Grasslands in India: problems and perspectives for sustaining livestock and rural livelihood

摘要

In India, grazing-bascd livestock husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy as around 50% of these animals depend on grazing. Pasturclands over an area of 12 million ha constitute the main grazing resources that are available. Tcmpcratc/alpinc pastures are spread across altitudes higher than 2000 m in eastern and Western Himalayas including the Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim states. In Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradcsh,thc grazing land availability is as high as 70 %. The area of pasture lands is lower in Himachal Pradesh (36.4%), Sikkim (13.3%), Karnataka (6.5%), Madhya Pradesh (6.3%), Rajasthan (5.4%), Maharashtra (5.1%), and Gujarat(4.5%), where cropping intensities are higher. Nearly 30 pastoral communities in hilly or arid/semi-arid regions in northern and western parts of India, as well as 20 in temperate/hilly regions, depend on grazing-bascd livestock production. Based on their migratory habits, the nomadic tribes are classified into 4 groups, viz., (1) total nomadism; (2) semi-nomadism; (3) transhumance; and (4) partial nomadism. Due to overgrazing coupled with poor management and care, these grazing land have deteriorated to a large extent and they need amelioration or rehabilitation. Technologies have been developed, refined and tested in various research and academic institutions. These technologies need to be implemented on a large scale in different parts of the country for augmenting forage resources, enhancing milk production and sustaining livelihood options in eco-friendly manner.