Preliminary results of a grazing trial in the Syrian Steppe.

Abstract

A trial was begun in 1963 at the Wadi al A'azib Range and Sheep Experiment Station to compare stocking rates of 9.0, 6.0 and 4.5 ha/sheep on animal production (liveweight of ram and ewe lambs, milk production and unwashed wool yield) and on the composition and density of the vegetation which was classified into 5 units: (a) valley stream-bed and floodplain on alluvial silt, (b) valley terrace on higher floodplain, (c) Artemisia herbaalba associations on marly soils, (d) Haloxylon articulation associations in small valleys and on hill-slopes, (e) Haloxylon articulatum/Noea mucronata associations on shallow, stony, grey desert soil on folded limestone hills. Fresh herbage yields in 1964 were 3129, 1126, 1312 and 859 kg/ha for areas (a), (b), (d) and (e), respectively. Average yields were lower at the higher stocking rate in the drought year 1966, but results were generally inconclusive. It was concluded that, pending further work, a stocking rate of 4.5 ha/adult ewe would not seriously deplete the grazable herbage.-M.G.W. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)