Islamic Republic of Iran
 |
By
Hossein Badripour
|
|
|
Islamic Republic of Iran
By
Hossein Badripour |
|
The Islamic Republic of Iran, with a total land area of 1,648,195 square
kilometres, lies between 25º 00´ and 39º 47´ N and 44º 02´ and 63º 20´
E. Thus the southern half of the country is in the subtropical zone and
the northern half of the country in the temperate zone with a desert zone
in the middle of the country around 30º N. The country has on the north
east side, the desert and steppe of Figure 1 Map of The mean altitude is over 1,200 metres above sea level. The lowest inland point is in Chale Lut, 56 metres below sea level and the highest point is Damavand Mount, 5,610 metres. The coast of the Caspian Sea is 28 metres below mean sea level.
As
The mean annual rainfall is about 246 mm. The total annual volume of
precipitation equals 413 billion cubic metres of which 44.5 billion could
be controlled and managed for utilization. Presently, 36.5 billion cubic
metres of underground water (total of 81 billion cubic metres) are utilized;
this could be developed to 116 billion before 2021. Of the total land area, some 90 million hectares or 54.6% are rangeland; 12.4 million hectares or 7.5% are forests; 34 million hectares equal to 20.6% are deserts. Settlements, infrastructures and water bodies occupy some 10.1 million ha. Approximately 33 million hectares of the land area have average to good capacity for cultivation but just 18.5 million hectares are cultivated of which 8.5 million are irrigated (irrigated farming 5.2 million ha and irrigated gardens 1.1 million hectares and irrigated fallows 2.2 million hectares) and 10 million hectares are rain-fed. In 2000 about 10.27 million hectares were under annual crops, 7.011 million hectares equal to 68.27% was under cereals, some 53.97% irrigated and 46.03% rain-fed. Cereal production reached 12.86 million tons equal to 28.76% of annual crops; wheat , barley and rice are the commonest, respectively producing 62.87%,15.32% and 13.11% of the cereals; wheat is grown on 72.75% of cereal farms. Table 3. shows the production of some of the major crops in 1999 (a drought year).
The average area of farms in 1992, shown in Table 4, indicates 60% are smaller than four hectares.
All agricultural lands are owned by the people, except a very small portion which belongs to government bodies i.e. banks, the agricultural complexes of the Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture. Natural resources, i.e. forests, rangelands and deserts belong to the government but are exploited by people through a contract. For grazing lands, the Technical Bureau of Rangelands, through its district staff, identifies lawful livestock holders and then issues a grazing permit to the stock owner for a set period which should be extended each year. In order to have better management of rangelands, a range development plan would be formulated and based on that plan, a contract would be signed by the stock owners and the government Forest, Rangeland and Watershed management Organisation Ministry of Jihad e Agriculture (FRWO) provincial head in order to ensure the stock owner invests in development and improvement of rangeland instead of just exploitation. Sheep and goat are the commonest livestock; cattle, buffalo, camels, asses and mules are also kept. The number of Animal Units (AU: a sheep of 45 kg which requires 276.5 kg TDN per year) in the country is some eighty three million. Range can meet the requirements of only 37 million animal units for a period of 7 months, so there are some 46 million Animal Units excess on rangelands. Based on a study conducted by the Natural Resources Faculty University of Tehran, an economic size of rangeland exploitation is some 536 ha with 230 AU. It suggests that the range can meet the requirements of only 180,000 households whereas there are 916,000 households at present. Although, many measures have been taken to develop the standard of living of livestock raisers, there is still lots of work to do. The standard of living of most rural people is, of course, acceptable because they live in population centres and thus they enjoy the facilities provided by the government much better than do mobile pastoralists who are far from cities and villages, so access to facilities is difficult. A major problem that pastoralists, both sedentary and mobile, face is the lack of a marketing system, thus they have problems in meeting their needs by trading their products. In some places cooperatives and companies go to the pastoralists to collect their surplus production. Sedentary pastoralists have fewer problems in selling their products and buying their requirements where mobile pastoralists often have to go to towns to buy their needs during their seasonal migration. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3. CLIMATE AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES Since Iran is in the arid zone, some 65% of its territory is arid or hyper arid, and approximately 85% has an arid, semi-arid or hyper arid environment (Figure 4), the specific features and location of Iran causes it to receive less than a third of the world average precipitation. Only the Caspian Plain in the north receives more than 1,000 mm of rain annually. Two major mountain ranges affect the climate: the Zagros chain in the west and the Alborz in the north. Most humid clouds enter the country from the west but the mountains prevent them from reaching the centre, east and south. Therefore, the central and southern lowlands and the east of the country receive very little precipitation. Due to shortage of precipitation and its uneven distribution in these areas, most rivers are seasonal and their flows depend heavily on the amount of rainfall: if rainfall is above average, flash floods are common. Based on the data published by the Water Resource Management Organization,
the mean annual rainfall of the country over a 35 year period is 249 mm,
but as shown in Figure 5 the variation of rainfall is very high between
years; thus the country sometimes experiences drought, which is when the
rainfall is below 75% of the long term mean. Rainfall varies both temporally
and spatially, i.e. some places at the Caspian sea
coast receive over 1,000 mm, while some have below 50 mm in central The main factors determining the broad climatic zones are:
Figure 4. Distribution
of arid and hyper arid areas of
Figure 5. Mean Annual Rainfall of the country Between these regions, so radically different, the great mass of Figure 6.
Map of rainfall classes of The main climatic zones are considered to be: i) Caspian Zone (Caucasian and mid-European affinities, slightly Mediterranean on the coast). Annual precipitation between 600 and 2,000 mm with a minimum in June but no real drought, maximum in autumn. Relative humidity generally above 80%. Mild or cold winters. Mean temperature in January below 8 ºC. Mean temperature in July below 26 ºC; annual temperature range (continental) between 16 and 19 ºC. Towards the east (Gorgan) the climate is drier and a little more continental (transitional towards the Irano-Turanian climate). ii) Baluchi Zone (Saharo-Sindian and subtropical affinities). Annual precipitation below 300 mm (generally less than 200 mm) almost entirely in winter (six to eight months without precipitation), but high relative humidity (60% to 80%). Fairly warm winters; mean temperature for January above 15 ºC; average for July less than 34 ºC; annual temperature range (continental) between 10 and 18 ºC. This zone is typically east of Lengeh port - Khuzistan coast is not part of it, as Boushehr port is the western limit of the zone; in the east it forms a much larger strip. iii) Irano-Turanian Zone (slight Mediterranean affinities). Extremely variable precipitation, generally between 100 and 500 mm; maximum in winter or spring. At least three summer months of total drought extending up to nine months in the most arid regions (Figure 6). Relative humidity in winter between 80% and 55% (central desert) falling in summer to below 40% and down to 20%. Very variable temperatures, depending on the region, but winters generally cold or very cold except in Khuzistan and in the north Baluchi zone (mild winters). Summers extremely hot in the Khuzistan plain (average in July above 36 ºC), very hot in the central depression (more than 30 ºC), hot or quite hot (24 to 29 ºC) everywhere else, except above 2,000 to 2,500 metres altitude. The average annual range of temperatures (continental) varies from 21 to 28 ºC, but is generally more than 24 ºC. Diurnal variations in temperature are also very large. There is a large variability in the precipitation and even winter temperatures from one year to the next. This vast Irano-Turanian zone, which is shown in Figure 7, covers approximately
90% of a) Subdesertic zone: The most arid part of the central Iranian plateau, with annual precipitation below 100 mm. Average temperature in January between 4 ºC (north) and 10 ºC (south) and the average temperature in July being between 29 and 34 ºC. The towns of Yazd, Bam and Zabol are in this zone. b) Steppic zone: Surrounding the subdesertic zone and
reaching into the east and south of Khorasan,
into the southwest half of Khuzistan and the north of the Baluchi zone;
covers two-fifths of
c) Substeppic zone: This forms a continuous strip, sometimes very narrow, around the Zagros mountains to the southeast of the Alborz range and extends widely onto the Plateaux of Azerbaijan as well as to the east of Kurdistan; it also extends onto certain mountains of the east and southeast. The towns of Qazvin, Zanjan, Tabriz, Khoy, Urumieh, Hamedan, Arak, Boroujerd, Golpayegan, Shahr-e-kurd, Shiraz, Mashhad, Torbat e Heydariyeh, Bojnourd, Kazeroun, Behbahan and Dezful are in this zone. Annual precipitation between 200 - 230 and - 450 mm, depending on the region. Very variable temperatures especially in winter, depending on altitude and latitude. Here also, it is necessary to distinguish between a “warm sub-steppic zone” (north and east Khuzistan, Kazeroun); a “mild substeppic zone” (Shiraz, Ghasr e shirin, north and east of Gorgan); and a “cold substeppic zone” - by far the largest.
