Grasslands and Rangelands
Extensive grasslands cover about 25% of the world surface and contribute to the livelihoods of over 800 million people including many poor smallholders.
Grasslands are a source of goods and services such as food and forage, energy and wildlife habitat. They also provide carbon and water storage, recreation, and watershed protection for many major river systems. Grasslands are important for in situ conservation of genetic resources. Out of a total of 10 000 species, only 100-150 forage species have been cultivated, but many more hold potential for sustainable agriculture. Well managed grasslands and rangelands hold potential for sustainable production of herbivores.

Forage Crops
Pastures are the basic feed resources for livestock worldwide and in humid areas mixed farming systems supply over 90% of the milk, 70% of sheep and goat meat, and 35% of beef.
The development of integrated systems based on annual crops in association and rotation with pastures and forages for livestock, responds to a variety of needs to:
•    intensify crop production;
•    increase profitability and precision of inputs;
•    increase farmers’ security;
•    preserve natural resources and the environment.
Generally farmers invest more labour and inputs to produce a crop (such as rice, cotton, soybean, maize, rubber and coconut) than to produce forage for livestock. However, the production of pastures is as important as the production of crops to increase farm income and security, to improve biodiversity and environmental benefits, to improve efficiency of fertilizers and zero tillage.
Research carried out in Brazil shows that well managed grazed pastures in rotation with crops leave in the system more than 15 t/ha of roots, showing a larger content of soil organic residues (8.8 g/kg dry soil) than in the case of continuous soybean crops (1.3 g/kg dry soil). Pastures also maintain high micro and macro flora activity in the soil and increase soil porosity.
FAO promotes information sharing and training of scientists, technicians, farmers and policy makers on the biology, the technologies and best practices to enhance the integration between crops and pasture production in different ecologies.