| ALGERIA
by D.
Nedjraoui
The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria covers an area of 2 381 741 km2, and is the second largest country in Africa after the Sudan, but nearly nine tenths of its land is in the six Saharan provinces. Its capital is Algiers. To the north it borders the Mediterranean Sea, to the south Mali and Niger, to the west Morocco and to the east Tunisia and Libya (see Figure 1). It is subdivided into 48 wilayas or provinces. Four fifths of the population are Arabs; Berbers form the largest minority. The languages are Arabic and Berber. Almost all the population are followers of Islam. It was a province of the Roman empire, thereafter the Vandals and Byzantines invaded. The Islamic conquest of North Africa took place in the seventh century; it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and was taken by the French in the early to mid nineteenth. Algeria gained its independence from France in 1962. Two great mountain ranges, the Sahelian Atlas in the south and the Tell Atlas in the north, divide the country into three types of landscape which are distinct in their relief and morphology, giving rise to great biological diversity. From north to south the three zones are the Tell System, the High Plains and the Sahara. Algeria’s rivers are mainly seasonal. The basins of the Chelif and the Hamiz provide about a third of the country’s irrigation needs. The population at the 1998 census was 29 270 000. According to the World Factbook the estimated population in July 2006 was 32,930,091 with a growth rate of 1.22%. The previous census in 1987 recorded 22 710 000 which gives a mean annual population growth of 2.8 percent over the decade. People actively involved in agriculture represent 25 percent of the national work force, about one million people, of which 125 000 are livestock rearers. Figure 1. Map of Algeria
Urban and peri-urban areas, which cover only four percent of the land, are the most densely populated with about 80 percent of the total population. The steppes, beyond the Tell Atlas, 9 percent of the country, are true grazing lands and their people, essentially agropastoralists, form 12 percent of the population. The remainder, 8 percent, are dispersed in the Saharan regions which cover 87 percent of the country. The hydrocarbons (oil and gas) sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 52% of budget revenues, 25% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the fifth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second largest gas exporter; it ranks fourteenth for oil reserves. Land distribution According to the Ministry of Agriculture (Statistiques Agricoles 1999) Algeria’s 2,380,000 km2 are distributed as shown in Table 1. Table 1 : Land use
The land used by the agricultural sector is 40 000 000 ha, 17 percent of the country: 31 000 000 ha are grazing, the home of Algerian pastoralism. Eight million ha are farm land of which 94 percent are arable and 6 percent under perennial crops. Farm land corresponds to 0.28 ha per inhabitant. Forest land covers 4 100 000 ha (Ghazi and Lahouati, 1997), divided as follows:
The main forest trees are:
The alfa (Stipa tenacissima) steppe is the transition between the forests and the steppes. The area covered by alfa was 5 000 000 hectares at the beginning of the twentieth century but is now reduced to 2 000 000. Its degradation is due to overexploitation since it provided an important source of paper pulp as well as being used in basketry and weaving by the traditional artisanal sector (Nedjraoui, 1990; Kadi-Hanifi, 1998). Barren land, 80 percent of the country, is in the Saharan region where ergs, regs and hamadas dominate. The livestock sector Stock-rearing in Algeria mainly concerns sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Table 2 shows the results of livestock censuses for selected years 1990-2005. FAOSTAT (2005) also shows for 2005: 170,000 asses and 43,000 mules. Table 2: Livestock numbers (‘000 head)
Source: FAO database 2006 Sheep predominate with 80 percent of the total, over ten million ewes. Goats are in second place with 13 percent of which does comprise half. The cattle herd is small, 1.5 - 1.6 million head of which 58 percent are milch cows. Agro-ecological zones differ in their livestock specialization. Cattle are mainly limited to the north of the country with some enclaves elsewhere. The steppe is the favourite zone for sheep and goat raising, over ninety percent of their total is there, causing serious over-exploitation of the herbage. 