Li-Menglin, Yuan Bo-Hua and J.M. Suttie
Li-Menglin and Yuan Bo-Hua can be contacted at the Animal Husbandry Bureau, South Xinhua Road, Urumqi, China, where Li-Menglin is the Deputy Director of Project 2817. At the time of writing, J.M. Suttie was Senior Officer of the Grassland and Pasture Crops Group at FAO, Rome.
Les aliments d'hiver ont toujours pos� un s�rieux probl�me dans les syst�mes de production pastorale transhumante pratiqu�s dans les r�gions semi-arides temp�r�es de la Chine. Dans l'Alta�, situ� dans la partie nord-ouest du pays, on s'est attach� depuis la fin des ann�es 80 � d�velopper la production de fourrage irrigu� en vue d'obtenir du foin sur plus de 20 000 ha, en utilisant � cette fin la luzerne locale. Quoique la FAO et le PNUD aient pr�t� une certaine assistance technique en mati�re de production fourrag�re, d'irrigation et de gestion des eaux, l'essentiel des ressources techniques employ�es �taient d'origine locale. Ce projet a consid�rablement fait progresser la production d'aliments d'hiver et a en outre permis d'assurer une exploitation efficace des p�turages naturels en pr�servant le syst�me de transhumance. Parall�lement, il a favoris� l'�tablissement d'une partie de la communaut� nomade, qui a, de ce fait, b�n�fici� d'un meilleur acc�s aux services �ducatifs et sociaux. Presque enti�rement mis en œuvre par un personnel provincial, le projet a conduit � l'�laboration de techniques adapt�es aux conditions locales en mati�re d'irrigation, d'agronomie des fourrages et de s�lection des plantes fourrag�res et a permis aux techniciens et aux agriculteurs d'acqu�rir les comp�tences n�cessaires.
Los piensos de invierno han representado siempre una limitaci�n importante para los sistemas de producci�n pastoral trashumante de las regiones semi�ridas de clima templado de China. Desde finales de los a�os ochenta se ha introducido en Altai, en la parte nordoccidental del pa�s, la producci�n de forraje de regad�o para heno en m�s de 20 000 ha, utilizando alfalfa local. La FAO y el PNUD proporcionaron alg�n apoyo t�cnico en relaci�n con la tecnolog�a del forraje, el riego y el aprovechamiento del agua, pero la principal aportaci�n t�cnica fue fundamentalmente local. Gracias a este proyecto se han mejorado mucho los piensos de invierno, y se ha conseguido al mismo tiempo una explotaci�n eficaz de los pastos naturales manteniendo el sistema de trashumancia. Se ha facilitado el asentamiento de una parte de la comunidad n�mada, mejorando as� su acceso a los servicios escolares y sociales. Esta actividad, realizada casi en su totalidad por personal de la provincia, ha permitido crear tecnolog�as adaptadas localmente para la ingenier�a del riego, la agronom�a del forraje y el fitomejoramiento de �ste, perfeccion�ndose adem�s los conocimientos pr�cticos necesarios tanto de los t�cnicos como de los agricultores.
Livestock rearing, using transhumant production systems, is the main land use and source of livelihood in vast areas of the semi-arid and arid temperate zones of Asia; indeed, it is probably the only way of exploiting these seasonal pastures economically. A major constraint to improving livestock production and family incomes is the lack of feed during winter and early spring, a period of extremely low temperatures, when breeding stock are pregnant and most vulnerable. Over the past ten years, the Altay Prefecture in China (see Map) has undertaken an ambitious and impressive development programme to produce and conserve fodder by cultivating over 20 000 ha of irrigated land for hay. At the same time it has maintained the transhumance of the herds while providing settled bases with education and social facilities for herders' households.
