Agrarians of the Republic of Kazakhstan face the task of exporting 60 tons of meat by 2016. While 20 years ago Kazakhstan exported over 180 thousand tons of meat, in 2009 it exported only 300 tons. This shows great unfulfilled potential of livestock breeding. Since 2015, thanks to the Eurasian Union, barriers have been eliminated between many countries, licensing procedures were simplified, and veterinary norms were unified, thus creating all conditions for increasing export. Availability of natural forage lands, low-cost pasture technology of beef cattle breeding creates the potential for establishing Kazakhstan as a significant and a competitive player in the global market. In this regard, increasing productivity of natural pastures is a priority task. The purpose of the research is to develop adaptive technologies for rational use of natural grassland ecosystems, ensuring their faster recovery and increasing their productivity, and improving the parameters of the environment in the semi-desert zone of Kazakhstan. The modern state of the semi-desert grassland areas has been determined in the study. The results of the research have established feasibility of moderate (65-75% grazing) pasture use. With intensive use of pastures, a change in floristic composition and productivity has been detected, as well as deterioration of agrochemical and agrophysical parameters of pasture soils. The research performed on a variety of environmental and anthropogenic levels in terms of light-chestnut soils of the semi-desert zone revealed 5 degrees of pasture degradation.

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Managing pasture resources of Western Kazakhstan is complicated due to the deterioration of the physicochemical parameters of soils, manifesting degradation, and alkalinization as a result of intensive grazing. The research has been aimed at studying the technology of cattle grazing for preserving the physicochemical parameters of soils and increasing the efficiency of pasture use. The assessment and statistical analysis of physicochemical indicators of soils were carried out with standard methods during 2018 – 2019, which allowed identifying the most optimal grazing technology. The results of the research showed that under the influence of intensive grazing, physicochemical parameters worsened, a decrease in the humus reserves by 10.88-12.35% was detected, soil degraded to the third degree, and became alkaline as a result of the increase in exchangeable sodium to 1.65 cmol (equiv.)/kg. The technology of moderate cattle grazing favorably affects the physicochemical parameters of the soils of pasture ecosystems. The chestnut soils of the pastures, where moderate grazing technology was applied, remained resistant to degradation and salinization. With this technology, the soil humus was reliably preserved at the level of 1.15-2.50%, mobile phosphorus was within the optimal range of 0.87-1.60 mg/100 g. It has been concluded that it is important to use the technology of moderate cattle grazing to improve the management of pasture resources, which is the scientific novelty of the research.

Sudan grass (Sorghum Sudanese (Piper.) Stapf) is the most productive, drought-resistant and promising crop for the dry-steppe zone of Western Kazakhstan. In this regard, in order to ensure an uninterrupted supply of livestock with feed raw materials, studies devoted to improving the elements of the Sudan grass cultivation technology in the conditions of the region are relevant. During the studies, various terms of sowing with the interval of 10 days were studied, along with the terms of collecting green fodder, haylage and hay in various development phases -before the ear formation phase, at the beginning of the ear formation phase and in the flowering phase, as well as the grazing conditions of using Sudan grass. The results of the scientific studies have shown that for the conditions of the region, it is important to choose the optimal terms for both sowing and harvesting. On average for the years of the research, the yield of the dry mass of Sudan grass at various terms of sowing has amounted to 17.88-22.06 c/ha, while the highest productivity of 22.06 c/ha has been noted in the case of the early first term of sowing. In studying the terms of harvesting, a high yield of the dry mass of Sudan grass (21.38 c/ha) has been noted in the case of harvesting the grass stands in the phase of flowering. In the pasture conditions in the studied area, in the total over four grazings, Sudan grass has formed 16.97 c/ha of dry mass. The results of the study have been used by farmers for cultivating Sudan grass in the dry-steppe zone of Western Kazakhstan for providing full-fledged fodder for livestock breeding.

Сроки посева суданской травы в зоне сухих степей РЕЗЮМЕ Важнейшим звеном создания устойчивой кормовой базы в Западном Казахстане является обязательное возделывание засухоустойчивых культур. Среди этой группы культур перспективной считается суданская трава-Sorghum sudanense (Piper.) Stapf. По особенностям фотосинтетического цикла суданка относится к типу С4, что определяет ее высокую продуктивность. В засушливых погодных условиях она обеспечивает стабильность урожаев по сравнению с традиционными кормовыми культурами, способна быстро отрастать после скашивания и может быть использована на силос, сенаж, травяную муку и зеленую массу. В связи с этим в целях бесперебойного обеспечения животноводства кормовым сырьем актуальным является проведение исследований по адаптированию элементов технологии возделывания суданской травы для условий региона. В исследованиях изучали разные сроки посева с интервалом 10 дней для заготовки зеленого корма, сенажа. Результаты научных исследований показали, что для условий региона важным является подбор оптимальных сроков посева суданской травы. В годы исследований урожайность сухой массы суданской травы при разных сроках посева составляла 17,88-22,06 ц/га, при этом наиболее высокая продуктивность установлена при 1-м раннем сроке посева.