Figure 7. Climatic zones of the country Figure 8. Bio climatic zones of
d) Xerophilous forest zone: This stretches along the Zagros chain, from Fars to Kurdistan, over mountains in Azerbaijan, forming a narrow strip on the slopes of Alborz and extends to the east of the chain from roughly 800 to 2,600 metres in regions with annual precipitation above 400 mm. Temperatures vary much from north to south, especially according to altitude. Winters are mild on the south-western border of the Zagros and cold or very cold elsewhere. iv) High mountain zone:
It is very difficult to give details of the climates of high mountains,
as these climates are probably very different according to their northern,
eastern or western aspect. However, it may be assumed that the temperature
drop is about one degree Celsius for each 200 metres and that daily and
yearly variation normally diminishes with increase in altitude. Finally,
the precipitation must decrease above a certain altitude, which we may
very roughly estimate at 2,000 metres, but evaporation also diminishes
with altitude. These climates are therefore progressively colder and drier
with increasing height. Above 3,000 metres in the north of The classification given above only partially corresponds to those used
by the climatologists; it gives, however, a reasonably clear description
of the great climatic divisions of the country. It has the additional
advantage of corresponding reasonably well to the different types of flora
and natural vegetation found in Some remarks on the Iranian climate: Over most of The efficiency of rain on plants depends not only on its abundance and regularity, but also on mean daily temperatures. Below about 7 ºC the photosynthesis of most species is practically nil. It is only above 10 ºC that active growth can be expected, which becomes progressively more rapid with the increase in temperature. In the south and especially southeast regions with a warm winter, vegetation benefits from the entire period of humidity and annuals are very abundant, whereas in northern regions growth only starts towards the end of the humid period and annuals are generally scarcer. An annual average rainfall of 150 mm in the Baluchi zone can give a rich and fairly dense vegetation, but the same rainfall gives only a poor vegetation to the south near Tehran. Finally, in regions where the spring rains are plentiful, growth is more favoured than where the main precipitation is in winter, especially in the case of annuals and seedlings of perennials. In regions with long, cold winters and on mountains, accumulation of snow favours perennials as they are thus protected against excessively low temperatures; in addition when slopes are gentle water from melting snow infiltrates almost completely, thus producing a good reserve of water in the subsoil which is tapped by deep-rooted plants in the dry season. Rainfall is the major determining factor in defining agricultural zones and rainfall in its turn is dependant on physiographic features of the country. As mentioned earlier, there are two major mountain chains, Alborz and Zagros. Alborz stretches west to east in the north near the Caspian Sea, creating a very rainy zone where many kinds of crops, fruits and forests are produced and since crops are common extensive livestock husbandry is only practiced in the uplands where there is little or no cultivation, due to cold weather and unsuitable soils. The Zagros mountain chain prevents rain clouds entering the country from the west, thus creating a rainy zone and many farms, orchards and forests are there. Crop production is common along with livestock - the summer grazing rangelands are in the high mountainous areas of Zagros and the lowland ranges are usually exploited in winter. The central part of the country receives very little rainfall, thus the
crop production is limited to places with adequate water from rain or
groundwater. Unsuitable soil is another deterrent to agriculture; there
are many areas of mobile sand dunes across central Broad Phytogeographic Zones of The main bioclimatic zones are shown in Figure 8. Caspian Flora: (a) Lowest forest belt (reaching approximately 800
