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RESEARCH NOTES

Short communication of practical oriented research or relevant information in agriculture or seed technology are presented in this section.

Comparison of Research-based Forage Seed Production with Farm-level in Northeast Syria

by: S. Kugbei, A. Niane and M. Darwich

Abstract
The potential of forage seed production in developing countries is generally limited. Vetch (Vicia sativa) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are important forage crops in Syria; lentil (Lens culinaris) straw is an important source of animal feed and is occasionally grown as fodder. In this study, costs and revenue data for vetch, barley and lentil drawn from farmers' fields in northeast Syria and from seed multiplication plots at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, are used to discuss opportunities for commercializing forage seed production. The results of this study demonstrate that high potential yield, appropriate harvesting methods and commercial use of straw are important factors, which determine profitability in cultivating vetch and lentil. Despite the low value of its straw, the cultivation of barley crop can be profitable in the rainfed areas, because the variable costs of production are low and no fertilizer is used. Under research conditions on the ICARDA farm, high yield potential combined with efficient mechanical harvesting of grain and straw render barley cultivation cost-effective. The case of barley demonstrates the important role that appropriate and efficient harvesting methods play in contributing to overall cost-effectiveness. That a potential exists for farmers to obtain high margins suggests that it is possible to promote cost-effective seed production at the local level.


Introduction
In comparison with main food crops, the commercial potential of forage seed production in developing countries is generally limited (Turner, 1998). Forage seed production is also risky, particularly if the forage seed serves no useful purpose other than being sown. This risk means that enterprises producing such forage seed should know precisely the effective demand of farmers, since there may be no alternative use for the unsold seed. The demand for seed will depend on the demand for the forage crop needed as a livestock feed. The commercial demand for forage crops is weak in many developing countries, because of poorly developed livestock sectors in which animals are kept mainly for subsistence. However, if the livestock sector develops, particularly in terms of value added industries, it is expected that demand for intensive forage cultivation will increase. This will translate into a 'derived demand' for seed, in order to sow the required forage crops. The concept of derived demand is useful, as it helps to explain (1) the interrelationships between livestock development, forage promotion and seed production (Loch and Fergusson, 1999), and (2) how these factors could be used as integral components of livestock policies.

The margin of profit that seed producers receive will depend on the extent to which the sale price of seed covers the actual production costs incurred. Both technical and socioeconomic factors will influence production costs. Whether farmers buy forage seed from outside, or whether they produce their own will depend, largely, on the price they have to pay in relation to the benefits they expect to receive from using the seed. This study, therefore, compares the costs and margins associated with seed coming from a research organization with those of seed produced by farmers, and the factors that influence these costs. The crops considered here are vetch (Vicia sativa) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), which are important forage crops in Syria, and lentil (Lens culinaris). Lentil is not a typical forage crop but its straw is an important source of animal feed in Syria and is occasionally grown as fodder where the whole plant being grazed green or cut and fed to livestock (Nygaard and Hawtin, 1981).

Sources of data
Syria is divided into five agricultural zones on the basis of annual precipitation. From a total of area of 18.5 million ha, 14.6, 13.3, 7.1, 9.9 and 55.1% is in Zones 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Rainfall is the major factor that determines yield and total crop production, as most of the cultivated area is rainfed (Jumaa, et al., 1999; ICARDA, 2000).

A total of 177 formal interviews were conducted in July 2001. These involved farmers in three districts within northeast Syria, namely Malkiyeh in Zone 1, for vetch (n = 61); Hassekeh in Zones 3 and 4, for barley (n = 55) and Qamishli in Zone 2, for lentil (n = 61). Apart from a small proportion of the group, who were seed growers for the General Organization for Seed multiplication (GOSM), most of the farmers cultivated their crops for use as grain, although they usually set aside a certain proportion for use as seed.