2. SOILS AND TOPOGRAPHY Algeria has three great structural units: the Tell, the High Plains and the Sahara. The Tell System This comprises a succession of mountain massifs, coastal and sub-littoral, and plains. - The Western Tell is formed by alternating lines of massifs, of medium height, dominated by a dorsal of Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone and depressions represented by the low plains of Oran and the plain of Bas Chélif. - The Central Tell comprises a chain of mountains prolonging the Western Tell; it includes the mountains of Zaccar, the Atlas of Blidé and the mountains of Djurdjura which rise to 2 300 m. The Cretaceous rocks are schists, marls and marly limestones. The coastal edge is dominated by a large depression which forms the rich alluvial plain of Mitidja. - The Eastern Tell is the most mountainous part of the country and consists of parallel chains; from North to South these are: - The chains of the coastal Tell, composed of gneiss and granite which are a prolongation of that of Djurdjura. These are the massifs of Collo, Skikda and l’Edough which border the low plain of Annaba where the two largest areas of sweet water are found: Lake Tonga and Lake Oubeïra which are on the list of nature reserves of the Convention of Ramsar. - The Outer Tell, comprising the mountains of Babors and the massifs of Lesser Kabylie are on the basement complex of the Jurassic and Eocene. - The chains of the Inner Tell are dominated by mounts Hodna, Belezema and the massif of Aurès (2 328 m) and the Nemenchas mountains. This belongs to the Atlas. The High Steppic Plains These are between the Tell Atlas to the north and the Saharan Atlas to the south, at altitudes between 900 and 1 200 m; they are dotted with saline depressions, chotts or sebkhas, which are continental lakes formed during the Pleistocene when there was torrential rainfall and heavy run-off. Two areas are recognized: - The Western Steppe, which comprises the South Oranese and South Algéroise High Plains; their altitude decreases from Djebel Mzi (1 200 m) in the west to the saline depression of the Central Hodna (11 000 ha) which is occupied by detritic deposits. - The Eastern Steppe, to the east of the Hodna, is formed by the High Plains of South Constantine where dolomites and limestones of the Cretaceous dominate. They are bordered by the massifs of Aurès and Némemchas. The Sahara. The Sahara is a great barrier separating the Mediterranean from the tropical zone. It consists of plateaux (hamadas and tassili) where the volcanic Massif of Hoggar rises to 3 000 m, plains (regs and ergs) and depressions (sebkhas and gueltas). Hamadas and tassilis are immense calcareous, table-shaped plateaux with skeletal soils dominating in the valleys and wadis. The Tassili of Ajjers covers 350 000 km2. Regs are flat areas covered with stones and gravel; of varied forms, the result of serious aeolian erosion of surface soil horizons. Ergs are sandy deposits in the form of dunes. The Western Erg is 500 km long by 150 – 250 km and covers 100 000 km2 and is part of the great Saharan dune complex. The depressions are either saline (chotts and sebkhas) or non-saline where run-off accumulates (dayas). Soils There are several soil types. (Djebaili et al, 1983 , Halitim, 1988 ; Kadi Hanifi, 1998). Coarse mineral soils or little evolved soils are found mainly on the summits of mountains where they are subject to intense hydraulic erosion. These soils are characteristic of forests and mattorals and include:
Poorly developed soils include:
Calcimagnesian soils are the group of carbonate soils:
Isohumic soils are present in the erosion glacis of the recent Quaternary. They bring together soils with calcareous or gypsum crusts. They are found in arid zones with under 200 mm annual rainfall. Halomorphic soils include saline soils (solontchak) with AC profiles and saline alkaline soils (solontchak-solonetz) with profile A (B) C. These soils are generally deep and found in chotts and sebkhas. They are low in organic matter. Their salinity is of the types chlorate, sulphate-soda and magnesian. Algerian soils are subject to serious aeolian and hydraulic erosion due to the climate and strong anthropic pressure which has reduced the vegetation cover. Wind erosion mainly affects the arid and semi-arid zones. Wind action removes the finer particles, clay and sand, leaving an unproductive stony soil. About 600 000 hectares in the steppe zone have been totally desertified, past the stage where a recovery of vegetation can take place. Hydraulic erosion affects 28 percent of northern Algeria. Soils on the steep slopes of the Tell are the most seriously affected. Erosion takes the form of rills and gullies on the whole catchment with the uncovering of the bedrock and creation of badlands (Hadjiat, 1997). 