Rangeland Management, Importance, Characteristics, Methods

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Hello, welcome to this blog topic on rangeland management in Agriculture.

Table Of Contents

  1. Meaning of Rangeland and Pasture.
  2. The importance of rangeland.
  3. The characteristics of rangeland
  4. Mention some common grasses of livestock rangeland.
  5. Factors affecting the level of production of herbage.
  6. Methods of rangeland and pasture improvement.
  7. Revision Questions

MEANING OF RANGELAND MANAGEMENT AND PASTURE

A rangeland is an extensive area of land which contains forage grasses and legumes and other herbage plants where animals like cattle, sheep and goat can graze. The forage plants such as the grasses and legumes used for grazing by the farm animals are called pasture.

Importance of Rangeland Management

  1. Rangeland provide food for livestock, especially ruminants.
  2. Grasses and legumes in the rangeland, when cuts at early flowering stages of growth, can be preserved in the form of hay or silage.
  3. Rangeland allows animals to exercise their body.
  4. The animals have excess variety of forage, thus eating balanced feed.
  5. Rangeland reduces the cost of feeding animals, especially ruminants.
  6. Rangeland increases infiltration and seculation of water, thereby reducing run-off and soil erosion.
  7. Dead plant materials from rangeland build up the fertility of the soil.
  8. Rangeland affords animals the opportunity for mating without the supervision of a livestock attendant.
  9. Rangeland also provides adequate nutrients to the soil through legumes which fix nitrogen into the soil by the bacteria in their root nodules.

Characteristics of Rangeland Management

  1. It contains high quality grasses and legumes
  2. It contains no weed except some plants for shades.
  3. Selected grasses and legumes are grown in adequate proportion.
  4. It has a high regenerative ability after being fed on by animals.
  5. It can withstand trampling by farm animals.
  6. It is properly managed for high productivity of the forage crops, i.e, fertilization, irrigation and rotational grazing.

Common Grasses of livestock in Rangeland

  1. Elephant grass
  2. Guinea grass
  3. Giant star grass
  4. Carpet grass
  5. Spear grass
  6. Bahama grass
  7. Northern gamba
  8. Southern gamba.

Common Legumes of Livestock in Rangeland

  1. Centro
  2. Stylo
  3. Kudzu or Puero
  4. Calopo
  5. Mucuna
  6. Sun hemp

Factors affecting the Level of Production of Herbage

Factors which affect the level of productivity of harbage includes:

  • Rainfall
  • Grass and legumes mixture
  • Grazing
  • Remover of trees
  • Fertility of the soil
  • Control of weeds
  • Avoidance of overstocking

Methods of Rangeland and Pasture Improvements

To ensure the continuous availability of grasses and legumes, it is necessary to adopt some management principles that will lead to the improvement of rangeland and pasture. Such principles are:

  1. Controlled stocking: This refers to the situation whereby the correct number of animals are allowed to graze in a particular area of land.
  2. Reseeding: This involves replanting of seeds of forage crops on a depleting rangeland.
  3. Legumes and grass mixture: In a natural grassland without legumes, the Farmer may improve it by introducing legume seed into the rangeland. Legumes provide protein for animals and also add nutrient to the soil.
  4. Paddocking: Pardocking involves dividing the rangeland into a number of plots or section without fences. The animals normally feed on each section on a rotational basis. This allows for good regeneration of forage crops and prevent the pests and diseases build up.
  5. Avoidance of overgrazing: Overgrazing involves constant grazing and cutting of forage crops such that the crop start to die and the land becomes bare.
  6. Uses of fertilizers: Fertilizers should be applied to rangeland plants. This ensures enough forage formation for grazing and silage preparation. Compound fertilizers e.g, NPK should be applied once every year or two.
  7. Pest control: In order to destroy some pests of crops and animals, it may be necessary to spray the rangeland with suitable pesticides. This ensures that the rangeland is pest free. It reduces the rate of disease spread.
  8. Controlled burning: This aids regeneration of forage crops. It also sanitizes the rangeland, i.e, by getting rid of weeds, seeds, disease of organisms and pests. It adds some nutrients, e.g, potassium to the soil.
  9. Irrigation: Rangeland should be irrigated especially during dry season to ensure an all year round available of fresh and succulent grasses.

Revision Questions

  1. (a) What is rangeland? (b) State five importance of rangeland and five characteristics of rangeland.
  2. Briefly explain the factors affecting the level of production of herbage. (b) list four common grass and four common legumes species found in rangeland.
  3. Discuss seven practices of management and improvement of rangeland.
  4. (a) Enumerate six importance of rangeland to livestock (b) list and discuss briefly three methods of rangeland And pasture improvement.
  5. Discuss the practice of paddocking as a way of improving rangeland.
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