Stacking hay at the homestead
Mise en meule du foin � la ferme
Apilamiento de heno en la finca familiar
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
The winter pastures in spring
P�turages d'hiver au printemps
Pastos de invierno durante la primavera
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
Location of the Altay Prefecture in China
Location de la pr�fecture de l'Alta� en Chine
Localizaci�n de la prefectura de Altai en China
The Altay Prefecture, located in the extreme north of Xinjiang, between Kazakstan and Mongolia, is bound in the north by high mountains and cut off from southern Xinjiang by a large expanse of desert and semi-desert area in the Djungar Depression. Kazak herders follow a traditional transhumance: the herds spend late spring, summer and early autumn on mountain pastures but return to the desert steppe when the hills become snow-covered and temperatures are very low - even on the plains, winter temperatures can fall to -40�C.
The grazing cycle is a classical montane one, depending on the four main pastoral zones:
A Kazak woman turning hay
Femme kazake retournant le foin
Mujer kazaka dando la vuelta al heno
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
Moving camp on the high pastures
Cheminement vers un nouveau lieu de campement sur des p�turages d'altitude
Campamento volante en los pastizales de tierras altas
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
A family with their dismantled yurt on summer pastures
Yourte d�mont�e sur des p�turages d'�t�
Familia con la yurta desmontada en una zona de pastos de verano
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
Cashmere goats on high pastures
Ch�vres du Cachemire sur des p�turages d'altitude
Cabras de Cachemira en una zona de pastos de verano
Photo/Foto: J.M. Suttie
The transhumance route is long, 180 to 200 km, from the desert plains to
the heights of the Altay mountain range. The approximate grazing periods are: spring
(early April to end of June), about 90 days; summer (end of June to late September), about
83 days; autumn (mid-September to end of November), about 71 days; and winter (November to
end of March), about 121 days. The people live in yurts (circular tents made of either
felt or leather) during transhumance and, until the present development, overwintered in
them.
Cattle, sheep, goats, horses and camels are all raised in the production system, sheep
being the most important and cattle a close second (Fig. 1). Altay Fat Rump, the main
sheep breed, is a meat type famous for its fast lamb production. It can store 15 to 20 kg
of fat in its rump and thus withstand the harsh winters. This breed, which is also raised
over the hills in Mongolia (Batsukh and Zagdsuren, 1991), produces meat and fat but only a
felt-quality fleece. Some Xinjiang fine wool sheep are kept but they are much less
winter-hardy. Kazak, a small hardy multipurpose animal, is the main cattle breed in the
area. For about 20 years, a cross-breeding programme, largely with Xinjiang Brown and
Simmenthal, has upgraded a large part of the original cattle population while maintaining
their hardiness. Milk production of the local breed is low. Medium-sized horses (350 to
400 kg)which are hardy and of good appearance are bred for sale, transport, meat and milk,
which is an important summer food. The local black goat produces high-quality cashmere.
Bactrian camels are used as saddle and pack animals and yield high-quality wool.
1
Breedable female stock of project counties, 1986 and 1990
Nombre de femelles susceptibles d'engendrer dans la zone concern�e par le projet, 1986 et
1990
Hembras con capacidad de reproducci�n en los distritos del proyecto, 1986 y 1990
Marketing of stock and products is well developed and presents no problems. An abattoir with freezing facilities, located about two hours from a railhead, facilitates the sale of meat to other parts of northern China. Leather and leather garments of export quality are also manufactured locally. Mobile units which facilitate shearing on the transition pastures help improve wool quality and grading.
The project area is located between grid references 44�59' N to
49�16' N and 86�25' E to 90�31' E and covers a total area of 92 000 km2.
The altitude ranges from 480 m at Fuhai to over 3 500 masl. The climate is markedly
continental with hot summers and severe winters, the mean minimum temperature for January
is -26�C and the mean maximum for July is 30�C. Precipitation, mainly snow, ranges from
less than 100 mm/year on the plains to more than 600 mm/year in the high pastures, with
strong winds generally being a problem. Intermittent spells of extreme cold do occur and,
combined with high winds and snow, can cause death of stock. The higher altitudes are much
colder so the high pastures are open for less than three months a year.
There is some irrigated crop production of recent origin on the better soils. The snow-fed
Ulungur and Irtysch Rivers provide a plentiful supply of good water, with a peak from snow
melt in June, but soils available for fodder production are totally unsuited to continuous
arable cropping. All fodder sites are below 800 m and their soils are poor, stony and
shallow, sometimes with a thin cover of wind-drifted sand. They have a high pH and a
tendency to salinity; they vary in depth between 10 and 50 m and are highly permeable.