3. CLIMATE AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES Sources of information on Algeria’s climate include: Data from 1913 - 1938 published in "Le climat de l'Algérie" by SELTZER (1946). Data from 1926 - 1950 for Saharan stations published in "Le climat du Sahara" by DUBIEF (1950 - 1963). Data from 1913 - 1961 published in the legend of the rainfall map of northern Algeria, by CHAUMONT et PAQUIN (1971). The rainfall map published (1993) by l'Agence Nationale des Ressources Hydriques. Up-to-date data are published by l' Office National de la Météorologie. Algeria, influenced by the sea, topography and altitude, has a Mediterranean, subtropical, temperate climate. This is characterized by a long, dry summer of 3 – 4 months on the coast, which extends to 5 or 6 months on the High Plains and over 6 months in the Sahel Atlas. Rainfall Rainfall is very variable, monthly and especially annually. This variation is due to gradients (Djellouli, 1990). There is a longitudinal gradient: rainfall increases from west to east (450 mm annually at Oran, over 1 000 at Annaba); this gradient is due to two phenomena: to the west the Spanish Sierra Nevada and the Moroccan Atlas act as a screen, eliminating the Atlantic influence. In the east high rainfall is attributed to perturbations in northern Tunisia. There is a latitudinal gradient: mean annual precipitation varies from 50 mm at M’Zaba to 1 500 at Jijel. This decrease from the coast towards the Saharan zone is due to the great distance depressions have to cover crossing the two Atlas ranges. There is also a universal altitude gradient which varies according to the distance from the sea. Temperatures The mean minimum temperature of the coldest month "m" is between 00 and 90 in coastal zones and between –20 and 40 in the arid and semi-arid zones. The mean maxima of the hottest month "M" vary with the continentality : from 280 – 310 C at the coast, between 330 and 380 on the High Steppic Plains and over 400 in the Sahara. Bioclimate Algeria has all the Mediterranean bioclimates from the perhumid in the north to the perarid in the south for the bioclimatic levels and from the cold to the hot for their temperature variants; see Table 3. Table 3. The bioclimatic zones of Algeria
Depending on the climatic (National Agroclimatic Classification of the Arab League, Louay, 1978) and edaphic factors, the agro-ecological zones of Algeria can be defined. Soils and climate define the natural vegetation and the agricultural potential of the various zones. ( Djellouli, 1990; Cadi et al, 2001 and Smadhi, 2001). Figure 2. Agro-ecological zones of Algeria (map drafted by SALAMANI M. 2001).
Going from north to south, a range of vegetation and land types are traversed including forests, maquis and mattoral, to the semi-arid steppes then to the desert ecosystems. The following zones are recognized according to rainfall ranges: 1200 - 1800 mm corresponds to the perhumid level and is present in limited zones the area of which is no more than 300 ha, between 800 and 2000 m in altitude in the Tell Atlas; here very rare endemic species like the aspen (Populus tremula) and the Numidian fir (Abies numidica) are found along with forests of cedar (Cedrus atlantica), cork oak (Quercus suber) and Aleppo pine. 900 - 1200 mm is the humid level found in the north-western regions, dominated at altitude by forests of cedar and various oak woods, Quercus faginea, Quercus suber and Quercus afares. 600 - 900 mm is the subhumid level which covers the northern part of the Tell atlas from west to east and where forests of holm oak and Aleppo pine grow. 400 - 600 mm is the upper semi-arid level which corresponds to the more or less degraded forests, maquis and mattoral on the summits and northern slopes of the Saharan Atlas, Quercus rotundifolia, Callitris articulata, olive and lentisk are the commonest woody vegetation in the north west with Aleppo pine at altitude. In the past decade the forest sector has benefited from a Programme of "Grands Travaux" which is based on the following actions and principles:
300 - 400 mm corresponds to the sub-steppic of the semi-arid; it is characterized by the disappearance of forest species and the appearance of steppe vegetation like Artemisia, alfa (Stipa tenacissima) and esparto (Lygeum spartum). These lands, considered good grazing, are in the north of the High Plains of Algiers-Oran on the south slopes of Aurès, the mountains of Ouled Nâils and Nemachas. In this bioclimatic zone there is competition between grazing and cereals in the depressions. 100 - 300 mm this rainfall belt corresponds to the arid southern and presaharan steppes which have a much sparser vegetation cover, giving meagre grazing on skeletal soils; they are at an advanced stage of degradation. < 100 mm is the zone south of the Saharan Atlas. The vegetation, which is localized in the wadi beds, is hydrophilic and psammophilic, strongly adapted to very dry conditions and with a high degree of endemism. There is grazing based on the grasses Aristida pungens and Panicum turgidum and browse shrubs such as several acacias. Agricultural areas are found in the north on the coastland sub-coastal plains and in the south, in the agropastoral zones, in wadi valleys or oases. Oasis agriculture is strongly dominated by dates, a very important crop in the Saharan regions (inventories of about fifteen Algerian palm groves have identified 400 cultivars, a hundred of which have been described in detail Hannachi S et al., 1998). Agricultural land is distributed as follows: - arable land comprises fallows (48 percent) and gramineous crops (47 percent) which are cereals (82 percent) and forage (18 percent). Seventy two percent of the resting land is grazed. - perennial crops comprise orchards (452,000 ha, 5.6 percent of agricultural land), vineyards (74,000 ha, 0.9 percent), and natural grazing (36,000 ha, 0.4 percent). - irrigated areas, mainly tree crops, market gardens and cereals, cover 443,000 ha annually. The number of holdings is about 1,054,000; of these 60,000 (6 percent) are privately owned and cover 70 percent of the land; eighty percent of holdings are under 10 ha. The state owns 94, 860 holdings (9 percent) which cover 2 500 000 ha, 31 percent of all agricultural land. 4. RUMINANT LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS Table 4 shows the development of livestock numbers over the period 1987-1999 (with totals added for years 2000, 2004 and 2005; 78 percent are sheep, 14 percent goats and only 6 percent are bovines. The steppe and presaharan zones hold 80 percent of the total, mainly sheep. Table 4. Evolution of livestock numbers (‘000 head)
The main cattle breed, the Atlas Brown, has four sub-breeds:
Exotic breeds are represented by: the Dutch Friesian, an excellent milker, is widespread in the coastal region and constitutes 66 percent of improved breeds; the French Friesian is also widespread and a good milker; the Pie Rouge de l’Est and the Montbéliarde are present in small numbers. These breeds, introduced to raise production, find themselves under ecological conditions very different from those of their countries of origin. Although they are imported for their high genetic potential, their performance decreases because of the strain on their metabolism in adapting to the local environment. Algeria’s sheep herd is dominated by three breeds, well adapted to local conditions (Adem, 1986 ; Chellig, 1969 and 1992) :
There are four secondary sheep breeds:
Some even rarer breeds are mentioned, the Taadmit, developed from the Ouled Djellal, and a few isolated herds of merinos, which correspond to attempts to intensify sheep production. The composition of the herd is tending to change. Nowadays the hardy Beni Ighil, so well adapted to the steppe, is being replaced by the very prolific Ouled Djellal which is a more profitable meat producer. In fact a yearling Beni Ighil has the same weight as a four month Ouled Djellal lamb (Abdelguerfi and Laouar 1999). Horse breeds are: the pure Barb, which has practically disappeared in the Maghreb except for a few specimens in Algeria; the purebred Arab and Arab-Barb crosses. Asses are the local breed and mules are also kept. Camels are the local race of Arabian camel. Ruminant production systems in northern Algeria Stock raising systems vary according to geographic regions: In northern Algeria the nature of the herd depends on altitude. In the plains and valleys cattle predominate; up to 1 500 m sheep and goats are commoner, rarely cattle in winter; above 1 500 m the high pastures are only used by transhumant herds of cattle after the snow melt. Because of differences in pasture quality, cattle predominate in the east while sheep and goats are commoner in the west. Cattle in the North About 80 percent of cattle are in the North, of these 53 percent are to the east and 24 percent to the west with 23 percent in the centre. In general herd composition is as shown in Table 5. Cattle are an important source of income for the agro-pastoralists of the Tell and compensate for the low income from crops due to very small areas cultivated; this encourages the increase of livestock and serious overgrazing of free communal pastures. Two types of cattle raising are distinguished:
Table 5. Structure of the cattle herd
Sheep in the North Sheep are relatively unimportant in the Tell in a sedentary system, with sheep housed in winter, and usually associated with goats. Flock size is small, 10 to 20 ewes according to holding size. Forage is scarce in the mountains and there is no scope for increasing production (Arbouche, 1995). Agropastoralists only devote 5 percent of their arable land to fodder and there is overgrazing of the maquis and the forest understorey, the degradation of which aggravates the risks of erosion. In some regions, like Kabylie, flocks are fed, in winter, on fig leaves and olive twigs and taken in spring to the fallows which provide adequate grazing; in mountainous areas the high pastures furnish summer grazing(Arbouche, 1995). The income of agro-pastoralists varies according to holding size. Crops are the main source of income (57 – 60 percent of all income) for those under ten ha, where semi-intensive systems predominate. However livestock is the main income source (72 percent of all income) on holdings over 10 hectares with extensive production systems. ( BNEDER survey, 1996). Livestock production systems in the High Plains steppes In Algeria the steppes are excellent grazing lands but have real problems associated with pastoralism. Table 6. Livestock numbers in the steppe (‘000 head).
