theherds to enable the livestock to survive undervarious ecological stresses.

Extensive grassland surveys and ecological re-search on different habitats.

Soil and water conservation and utilisationtechniques under various land and climaticconditions ...

Role of mycorhizae and nonsymbioticnitrogen-fixing bacteria in relation to produc-tivity of grasses and the crops.

Rangeland production, management andutilisation for sustainable development.

References

Ahuja, L.D. 1977. Improving rangeland productivity. In·Desertification and its COlllrol, pp. 203-214. ICAR, NewDelhi ..

Anonymous 1991. Inter-Institutional Research Project. An-nual Report, IGFRI, Jhansi.

Anonymous 1993.Annual Report. Dept. of Animal Husband!)'and Dairying. Minst!)' of Agriculture. Govt. of India.

Gupta, R ..K. and Ambasht, R.S. 1979. Use and managment.In Grassland Ecos)'stems of the World, (Ed. R.T.Coupled), IBP 18, pp. 241·244. Cambridge Univ. Press,Cambridge.

Kaul, R.N. and Ganguly, B.N. 1963. Fodder potential ofZizyphus in the shrub grazinglands of arid zone. IndianForester 39: 623-630.

Qazi, Moin 1994. Fast diminishing forests fuel crisis. EconomicTimes, Jan. 10, 1994, New Delhi:

Raheja. P.c. 1966. Rajasthan desert can bloom with forage.Indian Fanning 15: 47.

Shankar, Yinod and Gupta, J.N. 1992. Restoration of degradedrangelands. In Restoration of Degraded Lands: Conceptsand Strategies (Ed. J.S. Singh), pp. 115-155. RastogiPublications, Meerut, India.

Sharma, B.R. and Koranne, K.D. 1988. Plant status andmanagement strategies for increasing biomass produc-tion in North-western Himalyan rangelands. In Ran-gelands - Resources and Managemelll (Eds. Panjab Singhand P.S. Pathak), pp. 138-147. RMSI, IGFRI, Jhansi.

Singh, Panjab 1988. Rangeland reconstruction and manage-ment for optimizing biomass production. In Rangelands- Resources and Managemelll (Eds. Panjab Singh andP.S. Pathak), pp. 20-37. RMSI, IGFRI, Jhansi.

Singh. Panjab 1992. Grasslands of India - Rehabilitationand management. In Ecosystem Rehabilitatioll, Yol.2: Ecosystem Analysis and Synthesis. (Ed. M.K. Wali),pp. 51-62. Academic Publishing, The Hague, Nether-lands.

Singh, Panjab 1987. Rangeland reconstruction and manage-'. ment for optimising biomass production. Presidential

Address, National Rangeland Symposium, IGFRI, Jhansi,Nov. 9-12, 1987. '. I

Singh, Panjab and Misri, Bimal 1993. Rangeland resourcesutilization and management in India.· P~per presentedat IlIIemational Seminar on Grassland Resource, h-:ldat Huhuhot (China), Aug. 16·27.

Tandon, J.P., Malkania, N.P. and Singh, S.P. 1982. Herbageproduction structure and possible measures for im-provement of mid-Himalayan grasslands. Indian Journalof Range Management 11: 537-548.