Condition and Productivity of the Native Grasslands in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia.

The condition and productivity of native pastures of a representative watershed area was assessed using thirty-seven grazing lands and seven hay fields. The grassland condition was assessed using seven criteria: grass species composition, basal cover, litter cover, relative number of seedlings, and age distribution of dominant grasses, soil erosion and soil compaction. The yield of pastures was assessed three times a year for the thirty-seven grazing sites. Overall, the grazing lands were found in a fair condition with a score of 27out of 50 points while the hay lands were found in a significantly better condition with a score of 33 points .Out of the 78 households surveyed 97.5 % of them undertake livestock production together with crop production and other activities and all land including pastures were held and managed privately. Considering all the farmers available pasture was on average only 0.37 ha for grazing and 0.07 ha for haymaking. The annual biomass yield of the pastures was 13 tonnes per hectare and 50% of this amount was produced in the wet season, while the other 50% was produced in the dry season. Taking the selection behaviour of livestock and the farmers' seasonal grazing practice into account, 50 and 75% of the dry season and wet season pasture yields were utilizable, respectively. Based on the 5.9 kg DM /TLU daily feed requirement for production, the carrying capacity of grazing and hay together amounted to 7.4 TLU/ha and 3.6 TLU/ha in the wet and dry season, respectively. The correlation between pasture condition and biomass production was not significant. Generally grazing comprised 54 and 41% of the household feed supply in the wet and dry season, respectively. The only fair grassland condition in the watershed is attributable to land shortage and inadequate technology transfer, absence of rotational grazing and deferment of grazing lands and absence of pasture improvement practices..