to 1,000 metres) (b) Medium forest belt (approximately 800 to 2,000
metres) (c) Upper forest belt – or the “sub-alpine belt” (approximately
2,000 to 2,700 metres) The herbaceous vegetation is very rich throughout but varies greatly with the degree of soil humidity and exposure. The dominant perennial grasses are Bromus persicus, Dactylis glomerata, Trisetum sp., Poa spp., Agropyron spp., Festuca spp.. The forage legumes are more or less the same as those of the medium forest belt, but Astragalus are more numerous. In the drier or eroded areas the “tragacanth” vegetation of the high Irano-Turanian mountains appears (Onobrychis cornuta, Astragalus spp.). In fact, this is a much more pastoral rather than forest belt, especially in its upper regions. The rangelands above 2,700 metres are of the “substeppic-alpine” type and more related to the Irano-Turanian zone. Baluchi Flora: Many tree-like and bushy species are found in this area, almost all of
which are part of the “sahara-sindian” flora, which extends from the Sahara
through Arabia to the south of Certain families, such as Asclepiadaceae, Verbenaceae, Acanthaceae,
Mimosaceae, Cesalpiniaceae, Capparidaceae, Tiliaceae, are much better
represented than in the other parts of Perennial grasses are almost all species of warm regions, in particular the Paniceae and Andropogoneae, such as Panicum antidotale, Panicum turgidum, Pennisetum dichotomum, Cenchrus ciliaris, Tricholaena teneriffae, Imperata cylindrica, Saccharum benghalense, Tetrapogon villosus, Eragrostis piercii, Cymbopogon laniger, Aristida pogonoptila, etc. Aristida plumosa is not rare and Aeluropus repens is frequent on saline soils, but these two grasses are mainly common in the Irano-Turanian zone. On the other hand, Bromus, Agropyron, Stipa, Poa, Festuca, are absent from the Baluchi zone. Perennial legumes are quite common and principally represented by mostly subtropical genera: Taverniera, Indigofera, Tephrosia. There are a few species of Astragalus: Astragalus fasciculifolius, Astragalus squarrosus, etc. Many of these legumes are woody or shrub-like . In some arid sites it is possible to find in one place as many as seven or eight species of perennial grasses and four or five perennial legumes – without mentioning numerous other perennial or annual plants. It is only in the Alborz mountains that it is possible to find a vegetation as rich in grasses. In the northern regions and in the mountains of the Baluchi zone, the climate becomes drier and more continental, making a transition to the warmest parts of the Irano-Turanian zone. Typical Baluchi plants become rare or disappear; they are replaced by Amygdalus scoparia, Zygophyllum eurypterum, Populus euphratica, etc.. The perennial grasses are mostly Aristida plumosa, Cymbopogon laniger, but Stipa seem to be absent. The Astragalus become numerous and a species of Artemisia can be abundant, as well as other woody Compositae and many spiny Convolvulus. Irano-Turanian Flora: The arborescent vegetation includes a good number of Amygdalus, Prunus, Crataegus, Rhamnus, Pyrus, Celtis. The most important native trees are Quercus persica, Pistacia atlantica, Juniperus excelsa, various Tamarix and Salix, Populus euphratica and in the warmest regions Ziziphus spina-christi. In almost all the Irano-Turanian zone the depletion of rangelands has favoured the extension of Poa bulbosa (and related species) and more recently Carex stenophylla (and related species). In occasionally-cultivated lands certain perennial weeds have extended considerably, such as: Hulthemia persica, Alhagi camelorum, Prosopis stephaniana, Glycyrrhizia glandulifera, G. glabra, Goebelia alopecuroides, Eremurus spp., Phlomis persica, Euphorbia spp., Peganum harmala, Cynodon dactylon, numerous Compositae, etc.. (a) Subdesertic flora. In the central “deserts” of (b) Steppic flora. In the very large area where precipitation varies between 100 and 230 mm, the vegetation types are very diverse, the determining factor being primarily winter temperatures, which depend on the altitude and even longitude (at equal latitudes and altitudes the eastern areas are noticeably warmer). The flora is generally richer in the southern and eastern regions due to a greater abundance of annuals. Artemisia herba-alba still characterizes this flora well, but