Development of sheep rearing Sheep are the main stock of the steppe (about 80 percent) and their number has not stopped rising since 1968 (Table 6). The exponential growth of livestock numbers in the steppe and their concentration because of the decrease in nomadism, is due to several phenomena: - a rapid demographic growth which has caused an increase in the consumption of animal protein has taken place in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The population in the steppe which was 925,708 in 1954 is now estimated at nearly 4 000 000 inhabitants (Kacimi, 1996). This takes into account both the sedentarized and mobile populations (Table 7). Table 7. Evolution of the human population of the steppe
- speculation on the mutton market (the retail price has risen from 55 DA/kg in 1977 to 500 DA/kg at present) has contributed to the development of sheep rearing. - extensive stock-rearing has also benefited from subsidies which the state provided on concentrate feed during the 1970s and which, originally, was only to be used by the livestock cooperatives to compensate for the meagre forage available during lean seasons. Very large amounts of imported barley were distributed at low prices (1.7 DA kg in 1985) to cover the fodder deficit. Concentrate use rose from 750 – 2 060 millions of fodder units between 1971 and 1985. (Le Houérou, 1985 ; Boutonnet 1989). Figures for the importation of barley and maize are shown in Table 8. Table 8. Evolution of imports of coarse cereals (in ‘000 of tons)
The steppe production system. The population of the steppe, composed basically of pastoralists, practiced nomadism (in which the whole family moves with the herds) and transhumance (which only affects the shepherds and the livestock). These are forms of social adaptation to arid regions which permit survival under conditions of cyclic droughts and help to maintain environmental equilibrium. That system allowed rational management of space and time through two basic movements:
These two transhumant movements allow the steppe to be used for 3 or 4 months in spring, which is the season of maximum herbage production; that is to say the growth of annuals on the spring rain with their high nutritive value largely compensate the poor forage quality of the perennial herbage. That intelligent combination gave an optimum utilization of natural resources and, since the steppe grazing was only used for one third of the year, the vegetation had time to regenerate. The management of the grazing lands by the population was based on tacit agreements based on ancestral traditions. That grazing land comprised public land which regrouped the forests, the expanses of alfa and the vast grazing lands, arch lands held as collective property by the tribes and melk lands which are privately owned. (Bouhkobza, 1982 ; Berchiche et al 1993 ; Bedrani, 1996) . Nowadays the pastoral society has undergone great socio-economic changes. There has been a great reduction in nomadism which subsists sporadically. Long distance movements only concern 5 percent of the steppe population. Former nomads are not totally sedentarised as one might think but have become semi-sedentary. Movements are more limited (10 to 50 km). Pastoralists have modified their system by combining cereal growing with stock rearing. Herd size is small - about 80 percent of owners have fewer than 100 head and 90 percent of the sheep are privately owned. The types of owner are:
Livestock in the Central Sahara. An analysis of the situation in the parks of Tassili and Ahaggar gives an overall idea of pastoral management in the Central Sahara (stock numbers are shown in Table 9). Table 9. Stock numbers in the Sahara Central (head)
There are several types of stock-owner in these regions:
Livestock production parameters and the system of integration Table 10. Evolution of livestock production parameters in Algeria
The dairy industry Average annual milk production during the past decade has been about a billion litres (see Table 10) of which 60 percent are from cows, 26 percent from ewes and 13 percent from goats. Camel milk is not taken into account. A study of zootechnical performances undertaken in 2000, on eighty holdings, by l’Observatoire des Filières Lait et Viande rouge of l’Institut Technique des Elevages (ITELV) gave the following results:
Data for average milk production by agro-ecological zone and by breed for December 2002 are given in Tables 11a and 11b.
Source: Observatoire des filiè lait et viande rouge (OFLIVE), December, 2002 Table 11b. Average milk production by bovine race and by agro-ecological zone.
