Tah Village Project in Syria: Another Unsuccessful Attempt to Introduce Ley-Farming in the Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

A participatory on-farm research project was started at Tah village, 100 km south of Aleppo, Syria in 1984. The objective was to introduce annual medics (Medicago spp.) as a replacement for fallow in dryland wheat (Triticum durum)/fallow farming systems. About 50 farmers were directly involved in the project while an equal number were passive participants, receiving seed but no technical advice. The project did not attain its original intention of introducing a leyfarming system into Syria. The Syrian Government decided to eliminate fallow ± which was to receive medics ± in the agricultural planning for 1989±90. An array of pro®table crops such as lentil (Lens culinaris), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), sesame (Sesamum indicum) and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), together with price supports on wheat presented formidable economic competition to the use of pasture on cultivated land. Technical constraints include insucient farm size, lack of a medic phase in every year, deep ploughing, overgrazing and uncontrolled grazing. The Tah project experience also suggests that feed production projects must include an assessment of how the feed bene®ts animals and be designed to demonstrate the economic advantages of integrating livestock and crops in dryland farming systems.

Forage and Food Legumes in a Multi-Year, Wheat-Based Rotation Under Drought-Stressed Conditions in Northern Syria’s Medium Rainfall Zone

“…Reflecting the early interest in medic pasture for livestock grazing in Syria, various simultaneous trials explored its potential. One participatory on‐farm study found little to encourage medic pasture (Christiansen et al. 2000a).…”

“…Reflecting the early interest in medic pasture for livestock grazing in Syria, various simultaneous trials explored its potential. One participatory on-farm study found little to encourage medic pasture (Christiansen et al 2000a). A major disincentive was the economic competition from crops such as lentil, cumin (Cuminum cyminium) and sesame (Sesamum indicum) as well as price supports for wheat.…”

A comparison of dairy cattle systems in an irrigated perimeter and in a suburban region: case study from Morocco

“…Only targeted measures should be adopted, in order to avoid the failure of technology transfers, as it happened with urea-treatments for straw or leyfarming in the southern Mediterranean region (Wanapat et al 1998;Christiansen et al 2000). Therefore, high capital input techniques should be avoided, especially for smallholders' units.…”

Differential impacts of climate variability on yields of rainfed barley and legumes in semi-arid Mediterranean conditions

“…Yau and J. Ryan seed is a protein-rich food and the crop residue (straw) is a valued feed for small ruminants (Erskine and El Ashkar 1993). Feed legumes have not been widely adopted by farmers in WANA (Christiansen et al 2000b). Although lentil straw is a valuable feed, the lentil crop is not considered a feed legume; it is a traditional food legume crop in many arid to semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean region.…”