Data were collected from each farmer for the past two seasons (1999/00 and 2000/01). There was significant crop loss, as a result of drought, during the 1999/00 season, while the following season (2000/01) was good. The results of this study, therefore, provide an interesting comparison between two contrasting seasons. Malkiyeh is located in Zone 1, which receives the highest average rainfall. Farmers in this area grow wheat as the main crop; followed by vetch and chickpea. Informal production and distribution of vetch seed has continued in the Malkiyeh area following an initial distribution of seed by GOSM in the late 1980s, as part of its contract growers scheme. Although GOSM stopped distributing certified vetch seed a few years later, cultivation of this crop has continued to expand and now covers a large area including many villages. Hasakeh district comprises both Zones 3 and 4. Most of the farmers interviewed in this district grow barley followed by irrigated wheat in terms of importance. The farmers interviewed in the Qamishli district grow a local red lentil cultivar, although wheat is their most important crop. For comparison, data on costs, yields and prices were also obtained from the ICARDA Seed Unit for the seed multiplication of vetch, barley and lentil during the 1999/00 and 2000/01 crop seasons.

Results and discussion
The farmers in Malkiyeh have adopted vetch because of certain attractive attributes, including a high rotational value, in improving physical properties and fertility of the soil; a high seed yield and vigorous vegetative growth that suppresses weeds. However, the farmers in this area currently encounter problems associated with cultivar purity and seed quality. Since GOSM discontinued formal seed multiplication and variety replacement, all the farmers grow local varieties of vetch. The farmers save their own seed and sell grain and straw as animal feed. Since Malkiyeh is predominantly a crop growing area, having little animal production, most of the vetch grain and straw they produce are sold to traders and to national livestock organizations for use outside the district. Most farmers harvest vetch manually and then thresh mechanically, during which process the straw is also chopped up, bagged, and then sold as livestock feed.

Of the farmers who grew lentil during the 2000/01 season, up to 60% of those interviewed harvested their crop manually and threshed it mechanically. As in the case of vetch in Malkiyeh, the lentil farmers in Qamishli collected the chopped straw as animal feed, which was a key reason why they harvested their crop manually. The remaining 40% of the farmers preferred fully mechanized harvesting, despite seed loss and non-recovery of straw by this method. They could not collect straw manually after mechanical harvesting, because the cost of doing so would far exceeded the financial value of the straw. Another reason that many farmers chose mechanical harvesting was the high labor cost associated with manual harvesting (SYP4500 ha^-1) compared to combine harvesting (SYP2000 ha^-1).

All the farmers in Hasakeh grow a local black-seeded variety of barley, which is commonly called Arabi Aswad. Relatively large areas are cultivated with barley; all agronomic operations for this crop are fully mechanized. Both grain and straw are used exclusively for feeding animals. Since the grain yield of barley in Hasakeh is generally low, farmers do not normally have surplus quantities they can keep as seed. They usually obtain their seed from GOSM. Also, the straw yield of barley is low. This makes its collection and handling after combine harvesting rather expensive. Therefore, the barley stubble is usually either reserved for direct grazing by animals or ploughed back into the soil. In very dry years, the entire standing crop is left for grazing and is not harvested. As an alternative to barley straw, farmers use the straw of irrigated wheat, which produces more straw and is cheaper to collect and chop up.

Results of average costs, returns and gross margins show that farmers in northeast Syria (Table 2) can obtain high margins, especially during a year with good rainfall (e.g. the 2000/01 season). The results, once again, confirm rainfall as a key factor in determining whether or not farmers in northeast Syria obtain good yields and high margins. While vetch farmers in Malkiyeh (Zone 1) received good yields during both the 1999/00 and 2000/01seasons, the situation was different in the case of lentil and barley farmers in Qamishli (Zone 2) and Hasakeh (Zones 3 and 4), respectively. The yield of lentil was very low during the dry season of 1999/00, while barley farmers had virtually no yield at all. However, the situation improved dramatically during the following season, which had adequate rainfall.

In the case of all three crops, grain was the main product. However, straw contributed significantly to overall income, particularly in the case of vetch.
The importance of straw as a source of income in the cases of vetch and lentil becomes more apparent when the farm-level figures from northeast Syria are compared with those of the ICARDA farm, where straw is not collected and sold, but is incorporated into the soil as organic matter. The operations at ICARDA are research-based; crops are produced according to strict technical guidelines to ensure high seed quality.


Therefore, the seed from ICARDA represents seed that enterprises would normally produce under certification. This method of seed production contrasts with operations carried out by farmers in northeast Syria, who produce grain and reserve only part of the crop as seed.