However, they are underlain by impermeable mudstone which makes vertical drainage
difficult.
Winter feed supply was identified many years ago as the key to improving herders' incomes. The abundance of water and, albeit poor, land provided the base for an irrigation-based solution. A project was designed on this basis but could only be realized when funds were found. Operations finally began in 1988, with a development objective to improve the income and living conditions of nomadic herders through increased forage production and settlement, at the same time retaining the transhumant system of grazing. The immediate objectives are: "to produce, through the irrigation by gravity of 34 425 ha of land, large quantities of hay, expected to reach 130 000 tonnes per year at full development (year 10); and to settle 8 650 families through the allocation of irrigated land, thus providing them with easier access to medical and school facilities and with the possibility of increasing the productivity of their family labour by also engaging in agriculture. Funds were provided by the regional government with assistance from the World Food Programme in the form of food-for-work to help pay for the considerable labour inputs required for the development of an irrigation and drainage infrastructure, land levelling, etc. Some specialized assistance was made available by FAO and the United Nations Development Programme on fodder technology, irrigation and water management, but the main technical input was essentially local.
Begun in 1988, the project has resulted in some impressive developments.
It has provided an irrigated alfalfa farming regime for 6 100 Kazak householders and
income for more than 32 000 Kazak people. This is more than 15 percent of the Kazaks who
live in the Altay Prefecture. Each family was allocated the responsibility for about 4 ha
of irrigable land. A basic house was provided under a soft loan as winter quarters for the
family and for those who remained on the plains for haymaking in summer. As they have
gained profit from the enhanced fodder supply, most families have built courtyards, byres
and ancillary buildings around the base unit. The average per caput income already exceeds
500 yuan per year which is 35 percent higher than that of those still practising the full
nomadic (transhumance) system. They also have access to schooling and better health care.
Thirty-two thousand ha have been developed, providing 20 000 ha of alfalfa pasture.
The remainder is used for trees, roads, irrigation channels, buildings and drains. The
average farm size is 3.68 to 4.3 ha, producing annually about 18 000 kg of hay from 3
ha. The remaining land is utilized for wheat, beet or sunflower. At a feeding rate of 4 kg
of hay
per day (daily sheep requirement), the total hay supply will provide 4 500 feed days.
Natural pasture provides a similar feed supply, so that each farm can produce 9 000
feed days or enough feed to winter 60 sheep equivalents for the 150 days of
housing/natural pasturing. This equates to two to three cows per household plus 50 sheep.
Although lucerne has been grown in Xinjiang for at least 1 500 years (it was first domesticated in nearby central Asia) and is common in the irrigated lands of southern Xinjiang, there was no local experience in large-scale fodder production in the pastoral Altay at the project's inception. Therefore large pilot areas on farmers' fields were initially used to develop and install adapted technology for large-scale lucerne production and to train staff and herders. These pilot areas were very successful indeed; excellent yields were and have continued to be obtained from them. Many of the problems encountered in improving projectwide yields were due to the difficulty of applying careful agronomic techniques over vast areas with herders who have never farmed, far less irrigated, before. The pilot areas proved that good fodder (and rotation crops) can be produced by farmers (Table 1).
1
Hay yields in demonstration areas
Rendements en foin dans les zones de d�monstration
Rendimiento del heno en las zonas de demostraci�n
Site |
Area (ha) |
1989 |
1990 |
(Tonnes/ha) |
|||
Altai |
56.7 |
6.45 |
8.25 |
Burjin |
112.4 |
5.50 |
7.90 |
Fuhai |
70.2 |
4.90 |
7.20 |
Dure |
62.3 |
3.21 |
4.30 |
Lucerne is the only fodder grown commercially; until recently the local
northern Xinjiang Beijiang variety was the only one used. Some southern Xinjiang
broad-leaved Laojiang and a selection by August 1 College of Ximu 1 (M. media) have
also been used on a field scale. The dangers of establishing such a large project on a
narrow genetic base are well recognized. An international collection of varieties, based
on their reputed cold-resistance, were tested. None survived their first Xinjiang winter,
which is generally snow-free on the irrigated plains. The accent, therefore, has to be put
on selection within northern China ecotypes. The northern Xinjiang landrace has small
leaves, variegated flowers and withstands grazing well. It may be a hybrid with M.
falcata which occurs wild in the hills. The only other fodder still under trial is
Lotus which shows considerable promise at Altay for poor and poorly drained land.
