RANGELANDS AND FORAGES
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The native plant biodiversity of the Arabian Peninsula, which comprises over 3500 species, is being rapidly depleted. Over 90% of the total land area now suffers from some sort of overgrazing, and 44% is severely or very severely degraded. The primary cause is overgrazing by large and small ruminants. Increasing amount of supplementary feed in the form of Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana)
Reference evapotranspiration in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, showing the typically high irrigation rates required along with the low, usually negligible, contribution from rainfall.
and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is being produced to accommodate the shortfall from the rangeland. These species however consume huge amounts of water (up to 48,000 m3/ha/year) Therefore groundwater reserves have fallen dramatically and in some cases have caused the salinity levels to rise. Indigenous grasses are adapted to the local climatic conditions and have been shown to respond significantly to very small amounts of water. ICARDA Arabian Peninsula Regional Program, working in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), and other institutions has taken steps to address the resulting degradation in the Arabian Peninsula .Collection missions were held (for example in 1998 a total of 114 accessions were collected in United Arab Emirates and 68 in the Sultanate of Oman). Another collection mission took place in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman in 2001, where 22 accessions were collected. Similar collection missions took place in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and in Yemen in the period 1998-2004. The choice of collecting these species was based on the information compiled from local farmers and herders and scientists in those countries. Apart from assessing the indigenous forages for their water use efficiency, these forages were assessed for their nutritive value in comparisons with the exotic forages i.e. Rhodes grass. As a result of these activities, a new forage grass has been identified. Lebid (Cenchrus ciliaris) is a perennial grass which offers high quality feed and has high water use efficiency. The forage can be harvested ten times per season, yielding up to 20 t/ha DM under average water application of 22000-24000 m3/ha per year (for more information see the publication section of APRP).
Research Programs
Rangelands
 - Long term objectives:
  Rehabilitation and improved management of degraded rangelands in the Arabian Peninsula countries

- Specific Objectives:
  1. Inventory, survey and mapping of degraded rangelands and available fodder resources
  2. Identify suitable species for the rehabilitation work of degraded rangelands.
  3. Identify rehabilitation techniques for degraded rangelands low input and cost reseeding techniques.
  4. Publicize and disseminate information and results through training and workshops and /or transfer of technology to end users.

- Output for 2001:
  1. Inventory, survey and mapping of degraded rangelands and available fodder resources
  2. Identify suitable species for the rehabilitation work of degraded rangelands.
  3. Identify rehabilitation techniques for degraded rangelands (low cost-low input reseeding techniques).
  4. Publicize and disseminate information and results through training and workshops and /or transfer of technology to.

Irrigated Forages
- Long term objectives:
  Develop forages well adapted to harsh environment of the Arabian Peninsula, with low water requirements and good feed quality to replace the water hungry exotic forages.

- Specific Objectives:
  1. Measurement of actual water requirements of indigenous forages
  2. Quantify the contribution of indigenous forages to feed quantity and quality when integrated with rangelands
  3. Publicize and disseminate information and results through training, workshops and/or transfer of technology to National Programs and Farmers.

- Output for 2001:
  1. One year data on water use efficiency be collected on four indigenous forages compared with Rhodes grass
  2. Seed multiplication techniques for four indigenous forages be tested
  3. Different participating countries will decide on priority forage species to focus their research work
  4. Requirement of indigenous forages for water, seed rate, fertilizers have been determined.

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 RANGELANDS/FORAGE/LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

 Objective 2:  Development of integrated range/forage/livestock systems and management practices  for rangeland rehabilitation
   
 Output 1:  Collections of germplasm of indigenous and exotic forage and rangeland species with
 identified attributes and potential for utilization (a) in rangeland restoration or  rehabilitation, and (b) as alternative forage crops

Activities:

1.1. Collection of germplasm of priority indigenous rangeland species and indigenous technical knowledge
      concerning their attributes

Participating Countries Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Oman: Saleem K. Nadaf, Safaa Al Farsi and Saleh Al Hinai
Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Al-Hajoj

 Output 2:  Evaluation of Germplasm of indigenous and exotic forage and rangeland species with
 identified attributes and potential for utilization (a) in rangeland restoration or
 rehabilitation, and (b) as alternative forage crops.

Activities:

2.1. Studying the management of plant communities through the animals.

Participating Countries Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Bahrain:Ahmed Awad El-Kariem, Adil Sitri
Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Al-Shankiti, Abdullah Al-Hajoj
Yemen: Mohamed Mofarreh, M. Aldoss, Ahmed Kaeel

2.2. Rehabilitation of degraded rangeland by using several techniques of water harvesting and planting       four promising species.

Participating Countries Emirates, Oman, Qatar
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Emirates: Mahdi Tamimi, Ibrahim Al Zarouni
Oman: Saleem K. Nadaf, Safaa Al Farsi and Saleh Al Hinai
Qatar: Mohamed Ali Hassan

2.3. Characterized and classification of collected rangeland forage and pasture.

Participating Countries Oman, Saudi Arabia
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Oman: Saleem K. Nadaf, Safaa Al Farsi and Saleh Al Hinai
Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Al Hajoj, Aqeel Al Hamdan, Abdel Mohsen Al Quraine


 Output 3:  Technical options for forage seed production in different agroecological zones and under
 different production systems

Activities:

3.1. Bulk seed production; processing and storage.

Participating Countries Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Bahrain: Ahmed Awad El-Kariem, Adil Sitri
Oman: Saleem K. Nadaf, Safaa Al Farsi and Saleh Al Hinai
Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Al-Hajoj
Yemen: M. Mufareh, Gamhouria Ahmed

3.2. Investigation on seed production technology.

Participating Countries Oman
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Saleem Nadaf, Safaa Al-Farsi, Saleh Al-Hinai, and Masoud Al-Adway

3.3. Study on maximization of seed yield by modifying plant densities through inter-row and inter-plant
      spacing, in indigenous rangeland grass species.

3.4. Effect of stage of maturity of indigenous grass species on quantity and quality of seed.

Participating Countries Oman
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Saleem K. Nadaf, Safaa Al Farsi and Saleh Al Hinai

 Output 4:  Technical options for the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded rangelands in different
 agroecologies

Activities:

4.1. Evaluating seed quality of ten range shrubs in the northern part of Saudi Arabia.

Participating Countries Saudi Arabia
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Abdulah Al-Hajoj, Al Shariri, Al Mohana

4.2. Rehabilitation of degraded rangeland by using technique of planting four promising species and by
      using technique of pour planting methods on rangeland.

Participating Countries Yemen
ICARDA Scientist(s) Ahmed Osman
Contact Scientists Mohamed Mufarah, Mohamed Al-Doss and Ahmed Haeel
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