Abstract

Improvement of degraded land is possible through proper technologies. Participatory approach of user's for development and utilization of resources help to increase household income and restore environment. Minimum tillage, suitable pasture legume species, use of starter fertilizers, protection of leased land and adoption of cut and carry system have together enhance the socio-economic condition of poor farmers. Similarly, technologies on livestock-fodder interface, seed production from stylo and oat have resulted in household income increase.

Introduction

Nepal's hill farming systems are based on strategies to manage forest, pasture and arable lands in an integrated fashion to sustain & maintain farming systems. Subsistence farming is still the norm in these areas, and household food self-sufficiency is a criterion used by the farmers themselves to define poverty and wealth. Subsistence farmers who do not produce sufficient food for their household consumption try to extract that sustenance from support land resources (forest, pasture and other community lands). This is mainly accomplished through an increasing dependence on livestock or through product and service offered directly by support land resources. In Nepal at present, forest covers some 5.5 million ha, out of total areas of 1.47 million ha (26%), is considered degraded, having less than 40% crown cover while 0.6 million ha (11%) of the forestland is degraded shrub land (LMP, 1993).

Poverty incidence has continued to remain very high in Nepal because of fluctuation in agriculture growth rates, inadequate delivery social service, and unsustainable development outputs. A household survey by the World Bank estimated that the poverty line is about NRs.4000 (USD 77) per capita per annum and it covers a basic calorie intake, housing and various non-food items. A close to 9 million people of 23.21 million population of Nepal is currently classified as income –poor. Within the context of the Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project (HLFFDP) , the poverty line is NRs.2168 per capita annual earnings (USD 38 in 1993) and each family has less than 0.5 ha of land. During the project's eight year tenure, HLFFDP aims to involve 14,224 family and in doing so rehabilitate and develop 13,513 ha of degraded land through group approach (participatory approach) (HLFFDP, 1996). Each group involved in the project included between five and seven family. Each family has obtained lease rights to one hectare of degraded forestland for 40 years and has right to renew this lease (IFAD, 1990).

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate five technologies, which are transferred to the Department of Livestock Service and Department of Forestry by NARC, and through this Government networking have reached to the grassroots level. These technologies are found to be simple, affordable and sustainable.                 

Methodology

Before the establishment of participatory trials basic inventory of the sites and leasehold groups were done. Inventories on soil types, vegetation, household economy was done in four districts. The leasehold sites across four districts under grassland and shrub land were divided into three altitude belts; low belt (400 - 1200 masl), transitional belt (1201 - 1800 masl) and high altitude belt (1801 - 2500 masl). A total of 44 soil samples from low belt, 41 from transitional and 44 from high altitude belts were collected for their laboratory analysis. Similarly, a total of 33 edible plants species form low, 45 from transitional and 47 form high altitude belts were collected and identified.

Pasture Legume Establishment

At four sites in low and one site in transitional belt (upto 1700 masl-southern aspect): Stylosanthes guianenis cv. Cook and at four sites in high altitude Trifolium repens cv. Khumal were established under two treatments; with (T₁) and without (T₂) fertilizer application. A total area of 4.8 ha (2000 m² in each site) was covered using simple establishment technologies, which included minimum tillage (30 cm cultivation line and 70 cm gap arranging line to line distance of one meter along the contour), line sowing (3 Kg seed/ha) and lime coating of the seed (agricultural lime @ 6 - 10 Kg/ha). A basal dose of starter fertilizer was applied N: P₂O₅: Sulphur @ 15: 115 and 30 Kg per ha for T₁ treatment while excluding the fertilizer the other inputs were applied in T₂ plots. The trial plots were established in June 1995 and for one season grasses and weeds, on both sides of the lines, were occasionally harvested in order to reduce competition. Three important parameters; sward height, plant tillering and green matter yield were collected.

 Nitrogen Fixing Tree Establishment

At four sites in both altitudes, seedling of (6" - 9”) of Bauhinia purpurea (low altitude), Leucaena diverifolia (low to transitional) were planted, along the contour at approximately five-meter distance (plant to plant and row to row). A total area of 4.8 ha (3000 m² in each site) was covered using simple planting technologies; T₃, the recommended method (50 x 50 x 50 cm pit size + Top soil + DAP 250 gm and sulphur 150 gm) T_2, the improved current method (30 x 30 x 30 + Top soil) and T₁, the indigenous method (20 x 20 x 20 cm pit size + Top soil). The planting was done in July 9 - 25, 1995 and data were collected for consecutively three years up to 1998 for plant height and survival rate. Both the trials were replicated across the districts on grassland and shrub land sites.

