Changes in grazing areas and feed resources in a dry area of north-eastern Syria☆

Abstract Changes in grazing areas and feed resources were described for a dry area of north-eastern Syria, from May 1994 to May 1995, to identify the characteristics of flock movement and the seasonal changes in feed resource utilization, and analyse the main factors which regulate the system of livestock management. The patterns of grazing areas were classified into three main categories in the study area, namely, (1) harvested barley fields in summer, (2) a combination of both harvested barley fields and rangeland from summer to autumn, and (3) rangeland from autumn to spring. Changes in grazing area were regulated mainly by the time of barley harvesting, the scantiness and/or richness of feed resources in harvested barley fields and on rangeland, water pounds and cold weather in the rainy season, and governmental policy. The main feed resources were barley straw and stubble in summer, a combination of barley stubble and native plants on the rangeland from summer to autumn, native plants on the rangeland or cotton residue in autumn, supplementary feeding of barley grain and straw in winter, and native plants on the rangeland in spring. The subsistence systems of rangeland grazing and cultivation activities competed with each other for land use, but compensated for each other in feed supply for small ruminants throughout the year. From the viewpoint of grazing management throughout the year, integrated land use between rangeland and cultivated fields is an inevitable system in the study area. The contents of feed resources in the study area are still very simple, mainly because of the possibility of only barley cultivation by rainwater and the vast unarable mountainous rangeland. Information about the characteristics and the system analysis of the flock management in the study area could offer important information for sustainable land use planning in dry mountainous areas of northern Africa and western Asia.