Rehabilitation of degraded grasslands in north Syria: use of farmer participatory research to encourage the sowing of annual pasture legumes

Abstract

A series of experiments on communally-owned grasslands in the barley±livestock zone of north Syria were conducted to test the hypothesis that introduction of Mediterranean annual legumes will increase productivity. The experiments were preceded by a survey to determine farmers' attitudes, describe the farming systems and to select appropriate collaborators. The ®rst experiment examined the establishment of medics (Medicago spp.) and clovers (Trifolium spp.) distributed by hand, and monitored their eects on biomass and seedbank size. Later experiments extended these results to other villages. The principles of farmer participation in research were used to overcome the constraints imposed by the communal ownership of land.The survey revealed that the average size of the 20 villages was 36 families and that each village owned 887 sheep and 790 ha land. All villages had access to communally-owned grasslands, although their dependence on income from sheep varied greatly. These villages were subsequently divided into groups of high, intermediate and low potential.Of the 11 clovers sown in the ®rst experiment, seed numbers of T. tomentosum, T. purpureum, T. haussknechtii, T. pilulare and T. resupinatum increased over three years. By 1996, there were more than 3000 legume seeds m 72 in the seeded treatment compared with less than 2000 in the unseeded treatment (mainly the naturally-occurring Trigonella monspeliaca). The number of medic and clover seedlings also increased signi®cantly, while the number of Trigonella seedlings decreased signi®cantly. Biomass production increased in the ®nal two years and there was no response to added phosphorus.There were similar results in the later experiments. Seedbank size was greater in seeded treatments than in unseeded treatments, there were more seedlings in the seeded treatments, and the most successful species were T. campestre, T. tomentosum, T. speciosum and M. rigidula. The response in biomass was limited to the legume component, although total biomass increased in at least one of the two years. The highest biomass produced was 1112 kg ha 71 and there was no response to added phosphorus.The results suggested that the on-station research previously conducted at ICARDA headquarters was applicable to communally-owned land, although important modi®cations were needed. For example, at ICARDA phosphorus was necessary to stimulate the growth of legumes; in contrast, it was necessary to sow legumes at the four villages involved in these experiments. The results also suggested that the grasslands were common property, owned and controlled by de®ned groups of farmers.

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“…This may be due to species differences, as cowpea varieties generally already have a high tolerance for low nutrient soils, compared to common bean varieties that have limited tolerance for edaphic stresses (Snapp et al, 1998A;Wortmann et al, 1995). A number of researchers have suggested that only relatively well-off farmers have a strong interest in, and sufficient resources, to invest in soil ameliorating practices (Ghassali et al, 1999;Witcombe, 1999). For example, one village out of 11 in Northern Syria was found to have adequate resources and other traits -necessary but not sufficient conditions for them to rehabilitate degraded areas through seeding legumes (Ghassali et al, 1999).…”

“…A number of researchers have suggested that only relatively well-off farmers have a strong interest in, and sufficient resources, to invest in soil ameliorating practices (Ghassali et al, 1999;Witcombe, 1999). For example, one village out of 11 in Northern Syria was found to have adequate resources and other traits -necessary but not sufficient conditions for them to rehabilitate degraded areas through seeding legumes (Ghassali et al, 1999). Only the wealthiest group of farmers in a Mali case study invested in soils through improved residue recycling (Defoer et al, 1998).…”

Annual forage legumes in dryland agricultural systems of the West Asia and North Africa Regions: research achievements and future perspective

“…for use in dry areas where rainfall is between 250 and 350 mm. These areas are found between the steppe and high‐potential cereal‐growing regions in WANA, have a very fragile agro‐ecosystem and are currently threatened by further degradation and erosion because of the increasing annual cropping of barley in response to increasing population pressure (Ghassali et al ., ; Ryan et al ., ; Louhaichi et al ., ). However, there is an opportunity for the introduction of drought‐ and/or cold‐tolerant annual feed‐legume species, such as Vicia spp.…”

ICARDA's Rangeland Ecology and Management Research Strategy for Nontropical Dry Areas

“…The objectives were to monitor the effects of stocking rate and phosphate fertilizer on Mediterranean grassland, measure the response of livestock production to phosphate application, assess the carrying capacity of native vegetation, and identify botanical indicators of overgrazing. 12 Since then, research has progressively expanded in the arid and semiarid countries of CWANA, focusing on seed bank dynamics, community-based rangeland rehabilitation, 13 palatability of Mediterranean shrubs, 14 germplasm collection of native range species, 15 rangeland biodiversity characterization, 16 and impacts of short-term protection from grazing (resting technique), which gave remarkable results on plant cover dynamics and productivity. 17,18 Research conducted within the Mashreq-Maghreb project highlighted the importance of property rights, 19 policy options, 20 and social and institutional aspects.…”