Source: Observatoire des filiè lait et viande rouge (OFLIVE), December, 2002 The weak production on the level of the plains (9.38 Kg/vt/j) is explained by the extensive agricultural vocation of these zones. Generally, the bovine race Pie Rouge presents better performances than the Pie Noire. The annual growth of milk production is very low. It barely covers 40 percent of national consumption which is 110 litres per inhabitant annually, the deficit being met by imports. The global allowance for imports of milk and milk products is US $ 490 000 000. The level of collection of raw milk by public dairy units varies between 5 and 15 percent, between 50 000 000 and 150 000 000 litres. The degree of industrial integration is 4 to 10 percent. There are many constraints connected with milk production; they are linked to the development of cattle keeping:
The meat industry Red meat is mainly produced by extensive sheep (56 percent) and cattle (34 percent) raising. Goat meat (8 percent) and camel (2 percent) are marginal, such meat is only eaten in the south of the country. It is difficult to estimate the balance between production and consumption because of non-controlled slaughtering. Published surveys reveal an annual consumption of 4 kg of mutton and 3.5 kg of beef. Population growth and erosion of purchasing power has led to a reduction in meat consumption by 40 percent in the past decade, especially for those social strata on fixed incomes. Nevertheless, the strong demand generated by the social categories with high incomes who have improved their consumption model by increasing their intake of animal protein, has allowed meat prices to remain high (the retail price of red meat has increased by ten times in twenty years). To satisfy the demand for meat and dairy products Algeria imports considerable quantities of beef and veal (73,719M tonnes in 2004) and butter, ghee, dry skim milk and cheese (2004 total milk equivalent imports 2,137,657M tonnes with the range from 1995-2004 of 1.1 to 2.1 Million M tonnes). The value of beef and veal and dairy product imports in 2004 were 142.1 US$ millions and 818.8US$ millions respectively. Land dedicated to fodder production and grazing cover 33 000 000 hectares: extensive grazing (87.7 percent), fallows (10.6 percent), sown fodder (1.6 percent) and natural pasture (0.1 percent) . Sown fodder (see Table 12) Sown fodder is basically oat-vetch mixture which accounts for 70 percent of the area grown; 10 percent of the area is sown to cereals (barley, oats and rye). Lucerne and sorghum are rare, 1 to 5 percent of the area. During the 1998 – 1999 campaign the quantity of fodder seed delivered to growers was about 20 000 quintals, of which oat-vetch accounted for 68 percent. (Abdelguerfi, 1987). Sown fodder provides 577 000 000 UFL (the UFL is a unit expressing the annual energy needs of a ewe for maintenance and supplying milk to her lamb). These fodders represent ninety percent of the energy supplied by sown fodder and concern essentially oat-vetch mixtures, fodder oats and oat-pea mixtures. Fodder consumed green supplies 43 000 000 UFL (Houmani 1999). There is also fodder barley, berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) and lucerne. Table 12. Production of sown fodder
Natural fodder (see Table 13) Land dedicated to natural forage production comprises those fallows which are mown (80 percent) with over 130 000 hectares and natural meadows (20 percent) with about 35 000 hectares. Natural meadows are basically found in the humid and sub-humid bioclimatic zones. Yields are of the order of 8.4 quintals per hectare for natural meadows and 4.8 quintals for mown fallows. The total fodder is 1 443 000 000 UFL from the meadows and 73 000 000 UFL from the fallows. Table 13. Productivity of natural forage
Many studies and trials on methods of increasing cereal production and diversifying fodder resources have been undertaken in the past thirty years (Le Houérou 1971, Project FAO-UNDP-SAIDA, Project ACSAD-Tiaret, and the Ministry of Agriculture’s dossier on the better use of fallows). These activities aimed at reducing the fallow area through the use of alternative crops. Thus the introduction of medics (annual Medicago) in rotation with wheat was intended to improve the structure and fertility of the soil and thereby improve both crop and livestock production. According to Hamadache (2001), fallow replacement crops include :
These activities form a principal part of the aims of the PNDA and benefit from subsidies. The fodder resources of North Algeria The pasture resources of the North are not large; they have been evaluated in a study in the mountains of Béni Chougrane (FAO/FIDA, 1993) :