it has disappeared over wide areas as a result of uprooting, particularly
in much cultivated regions such as Khuzistan. It grows at Tehran, Khorasan,
Kerman and even as far south as Aristida plumosa is normally the dominant grass in this steppic zone, irrespective of winter temperatures, but it is never found on heavy or saline soils. In certain favoured localities (far from watering places) it is still possible to find almost pure populations of this good forage. The perennial Stipa (especially Stipa barbata), thought to be very abundant formerly, have too often disappeared from wide areas. In the south and east Cymbopogon laniger is not rare, nor is Pennisetum orientale on rocky slopes. In the warmer regions, it is still possible to find here and there Cenchrus ciliaris and Hyparrhenia hirta. In saline areas, whatever the climate, it is always possible to find Aeluropus repens or Aeluropus littoralis, which often provide good pastures. Finally, on sands which are more or less moving, in addition to Aristida plumosa there is generally Pennisetum dichotomum (south and southeast), Aristida pennata (east) and Cyperus conglomeratus. Perennial forage legumes are infrequent and only some species of herbaceous Astragalus (Cerciothrix group) are sometimes abundant. The Onobrychis are rather rare. On non-eroded and fairly compact soils Poa bulbosa (or related varieties) often covers very large areas, but it is greatly rivalled and often replaced by Carex stenophylla. In the steppic zone severe depletion of the rangelands tends to cause the disappearance of most perennials which are replaced by vast populations of Peganum harmala, or vegetation consisting essentially of the less palatable annuals, such as Schismus arabicus and especially Stipa capensis. Areas formerly cultivated are generally infested with Alhagi camelorum, Alhagi maurorum, Peganum harmala, Prosopis stephaniana, Hulthemia persica, Goebelia pachycarpa, and numerous annuals. (c) Substeppic flora. The substeppic flora is very rich in species but is probably the most difficult to define being botanically very varied and in a zone where human influences have been the strongest. As dry farming has been possible almost everywhere where the soils have not been eroded, the greatest part of the natural vegetation has been destroyed or deeply modified and replaced by weeds. Numerous species originating in the steppic zone have penetrated into this substeppic zone, frequently giving the impression that the rainfall is lower than it in fact is. The herbaceous flora is much richer than in the steppic zone. The following families are particularly well represented: Compositae, Labiatae, Umbelliferae, Leguminosae, Caryophyllaceae, Crucifereae, Boraginaceae, Poaceae. The Artemisia (especially A. maritima or related species) are often very abundant, and above 2,000 m there are sometimes populations of Artemisia aucheri. However, Artemisia herba-alba is clearly steppic and does not penetrate, except accidentally, into this zone. Spiny species: Noaea mucronata, Lactuca orientalis, Astragalus, Cousinia, Acantholimon, Acanthphyllum, Echinops, Eryngium, Gundelia are quite frequent. The Chenopodiaceae are especially abundant on saline or alkaline soils and comprise many perennials belonging to the genera: Salsola, Kochia, Atriplex, Camphorosma, Halocnemum, etc. The Labiatae are almost always abundant, particularly the genera: Teucrium, Phlomis, Salvia, Stachys, Nepeta, Marrubium, Ajuga, Ziziphora. Among the other families should be mentioned the genera: Centaurea, Achillea, Euphorbia, Hypericum, Silene, Erodium, Onosma, Helichrysum, Alyssum, etc. The perennial grasses of the substeppic zone are most frequently Stipa
(S. barbata and related species, Stipa lagascae, etc),
and above 1,000 m (north) and 1,500 (southwest), Bromus tomentellus.
