Pasture, forage and livestock program. Annual report 1988.
1989
The work of the Pasture, Forage, and Livestock Program of ICARDA in 1988, focusing on pasture improvement, is discussed. The ley farming system was established on farmers' fields in north Syria after four years and two complete cycles of pasture and cereal. The mean size of the legume seed bank after grazing in 1987/88 exceeded 200 kg/ha. Wheat yields after pasture were greater than after the farmers' alternatives, and stocking rate of regenerating pasture exceeded 7 ewes/ha. Profitability of the livestock enterprise was higher than from all other options including wheat. In the medics, between 16 and 56 of the seed bank germinated, while in the clovers, germination ranged from 13 to 86. A methodology to select pasture legumes was developed. Medics resistant to root nematodes were identified and a vetch that buries its seeds was studied. Rhizobia suitable for most of ICARDA's medics were identified. Profitability of grazed regenerating medic pasture depended on stocking rate. Promising genotypes of five species of Vicia and Lathyrus were tested in microplots and nursery rows and Vicia narbonensis and Lathyrus ochrus gave high grain yields of 4.9 t/ha and 4.8 t/ha, respectively. Herbage yield from grassland topdressed with superphosphate was more than treble that of un-improved grassland due to better legume growth. Herbage production also increased by sowing pasture legumes, and by giving the pasture some protection from grazing in spring. Studies into the methodology of grassland research continued. Multivariate analysis was used to analyse natural variation in grasslands, and the composition of pasture was dependent on available phosphorus, depth of soil, and stoniness of the soil surface. The intake of barley straw by sheep was related to its protein content, and increasing protein by using soya bean meal increased intake. The program's training and international collaboration is described and the recommendations of a Workshop on the role of legumes in the farming systems of Mediterranean areas are presented.
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