It was realized from the outset that nomadic herders could not be expected to master the
techniques of pasture installation on first settlement and, therefore, mechanization of
the installation operation was foreseen. Three main methods have been used: aerial seeding
at Burjin; direct seeding at Burjin, Fuyun/Dure (earlier years); and undersowing in wheat
grown by local farmers at Fuhai and Altay. Direct seeding generally gives the best results
by far (using 15 kg/ha of unscarified seed); land levelling irregularities have masked any
differences between drilling and aerial sowing. Economic necessity, coupled to problems of
late spring wind damage to seedlings, led to undersowing; carefully executed undersowing
gives reasonable stands. The 1988 pilot areas showed that lucerne could be installed
properly and that the technicians were competent. Proper land levelling, adequate
phosphatic fertilizer, good properly inoculated seed and a lot of agronomic care are all
necessary. Sowing is in late spring because the severe wind storms of late April and May
kill the seedlings, so the benefit of the cooler spring weather cannot be utilized.
Initial establishment of virgin areas has been closely supervised or done directly by
project staff since, in the beginning, the herders had no farming experience. Thereafter,
management and harvesting and resowing in rotation became the responsibility of the
herders. Undersowing lucerne to wheat is usually done by drilling them together while,
with other row crops, lucerne is broadcast after weeding.
All fodder is supposed to be mown for hay, not grazed, except perhaps for some aftermath
in late autumn. Fertilizer application (phosphate for maintenance) is advised but there
have been supply problems. Well-maintained fields have remained in good condition since
1988 (over six years) which is as long as can be reasonably expected. The beneficial
effects of phosphatic fertilizer, both at establishment and for maintenance, have been
demonstrated on a field scale, and unfertilized crops tail off after the second year on
virgin soil. Without maintenance fertilizer, yields drop. At the old lucerne seed base at
Duleti, hay yields stabilized at two tonnes per hectare after a few years.
Two hay cuts are taken, in June and August, while the herds are in the mountains; the
aftermath is usually grazed off in late autumn. Modern machinery has been used and proved
very effective, but simple, reciprocating-blade mowers drawn by animals or small tractors,
along with trip-rakes and horse carts, are now the norm. Mowing technology seems adequate
if care is taken in field preparation and in maintaining sharp knives. Hay dries quickly
and is often windrowed at mowing with the mower and trip-rake in tandem. It is then put
into small cocks with a fork and later hand-loaded on to horse carts and stored in low,
loosely compacted stacks in walled compounds; high stacks would be blown away. Skill in
handling and carting hay was developed rapidly in the early years.
Good crops of lucerne (Medicago sativa) last at least four years if reasonably managed and maintained. Thereafter, one cereal or cash crop is taken before resowing to lucerne, generally under a nurse crop (wheat, sunflower or beet). This system is popular, as it provides rapid cash. Farming standards vary widely, so extension and training of the herder-settlers are very necessary. Management rotations are being developed for alfalfa pastures, embracing four years of hay cropping after sowing, followed by ploughing, and then to wheat in the fifth year, followed by a second crop of variable choice in the sixth year before reverting back to alfalfa, either sown pure at 10 to 12 kg of seed/ha or undersown to wheat at a similar or slightly reduced rate. In any one year therefore, one-sixth of the projected area in alfalfa (20 000 ha) will require sowing. At a sowing rate of 12 kg of seed/ha, the total seed requirement will be 40 000 kg. The area of second-year alfalfa required to produce this amount is 140 ha. If a safety margin of 40 percent is allowed for crop failure, disease or poor weather at harvest, the total area required could be about 200 ha. In 1995, an area of 300 ha had been designated for seed production. Considerable increases in crop yield after lucerne are reported from Fuhai (Table 2).
