FRW-401

Agro-Forestry Range and Wildlife

Management

Dr. Ahsan Ul Haq

Assistant Professor
Department of Forestry and Range Management.
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
Introduction to Range
Importance of Rangeland
Rangeland of Pakistan
RANGE
The term range refers to a vast area supporting natural vegetation which is
suitable for grazing/browsing by livestock
RANGELAND
A unit of agriculture land which supports or is suitable for supporting range
vegetation
RANGE MANAGEMENT
The application of science on range land and related resources for obtaining
maximum yield on sustainable basis
Pasture
An irrigated/moist area supporting an excellent stand of vegetation suit able for
grazing
Silage
Pickled green material used in emergencies
 RANGE BASIC TERMS
Forage
The plant material which is grazed by range livestock
Grass
A green plant which is a member of family Poaceae
Graze
The eating of any kind of growing vegetation by domestic livestock
Browsing
Woody vegetation which have some forage value
Biomass
Living as well as dead material of plants or animal origin
Carrying Capacity
The maximum number animal units which can be grazed in one hectare for one years
Animal Unit
A cow having weigh of 450 kg and eat 9 kg air dried forage per day
Hay
Air dried forage used to feed livestock during emergencies
Palatability
The acceptability of a forage by grazing animals as shown by their preference
 INTRODUCTION

The range area is extensive and highly variable in term of soil, climate, vegetation and
productivity

• Poor access, light textured soil, arid and semi arid climate, poor and open scrub
vegetation and low productivity is the characteristics of these rangelands

• Decline in forage yield naturally reduce production of livestock

• Range management is one of the oldest and most respected profession of man in
general and particular to Muslims

• All messenger of Allah are reported to have tended livestock on natural grazing area
during early formative years of their lives
 INTRODUCTION
The pastoral influence on Pakistan culture and traditions are easily visible

• Nomadic and agro grazing are familiar form of range management in present day in
Pakistan

• Decrease in desire number of forage species

• Reduction in their vigor stunted and deformed shape

• Decline in their ability to compete and reproduce

• Shortening of growing and grazing periods

• Increase number of undesirable species

• Depletion in wildlife
 SIGNIFANCE OF RANGELAND

• Out of 79.63 square kilometer land area of Pakistan 49.50 identified as Rangelands

• RANGELAND= 62%

• CULTIVATED LAND = 25%

• FOREST LAND = 5.5%

• MISCELLANEOUS = 7.5 %
 REGION WISE DISTRIBUTION OF
RANGELAND

REGION TOTAL AREA RANGE AREA PERCENTAGE

m ha m ha %

PUNJAB 20.63 8.20 40

SINDH 14.09 7.80 55

KPK 10.17 6.10 60

BALOCHISTAN 34.72 27.40 79

Sub Total 79.61 49.50 62.20

 SIGNIFANCE OF RANGELAND
• Livestock having share of 58.92 percent in agriculture and 11.11 percent in GDP

• 91.019 million livestock heads are supported by these rangelands

• One local survey suggest that rang land of Punjab, KPK, AJK provide forage
production of 30-40 % of total livestock heads. Similarly figure for Sindh and
Balochistan are estimated to be 60 and 80%
respectively

• NCA reported that 19 million sheep and Goat are dependent on rangelands.40% of
total number of sheep and goat in the country

• Estimated value of Rs.18100-23100 million

 SIGNIFANCE OF RANGELAND
• These rangeland extend from Alpine pastures in the North to the costal ranges in the
South and represent the wide variety of soils, climate and vegetation

• 200,000 family depends on grazing their livestock on Rangelands and same on

irrigated farmlands

• The grazing of livestock affect the 2.5 million people of the country

• The contribution of livestock industry depends upon rangelands approximately 47

billion rupee in the GDP after agriculture that is 143.917 billion rupees

• The importance of rangeland further highlighted bcoz of 66 % peoples of Pakistan

suffer in deficiency of proteins which is the products of rangeland

• They need 102 gram and getting 58 gram

 RANGELANDS OF PAKISTAN

PUNJAB
Rangeland Name Area of Rangeland

Pothwar 2.5 m ha

Thal 2.5 m ha

Cholistan 3.5 m ha

D.G, Khan 1.2 m ha

Total range area of Punjab 9.7 m ha.