 Winter Fodder Production

(i) Agronomic and Management Practices on Khetland (Irrigated land) in the Low hills

After the paddy was harvested in the third week of November, one ploughing was done by local plough (to a depth of about 23 cm) and FYM was broadcast at 5-10 tons per hectare. After second ploughing to thoroughly prepare the land, N: P₂0₅ @ 40: 100 kg/ha was applied. Nitrogen was splited into basal and other doses depending upon the number of cuttings to be taken. Oat @ 120 Kg, Oat + vetch at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg vetch and Oat + Pea at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg Pea was sown (broadcast/ behind the furrows made by local plough) in the first week of December, followed by the use of a land leveller to level the land and to ensure that the seed had good soil moisture contact. A first cutting was taken in the second week of January (50 days after sowing) and subsequent cuttings were taken at 40-day intervals. Split doses of Nitrogen in the form of urea and irrigation were applied after each cut.

(ii) Agronomic and Management Practices on Bariland (Rain fed) in the Low and mid hills

Maize was harvested in the last week of August. After that one ploughing was done to eradicate weeds and maize roots, FYM was applied at the rate of 7-10 tons/ha and N: P₂0₅ @ 40: 100 kg/ha was applied. Nitrogen was splited into basal and other doses depending upon the number of cuttings to be taken.  Second ploughing was done to thoroughly prepare the land, to mix in the FYM and to level the land. Oat @ 120 Kg, Oat + vetch at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg vetch and Oat + Pea at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg Pea was sown (broadcast/ behind the furrows made by local plough) in the first week of September, followed by the use of a land leveller to level the land and to ensure that the seed had good soil moisture contact. First cut was taken in the first week of November (60 days after sowing). Subsequent cuttings were taken at 45 days intervals. The data was analyzed of two cuts only.

 Stylo Seed Production from Degraded lands

At three sites in low altitude belt (upto 1200 masl), Stylosanthes guianenis cv. Cook   Cv CIAT-184 and CV Graham were sown under simple establishment technologies, including minimum tillage (30 cm cultivation line and 70 cm gap arranging line to line distance of one meter along the contour), line sowing (3 Kg seed/ha) and lime coating of the seed (agricultural lime @ 6 - 10 Kg/ha). A basal dose of fertilizer was applied N: P₂0₅: Sulphur @ 45: 115 and 30 Kg per ha for. A total area of 3 ha (one ha in each site) was used for seed production .The trial plots were established in June, 1996 and for one season grasses and weeds, on both sides of the lines, were occasionally harvested in order to reduce competition. One cut for forage in the month of August and seed was collected from the month of February. In total 3-4 pickings were done by using sticks. Seed were collected in the plastic sheets or bamboo made Nanglo (winnower). This system of seed collection was said to be spot seed collection while in the last days of February, the whole plant was harvested and after 3-4 days it was then threshed to collect the remaining seed. The dry plant then of stylo was used to feed the ruminants.

Oat Seed Production from Khetland

After the paddy was harvested in the third week of November, one ploughing was done by local plough (to a depth of about 23 cm) and FYM was applied at 10 tons per hectare. After second   ploughing in order to thoroughly preparation of land, N: P₂0₅ @ 40: 100 kg/ha was applied. Oat @ 120 Kg, Oat + vetch at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg vetch and Oat + Pea at the ratio of 60: 40 or 72 kg oat + 48 kg Pea was sown (broadcast/ behind the furrows made by local plough) in the first week of December, followed by the use of a land leveller to level the land and to ensure that the seed had good soil moisture contact. One cut was taken for fodder in the second week of January (50 days after sowing) and then whole plot was left for seed production. Accountability of seed production was done for only oat.