2
Increases in crop yield after lucerne in Fuhai
Augmentation du rendement cultural apr�s introduction de la luzerne au Fuha�
Aumento del rendimiento de los cultivos despu�s de introducir la alfalfa en Fuhai
Crop |
Before lucerne |
After 4 years of lucerne |
(kg/ha) |
||
Wheat |
2 250 |
4 500 |
Sunflower |
1 050 |
1 800-2 250 |
Beet |
22 500 |
33 750 |
The winter pastures were the weakest part of the transhumance system and
they have long been overgrazed. Project stock will use them less and less so, in
principle, there should be a reduction of pressure on them, leaving more grazing available
for the majority of other herds. These lands have little potential for improvement other
than by good management and resting; the rainfall is too low to allow reliable reseeding.
The spring and autumn pastures, as in all transhumance systems, get very heavy use. They
are grazed immediately after the start of growth when the herds leave their winter
pastures in spring and are again heavily grazed in autumn immediately before growth
ceases. Because of the scarcity of winter feed, there was a tendency to linger on these
pastures in autumn and let the herds on to them too early in spring. With the project's
provision of better winter feed, there is now no reason for out-of-season use of these
lands and it is hoped that the project flocks, being better fed, can cross them in a
shorter period of time. Reseeding techniques are known and tested, such as aerial seeding
with hybrid lucerne or Kochia prostrata. The regional government finances some
reseeding each year.
In order to increase productivity, make better use of available fodder and minimize strain
on the spring and autumn pastures, certain changes are being introduced in the animal
production system. These include early lambing in February, instead of April, which should
produce stronger lambs that will cross the transition pastures more quickly as well as
heavier lambs, with an additional 7 to 10 kg of liveweight (the traditional weight is 30
to 35 kg), for slaughter in September. Moreover, about 80 percent of the ewe lambs may be
mated in the first season. Throughout the Altay Prefecture, 50 000 ewes have lambed
early, 2 800 in the project area, for which good winter feeding and some shelter are
necessary. Slaughtering lambs for freezing in September, rather than overwintering them
for summer fattening, has been the policy since the early 1980s.
At the outset, the prefectural staff had never faced such a demanding undertaking involving irrigation and engineering as well as fodder agronomy. Furthermore, the transhumant herders had no experience of growing fodder or crops. An extensive training exercise was therefore needed at all levels. Staff training has had impressive results, involving the use of provincial and national institutions, prefectural expertise, international consultants and on-the-job experience as well as study tours to other parts of China. The training of herders is being vigorously pursued with practical demonstrations and farm visits, complemented by lectures and printed matter. Extension material in the Kazak language is scarce and project staff are working to rectify this. A high proportion of the herders are literate in Kazak which is written in a form of Persian script. The training of the herders and their families is likely to be a long process, since it not only involves significant social change but also the instruction of non-cultivating nomads in the skills necessary to produce a demanding, irrigated crop. Some are now beginning to realize the hard work involved and that various other inputs, especially phosphatic fertilizer for crop maintenance, are necessary if the new fodder source is to be sustainable.
The project has shown the feasibility of producing fodder from poor, stony desert soils in Xinjiang. It has also shown that herders' families can be given settled homes while still maintaining a transhumant grazing system to make full use of natural grazing. By combining strong local resources with small strategic inputs of outside expertise, the project has developed a great deal of technology as well as skilled staff needed for irrigation and fodder production. The project's philosophy could be a model for other areas in all the subregion where limited winter feed is the major problem, provided adequate water is available. It is also abundantly clear that, while the building and installation of such a project is an arduous and complicated undertaking, its management for sustainability thereafter is also far from simple.
Batsukh, G. & Zagdsuren, E. 1991. Sheep breeds of Mongolia. World
Anim. Rev., 68(3): 11-25.
Talashi, ed. 1989. Animal husbandry in Xinjiang. Altay, China, Xinjiang
Animal Husbandry Bureau.