On light soils there is sometimes Aristida plumosa, a steppic
species. In the south Cymbopogon laniger and Hyparrhenia
hirta reach this zone. The saline plains are often populated with
Aeluropus and less frequently (higher altitudes) with Puccinellia.
A particularly drought resistant variety of Andropogon ischaemum
is quite frequent in (d) Xerophilous forest flora. Relatively dense forests, consisting essentially of oaks, certainly existed in ancient times, wherever the annual precipitation was above approximately 400 mm, but the majority of these forests have been destroyed and it is only in the Zagros range that significant remnants can be found. This zone could well be divided into various geographical provinces and into vegetation belts corresponding to altitudes. In the Zagros range the oak forest begins towards 800 metres and sometimes reaches as much as 2,600 metres, which corresponds distinctly to three altitude belts of vegetation. Due to deforestation, overgrazing, the extension of farming, erosion and the profound modification of the microclimates a good part the subdesertic flora has heavily invaded this zone to such a point that in a good number of regions only some less xerophilous species, or even only the rainfall data, indicate a climate no more subdesertic. The forests of Zagros consist mainly of: Quercus persica, Quercus infectoria, Quercus libani. Other trees or bushes are: Pistacia atlantica, Pyrus syriaca, Celtis spp., Fraxinus syriaca, Prunus mahaleb, Amygdalus spp., Daphne angustifolia, Lonicera nummulariaefolia, Cotoneaster nummularia, Colutea persica, Berberis integerrima, Juglans regia, Juniperus excelsa and tall spiny Astragalus. The herbaceous flora is less rich at lower altitudes (south of the Zagros) where it consists essentially of annuals (abundance of Aegilops). Hordeum bulbosum and Poa bulbosa are the only really common perennial grasses. Here and there are some Stipa or Agropyron, with very few forage legumes. The general aspect of the flora tends towards the subdesertic. Above approximately 1,500 metres in the Zagros range and in the north of the country, perennials are very numerous and form the basis of the vegetation. Where the rangelands have not been destroyed the fundamental grass is Bromus tomentellus, often associated with Festuca valesiaca (or other varieties of F. ovina group) or with various Stipa (especially S. barbata varieties) and sometimes Bromus cappadocicus. Other perennial grasses of this area are: Dactylis glomerata, Oryzopsis holciformis, Hordeum bulbosum, Hordeum fragile, Secale montanum, Melica spp., Hordeum violaceum, Poa spp., and on very stony slopes Agropyron tauri (and related species), Bromus persicus and Festuca sclerophylla (the latter two only in the Alborz region). Agropyron aucheri (or related varieties) is very widespread in the areas most affected by human influence. The best perennial forage legumes are Onobrychis, some Astragalus of the Cercidothrix group, Trigonella elliptica (rather rare) and Medicago sativa (uncommon as a native plant). The Labiatae and Compositae often form the greatest part of the vegetation. Many species of these families are particular to this climatic zone, notably some Thymus. Too often overgrazing has resulted in considerable extension of unpalatable or spiny species: tall Umbelliferae, Noae mucronata, Lactuca orientalis, Phlomis, Euphorbia, Eryngium, Cousinia, Astragalus, Acantholimon, Acanthophyllum. The latter three are remarkable for their hemispherical or cushion-like thorny aspect (“tragacanth” vegetation) often making up a portion of the vegetation of the high semi-arid mountains. It is interesting to note that the flora and herbaceous vegetation are generally much richer in deforested regions than in the areas which still support an open forest cover. (e) High mountains flora. Above 2,600 metres the only tree capable of surviving is Juniperus excelsa; it can be found as high as approximately 3,200 m, but it seems incapable of forming woods above 3,000 metres . Some bushes of Amygdalus, Daphne, Lonicera, and Rosa can ascend towards the 3,000 metres mark. The upper limit of herbaceous vegetation is around 4,300 metres. These altitude marks are valid for the Zagros and Alboz mountains, which are the only high mountains, but in the high mountains of the south and southeast the altitude limits should be much higher as a result of the warmer climate. The vegetation of these high regions where the growth period of plants is limited