Collective management of improved forage in Zhongdian County, Deqin, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Northwest Yunnan, P.R. China
2001
X. Hongyan1 | C. Richard | X Jianchu1 | W. Jianhual
This article discusses a logging ban in Deqin Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the opportunity this provides for animal husbandry.The article finds that:at present there are problems in improving animal husbandryOne of the most serious problems is the lack of forage to support increasing herd numbers and the subsequent degradation of grasslands due to over-grazing, expecially winter pastures near settlementsnatural climatic condition is very severe and the lack of fodder in winter is problematicfarmers are aware that the introduced forage species are unsuitable given the local physical conditions and have begun to devise their own management schemes which include collective management of individually allocated hay fields and experimentation with native forage species for their hay seed mixesthe local desire to achieve a scale of commercial cattle production that will offset the income lost with the timber ban will only happen once individual households acquire the rights to extensively graze large areas of forest and alpine landcurrently government initiatives stand in conflict with one another on many levelsRecommendations:the introduction of native forage species into existing exotic seed mixes, especially those native species that persist well and provide good quality hay and pasturelocally adapted species should be expanded gradually, through seed and performance testing at the local leveltraditional methods for improving alpine and forest pastures should be facilitated
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