 SINDH
Rangeland Name Area

Ragistan 3.8 m ha

Thar 4.5 m ha

Kohistan 1.2 m ha

Total range area of Sindh 9.5 m ha

 RANGE LAND OF KPK
Rangeland Name Area

Alpine and moist temperate 2.3 m ha

Dry temperate 2.3 m ha

Sub-tropical 1.1 m ha

Total range area of KPK 5.7 m ha

 RANGELAND OF BALOCHISTAN

Rangeland Name Area

Northern mountains( zhob, Lora Lai) 8.0 m ha

Pats plains of North-East ( Sibbi) 1.6 m ha

Chaghi- Kharan desert 8.4 m ha

Central plateau ( Kallat) 11.4 m ha

Lasbela- Mekran coast) 3.3 m ha

Total range area of Balochistan 32.7 m ha

 POTHOWAR RANGELAND
It comprise of district of Attock, Islamabad, Chakwal, Jehlum and hilly area of Gujrat,
Mianwali and khushab

The tract lies between Jehlum and Indus rivers

Altitude varies from 300m- 1300m

Ecologically, it is located sub tropical, semi arid/ sub humid zone

Temperature extremes' are 45c and drop below freezing points in Janurary
The average precipation varies from 400-870 mm
The soil of the area have developed from wind and water transported material
The climatic conditions are suitable for forage production.
 POTHOWAR RANGELAND
• Cropping intensity is low and fertility level is low due to erosion

• Wheat, maize, sorghum, millets groundnut, gram, mustard, sunflower and soybean are
major cultivated crop etc

• Livestock rearing is an important component of rural economy.

• It is the home of famous Dhanni cattle breed.

• Forest are open and scrub
• Study with respect to carry capacity if protected for 2 years produced 4350kg AD
forage/ years which is equivalent to about 2 ha/AU/Years
• Estimates for moderate and depleted sites are 7 and 56 ha/AU/Years
• Arid<200mm
• Semi arid = 200-300 mm
• Sub-humid = more than 500mm
 GRASSES FOUND

• Arisitda depressa Lumb

• Cenchrus ciliaris Dhaman

• Cynodon dactylon Khabbal

• Chrysopogon aucheri Khar

• Eleusine flagellifera Chhimber

• Digitaria bicornis Pharion

 Browse Species
Botanical Name Local Name

Acacia modesta Phulai

Olea cuspidata Kao

Tecoma undulata Lahura

Zizyphus nummularia Mallah

Adhatoda vasica

Butea frondosa Dhak

 MAJOR RECOMMENDED OPERATION
• Grazing at suitable stocking rate

• Soil and water conservation operation on selected favorable site

• Controlled or planned grazing

• Artificial reseeding

• Encouragement of farmers to grow fodder

• Development of water point

• Livestock Management

• Marketing of range products

• Mixed herd
 DG.Khan Rangelands
• It lies between the base of Suleiman hills and the Indus river and stretches over DG
Khan and Rajanpur districts
• Climatic regime is typical very arid
• Winter is cold and summer is hot
• Maximum temperatures 42C
• Average precipitation 140 mm which received in summer
• Shortage of water and uncontrolled nomadic grazing are very serious problems in this
area
• The soil is deep, well drained, calcareous , medium textured and low in organic matter.
• Livestock problem is major land use in the region.
• Dajal breed of cattle
• Millet and sorghum are cultivated
• The average carrying capacity of protected, reseeded and watershed area is expected
to be from 5-7 ha/AU.
 GRASSES FOUND

Botanical Name Local Name

Panicum antidotle Malai

Cenchrus ciliaris Dhaman

Eleusine flagellifera Chhimber

Chrysopogon aucheri kHAR

Elionurus hirsutus Gorkha

Saccharum spontaneum Kahi

Cynodon dactylon Khabbal

 Browsing Species
Botanical Name Local Name

Acacia nilotica Kiker

Capparis apphylla Karir

Prosopis cineraria Jand

Salvadora oleoides Van

Zizyphus nummularia Mallah

Zizyphus jujuba Ber

Tamarix dioica Pilchi

 MAJOR RECOMMENDED OPERATION
• Grazing at suitable stocking rate

• Soil and water conservation operation on selected favorable site

• Controlled or planned grazing

• Artificial reseeding

• Encouragement of farmers to grow fodder

• Development of water point

• Livestock Management

• Marketing of range products

• Mixed herd
THANK YOU