to some few months - not more than three towards the 3,500 metres mark - consists essentially of perennials. It is characterized by an abundance of the spiny cushion-like “tragacanth” vegetation such as Astragalus spp., Acantholimon spp., Onobrychis cornuta, as well as some species with a strong woody base. Perennial grasses comprise Bromus (especially B. tomentellus), Agropyron, Poa, Festuca (especially F. ovina group), Stipa, Melica spp. and Sesleria phleoides. Oryzopsis molinioides appears to be a truly characteristic species of the dry high mountains (Alborz, Lorestan, Fars, Kerman). The high mountains have very few forage legumes: some Trifolium and Lotus corniculatus which are restricted to relatively humid places. Among the other families should be mentioned the genera: Thymus, Pyrethrum, Nepeta, Helichrysum, Erysimum, Euphorbia, Scutellaria, Silene, Dianthus, Alyssum, Phlomis, Achillea, Scrophularia, Ephedra, Ziziphora, Eryngium, Cousinia, etc. |
| 4. RUMINANT LIVESTOCK
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS There are two main groups in this sector, namely: Industrial and Extensive livestock rearing; Figure 9 shows their relative contribution to meat and milk production. Livestock numbers as of 2001 are given in Table 7. Farahpour and Marshall (2001) indicate that according to the latest reported census Iran has 133 million AU, which is close to the number mentioned in Table 7. According to FAOSTAT (2006) livestock numbers for Iran for 2005 were: buffalo 550,000; camels 146,000; cattle 8,800,000; goats 26,500,000; horses 140,000 and sheep 54,000,000. The only livestock raised in this system are cattle with a population of 741,500 head which by calculating its animal unit equivalent (9.5), would be 7,044,000 AU. The livestock of this system are not dependant on rangelands (and therefore cause no damage to the rangelands) as they are kept in industrial units and modern barns scattered across the country. The livestock raised in this system do not leave the barns yearlong and are totally fed on cultivated fodder and supplements and imported feed. The cattle are usually kept in the vicinity of cities where the veterinary, sanitation and marketing services can be easily accessed.; the outputs are both dairy and meat products. Extensive livestock production systems in Nomadic systems: Nomadism
is defined as: a type of pastoralism in which livestock owners follow
the irregularities of the weather, in search of drinking water and pastures
for their herds and flocks (FAO, 1992). The vegetation density of semi-arid
and arid rangelands is low, and the temporal and spatial variation in
forage supply and quality is enormous. These large fluctuations, combined
with periodic lack of drinking water and very high temperatures, force
herdsmen to move with their herds continuously. Nomads generally, do not
own any specific area, they live at subsistence level and their products
are mostly absorbed by the family, so that their contribution to the supply
of meat or other animal products is small. This type of animal husbandry
is rare in Transhumant systems. Transhumance
is defined as; “a type of pastoralism in which pastoralists regularly
graze their herds in two or more geographically separated grazing orbits
within a year” (FAO 1992). This animal husbandry system takes advantage
of the temporal and spatial variability associated with typically altering
rainy and dry seasons. In
Sedentary systems Small numbers of animals of various households are combined to form a herd kept by a herdsman. Each household contributes to the salary of the herdsman in proportion to the number of animals. There is no individual grazing right for the households. For bigger herds that should graze individually, the size of the herd is used as criterion for identification of the grazing right period of a household. Based on the census, the livestock breeder households in rural and mobile pastoralists number some 1,653,260 while 916,000 households are dependant on rangelands. The number of households in mobile pastoralism is some 180,000 and 1,473,260 households are rural livestock breeders which some 736,000 households are semi mobile while they have homes in the village and live there for a while and sometime they move to rangelands far from their village to graze their livestock; the rest are the households which are sedentary and live in the village yearlong number some 737,260 households. It should be noted that some 78.41% of the pastoralists equal to 718,236 households possess less than 50 AU. Distribution of herd sizes is shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10. Flock size and number of households Taking into account the economic size of the rangelands (536 ha of rangeland and 230 AU), suggests that just 180,000 livestock breeder household requirements can be met by rangelands during 7 months. Based on the published information by the Technical Bureau of Rangelands – FRWO, currently each household has 81 ha of rangeland and 80 AU. The same reference indicates that (Table 8) currently more than 5.7 times more than the carrying capacity is living on rangelands. Table 7. Livestock population*