Results

Soil analysis confirmed the poor status of the soil in each eco-zone. Soil of low altitude contains pH 6.0, available potash in medium (196 kg/ ha), organic matter very low (1.37%), nitrogen     (0.07%) and available phosphorus very low (26.62 kg/ ha). Soil of transitional belt contains pH 5.6, available potash in medium (181 kg/ ha), organic matter medium (3.4%), nitrogen very low (0.13%) and available phosphorus very low (26. 48 kg/ ha). However, soil of high altitude belt contains pH 4.8, available potash in medium (187 kg/ ha), organic matter high (6.6%), nitrogen low (0.32%) and available phosphorus very low (9.41 kg/ ha). In addition to the poor physical condition the sites represent the typical characteristics of over utilized land both from human population as well as due to free grazing system. A total of 125 different forage and shrub species were identified. Very few of them were found to be legume and their productivity was found to be 0.5 to 1 ton green matter per ha. The predominant native forage species are Heteropogon contortus (Arthunge), Pogonatherum sp. (Musekharuki), Desmodium sp. (Ghato), Chrysopogon gryllus (Salimo) and Flemingia sp. (Bhatmase) are recognized and valued by the farmers as good fodder, however, their fodder potential, both in quantity and quality is limited.

Pasture Legume Establishment

Three important parameters were compared between three consecutive years and also between two treatments; with (T1) and without (T2) fertilizer application in two altitude belts for Stylosanthes guianensis and for high altitude for Trifolium repens (White clover cv. Khumal). At low altitude and in grassland, there was a significant difference in sward high between 1996 and 1997 and 1996 and 1998. However, there was a significant difference (P> 0.05) in the green matter yield between years and Stylo had shown tendency to increase fodder yield over two times in second year, almost over four times in third year of its establishment (Table -1). Between two treatments, the new technology had given a yield increase of 269% more than indigenous method of establishment. Similarly an increase in sward height and tiller number per plant had been obtained at a significance level of 5% (Table -1). In case of shrub land relatively similar performance of stylo was noticed while compared between years, however, even more forage yield difference was found (311%) between new methodology and indigenous methods.

In the transitional belt where low temperature effects into recovering duration of the plants, significant difference in sward height and green matter yield existed between years, although in less consistent, the yield increasing tendency over the years after its establishment persist in grassland as similar to low altitude belt. Between two treatments, a significant difference was found in all the parameters having advantage over non-fertilizer treatment. An increase in forage yield of almost two times was found.

In the shrub land of transitional belt a significant difference in sward height was found compared between years. Between two treatments once again a significant difference (P > 0.05) in sward height, tiller number per plant and green matter yield was observed (Table -2). In the high altitude where it was hard to maintain the animals in stall-fed condition, the performance of white clover was evaluated under occasional grazing. Between the years, a significance difference was found in all the three parameter (Table - 3) in degraded grassland. Between years once again the new intervention had yielded two folds more than the indigenous method of establishment. Similar trend was found in the shrub land of this belt (Table - 3).

Table-1: Sward height, tillering and green matter yield of Stylosanthes guianensis cv. cook on degraded grasslands and shrub lands at low altitude (400 - 1200 masl) in Nepal.

Table-2: Sward height, tillering and green matter yield of Stylosanthes guianensis cv. cook on degraded grasslands and shrub lands at transitional belt (1201 - 1800 masl) in Nepal.

Table-3: Sward height, tillering and green matter yield of Trifolium repens cv. Khumal on degraded grasslands and shrub lands at high altitude (1801 - 2500 masl) in Nepal.

·        ^abc indicate level of significance at 5%.

·        In year wise comparison, the data of all three parameters has been compared between years after pool over the treatments (T1, T2), whereas, the effect of two treatments has been compared after combining the data of three consecutive years.

·        T1 = N: P: Sulphur @ 45: 115: 30 kg/ ha + Inoculation + Lime coating.

        T2 = Inoculation + Lime coating.

Nitrogen Fixing Tree Species

Compared two species between years over three consecutive years show that the survival rate decreases year after year. Survival rate was high (74%) in recommended method in the grassland and shrub lands of low altitude. There was a significant difference in plant height between years. Between treatments a significant difference was found in the plant heights between 1996 and 1998. The highest plant height of 103 cm was found in recommended method. In shrub land the survival rate tendency was almost similar to grassland, however, between treatments a significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in plant height under all the three treatments, giving highest plant height of the plants by the recommended methods (Table -4). In transitional belts the growth of the plants are not very encouraging, even though, more survival rate and plant height was found in recommended method of establishment (T3), (Table -5).