Fodder resources of the grazing lands of the steppes and the presaharan zone Numerous vegetation studies have elucidated the pastoral potential of the steppes which are dominated by four great vegetation formations(Djebaili, 1978 ; URBT, 1974-1991 ; Nedjraoui, 1981 ; Aidoud, 1989 ; Le Houérou, 1998, 2000, 2001) : The alfa (Stipa tenacissima) steppes of which the potential area is 4 000 000 ha have a wide ecological range. They are found, in fact, in the semi-arid bioclimates with cool or cold winter and the upper arid zone with cold winters. These steppes colonize all geological substrates between 400 and 1 800 m. The yield of alfa can reach 10 tons/ha of dry matter but the useable green part produces 1 000 to 1 500 kg/ha of dry matter. The nutritive value of alfa is low, 0.3 to 0.5 UF/kg of dry matter although the inflorescences are very palatable (0.7 UF/kg DM). The grazing production of this type of steppe varies between 60 and 150 UF/ha according to the degree of cover and its floristic composition (Aidoud and Nedjraoui, 1992). The Artemisia (Artemisia herba-alba) steppes cover 3 000 000 ha in the upper and middle arid zone with cool and cold winters with precipitation between 100 and 300 mm. This type of steppe occurs in zones which receive run-off, in depressions and on encrusted glacis with a glazed film on the surface. Primary production varies from 500 to 4 500 kg/ha of dry matter with an annual production of 1 000 kg/ha of dry matter. The annual grazeable yield is 500 kg/ha, that is 150 to 200 UF/ha. Artemisia has a feeding value of 0.65 UF/kg dry matter, these steppes are often thought to be the best grazing lands to use throughout the year, especially in bad seasons, in summer and winter when they provide important reserves. Their degraded facies corresponds to that of Peganum harmala around campments and water points. The esparto (Lygeum spartum) steppes occupy 2 000 000 ha, rarely homogeneous, on encrusted erosion glacis covered by a film of aeolian deposits over brown, halomorphic soils in the zone of the chotts. These formations are the upper and middle arid zone with cool and cold winters. Lygeum spartum has little interest as grazing, 0.3 – 0.4 UF/kg dry matter. These steppes are not very productive with a yield of 300 to 500 kg/ha dry matter, but they are, nevertheless good enough pastures. Their interest comes from their floristic diversity and their relatively high productivity of annuals and small perennials, about 110 UF/ha. The "remt"(Arthrophytum scoparium) steppes form chamaeophytic, bushy steppes with a ground cover below 12.5 percent. The harsh conditions of their environment, extremely arid (20 - 200 mm/year), high temperatures, variants hot to cool, poor soils, brown calcareous with hardpans or encrusted siernozems make these steppes rather uninteresting from the grazing point of view. The energy value of the plant is about 0.2 UF/kg dry matter. The mean annual production is 40 to 80 kg/ha dry matter, between 20 and 50 UF/ha/year. This kind of steppe in mainly used by camels. The psammophitic steppes are connected with the sandy texture of the surface horizons of aeolian origin. These formations are unevenly distributed and their area is estimated at 200 000 ha. They follow the corridors of sand deposition in the depressions of the chotts. They are commonest in the arid and presaharan zones. These psammophitic formations are mainly grassy steppe with Aristida pungens and Thymellaea microphylla or shrubby steppes with Retama raetam and their grazing value varies between 200 to 500 UF/ha. The halophyte steppes. These cover about 1 000 000 ha. The nature of salts, their concentration and their spatial variation has brought about a particular zonation of highly palatable halophytic vegetation around saline depressions. The commonest plants in these formations are: Atriplex halimus, Atriplex glauca, Suaeda fruticosa, Frankenia thymifolia, Salsola sieberi and Salsola vermiculata. This kind of steppe is much sought after by the herders and its grazing value is about 300 UF/ha. Details of the floristic composition of typical pasture types are given in Annex tables 1 –4. CONSTRAINTS TO PASTORAL PRODUCTION Climatic constraints Yields of cultivated fodder vary with the vagaries of the weather. In 1996 the yield was 28 quintals/ha against 9.8 quintals in 1997 for oat-vetch and 31 quintals against 5.5 for the other forages during the same periods, 1997 was a drought year. Table 14. Reduction of precipitation (mm/yr) on the High steppic Plains
On the High steppic Plains weather perturbations, especially rainfall (see Table 14) are a major cause of the fragility of these environments, already very sensitive, and provoke ecological crises which have repercussions on the primary production of ecosystems and on changes in their floristic composition. The availability of forage on natural grazing is variable (Table 15). Studies have shown a loss of pastoral production equivalent to 236 UF/ha from a reduction of 104 mm/year in the steppes of south Algeria. This is a good illustration of the situation throughout the steppe, whatever the facies. In fact the same evolution has been demonstrated for the Artemisia and esparto steppes. Table 15. Evolution of the production of alfa (Kg dm/ha) according to grazing pressure and rainfall.
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