*As at 2001 Only lawful livestock holders who have been issued a grazing permit are allowed to graze the range. They have been granted a grazing permit which should be extended each year after paying the grazing fee, which now is 400 Rials (1 US$ is 8,700 rials). Unfortunately, due to the lack of adequate supervision, most of the grazing permits are not extended and many livestock are on the range without grazing permits. As mentioned in this section, the main problem in livestock raising is the excessive number of households and their livestock. Needless to say that, due to the large number of livestock, there is no ungrazed land with even the forests being grazed by livestock; the government has therefore adopted policies to end the grazing of forests and expel the rural people settled in the forests after compensation of their rights. Livestock graze wherever they can reach, so mention of limitations is far from the situation faced in the field. Since the rangelands are common, conflict resolution is part of the work of natural resource management specialists, often rather than focussing on technical issues. Most range users are illiterate or poorly educated, so resource management specialists have many problems in convincing them to take measures first to stop the rangeland degradation by grazing management and then to develop their rangelands. Due to previous experience of other policies implemented by government, users do not necessarily accept recent policies; i.e. policies providing services and facilities such as insurance and facilities are not accepted as they should be.
A previous policy that raised problems for grassland management was the nationalisation of natural resources in 1963. Prior to that act rangelands belonged to the lords and they leased their asset to the herders who could exploit the rangeland carefully in order not to damage it. The livestock owner knew that if he exploited carelessly, he would be punished and even he could not lease any range next year. After this act come into force, the government was to play the role of the lord and the government started to identify the lawful livestock breeders to issue grazing permits for a certain time and definite place. The whole idea of identifying the lawful livestock holders was good but it had some deficiencies i.e. the grazing permits were not transferable, so nobody left the range since if he left there then he would lose his right for ever. Recently, the Technical Bureau of Rangeland has made some corrections on policy so that everyone who wants to leave the range and livestock can transfer his right to others who are usually from the same or adjacent rangeland; thus they will move towards an economic size of herd. Poor marketing is a problem that the stock raisers especially, mobile pastoralists, face; because they often go to the cities on their seasonal movement just to procure their needs and they have problems in trading their products while they are on the outskirts. So in other times people come to them to buy their products but at low prices. The education system is good in the villages but the situation is very bad for mobile pastoralists while they are moving around; of course there are some boarding schools for their children and some mobile schools but these have their own problems. The extension service is good for the villages but it is not so good for the mobile pastoralists when they are far from settlements, although extension service workers try to provide services. Contribution of range to forage supply and meat production is shown in Figure 11.
Range forage is less nutritious and animals on range thus use more energy than stall-fed livestock or those in industrial systems. Table 9. Area of rangelands by province
The rela | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