 Table-4: Survival rate and plant height of Bauhinia purpurea and Leucaena diversifolia on degraded grasslands and shrub lands at low altitude (400 - 1200 masl) in Nepal.

Table 5: Survival rate and plant height of Bauhinia purpurea and Leucaena diversifolia on degraded grasslands and shrub lands at Transitional belt (1201 – 1800 masl) in Nepal.

·        ^abc indicate level of significance at 5%.

·        In year wise comparison, the data of all three parameters has been compared between years after pool over the treatments (T1, T2 and T3), whereas, the effect of two treatments has been compared after combining the data of three consecutive years.

·        T1 = Indigenous method (20 x 20 x 20 cm + Top soil)

·        T2 = Current improved method (30x30x30 cm + Top soil)

·        T3 = Recommended method (50x50 x50 cm +Top soil +DAP 250gm+Sulphur 150 gm)

 Winter Fodder Production

Compared between locations the highest green fodder was obtained from the location of Kavre in new approach of methodology while location Sindhupalchok in old approach in methodology (Table: - 6). A high significant difference was found between two approaches (P<0.001). A comparison on green fodder yield was done among three treatments for consecutive three years period in both low and transitional belts. Under the new methodology in low belt the yield production was quite high in Oat+ Vetch (31.33±3.19), followed with Oat + pea (28.17±1.63) and the least in case of Oat alone (25.00±1.55).

Under the new methodology in transitional belt the yield production was quite high in Oat+ Vetch (19.6±2.26), followed with Oat alone (15.9±2.26) and the least from Oat + pea (13.8±1.57).  Under the old methodology in low belt the yield production was more in Oat+ Vetch (14.70±2.09), followed with Oat + pea (12.83±2.05) and the least in case of Oat alone (12.00±1.24). Under the new methodology in transitional belt the yield production was quite high in Oat+ Vetch (9.8±1.47), followed with Oat alone (8.5±1.02) and the least from Oat + pea (8.2±1.33). 

Table 6: Fodder production trends (GM Ton/ha) of Oat+Vetch, Oat+Pea and Oat at different locations between 1996-1998 Low Belt (100-1200 masl)

Table 7: Fodder production trends (GM Ton/ha) of Oat+Vetch, Oat+Pea and Oat at different location between 1996-1998 Transitional belt (1201-1800 masl)

Stylo Seed Production from Degraded lands

A three years data analysed indicate that Stylosanthes guianensis CV cook produced on an average 24±3.3 ton GM/ha and 32 ton seed/ha, CIAT-184, 23±5.7 ton GM/ha and 58 ton seed/ha and Graham gave 19±4.7 ton GM/ha and 56 ton/ha.

Oat Seed Production from Khetland

Three years data of green fodder production revealed that location did not give significant effect on fodder production (P>0.05). Highest fodder yield was obtained in the location of Makwanpur (17.44 ton/ha) while in other locations almost similar fodder yield had been obtained. In case of seed production a highly significant difference was (P>0.001) between districts was found. The location of Ramechap had produced highest seed yield (2.36 ton/ha). Analysis of year’s data of treatment wise both for fodder and seed indicate a non-significant (P>0.05) difference between locations. Oat + Vetch combination was more beneficial both for fodder and seed production (Table: - 8). On an average oat + vetch gave 20.58±1.43 ton GM/ha plus 1.81 ±0.21 seed of oat whereas oat + pea produced 14.83±1.31 ton GM/ha plus 1.69±0.2 seed of oat and from the field of oat cultivated as a sole crop 13.08±1.23 ton GM/ha plus 1.76±0.25 seed of oat (Table: - 8).

Table: 8 Fodder production trends (GM Ton/ha) of Oat+Vetch, Oat+Pea and Oat at different locations between 1996-1998

References

HLFFDP (1996): Agrisilvipastoral Approach to Poverty Alleviationand Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands, Strategies, Policies and Procedures.HLFFDP, Project Working Paper 19, Prepared by Stevens, E.J, D. Pariyar, B.N.Tiwari and Philippe Van Der Grienten, Kathmandu, Nepal.

IFAD (1990): International Fund for Agricultural development, Appraisal Report, Kathmandu, Nepal.

LMP (1993): Livestock Master Plan, Volume II, The Plan.Asian Development Bank, ANZDEC Limited. Agriculture Projects Services Center, Kathmandu, Nepal.