High yields, of 3294 and 2500 kg ha^-1 were obtained for an improved barley variety, Tadmor, on the ICARDA farm during the 1999/00 and 2000/01 seasons, respectively. This variety is not yet widely used by farmers in northeast Syria, who still use a local landrace, Arabi Aswad. This barley landrace has lower average yield potential, 1000 kg ha^-1.

Moreover, the ICARDA research farm is in a region that has an average annual rainfall of 340 mm, which, in comparison with Hasakeh, is a generally more favorable environment, especially if the improved management practices at ICARDA are also taken into account. In vetch and lentil, manual harvesting and related operations are costly for farmers. These operations account for 41 and 34% of total cost in vetch and lentil, respectively compared with 15% combine harvesting cost in barley. Mechanical harvesting of vetch and lentil seed at ICARDA does not improve margins because of significant seed and straw loss that occurs when using this method. However, the mechanical harvesting method used for barley is more appropriate, in which case seed recovery is high and the straw is directly bound into bales using specialized equipment. This method resulted in high margins, 345% and 220% for corresponding high grain yields of 3294 and 2500 kg ha-1, respectively during the 1999/00 and 2000/01 seasons. With the results obtained during 2000/01 season, this margin would drop to 39%, assuming the ICARDA seed farm was to obtain the average seed yield of 987 kg/ha and the corresponding straw yield as those in Hasakeh (Table 3). A suitable mechanical harvesting method, one which minimizes seed loss in vetch and lentil and recovers straw, would improve the margin figures in the cases of vetch and lentil seed production at ICARDA. Manual harvesting is a problem also in other important vetch growing areas of northwest Syria (Bounejmate et al., 1998).

Conclusion
This study has demonstrated that demand for grain and straw (as animal feeds), and for forage legumes (for direct grazing) creates a need for farmers to cultivate annual forage crops. For this, they require seed to sow. The greater the demand by livestock owners for certain varieties, the greater the demand for grain or seed of these varieties.

The importance of straw and grain as sources of additional revenue demonstrate that enterprises could enhance their profitability if they could diversify their operations beyond seed, to include the sale of related products such as grain and straw. To achieve this, farmers need varieties that are suitable for mechanical harvesting. Such methods should also maximize the recovery of both seed and straw during harvest.

The study has also revealed that farmers in Northeast Syria can get good margins, in comparison with formal seed production such as that carried out at ICARDA. This indicates a potential for farmer producers at village level to produce seed cost-effectively and to distribute it within the community. ICARDA is used, in this paper, as an example of a formal seed producer. However, seed production at ICARDA is not a commercial activity, although the supply of early generation seed to national programs helps in promoting new cultivars and providing start-up support for large-scale multiplication.

At the level of policy, it is essential that projects in livestock development are integrated with those dealing with forage promotion and forage seed multiplication, because of the complementarities and causal relationships involved. Information from this study could be useful in developing commercial opportunities at the local level that could benefit potential seed producers, livestock farmers and related value added industries in Syria and other countries.

References
Bounejmate, M., L. Grass and S. Christiansen 1998. ICARDA's Approach to Promoting Forage and Pasture Seed Production in West Asia and North Africa, 18-25. In Grass, L. and M. Turner (eds.), Proceedings of workshop on Pasture and Forage Seed Production in Africa and West Asia, October 1997, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.

ICARDA 2000. New levels of drought in barley. Annual Report, 11-12. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.

Jumaa, J., G. Al-Tibi and M. Pala.1999. Optimizing soil water use in Syria, 193-220. In van Duivenbooden, N., M. Pala, C. Studer and C.L. Bielders (eds.), Efficient soil water use: key to sustainable crop production in dry areas of West Asia and North and Sub-Saharan Africa. Proceedings of Workshop Organized by Optimizing Soil Water Use Consortium, Niamey, Niger, 26-30 April 1998; Amman, Jordan, 9-13 May 1999. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria and ICRISAT, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Loch, D.S. and Ferguson, J.E. 1999. Tropical and sub-tropical forage seed production: an overview, 1-40. In Loch, D.S. and J.E. Ferguson (eds.) Forage Seed Production. Volume 2: Tropical and Sub-tropical Species. CABI, Oxon, U.K.

Nygaard, D.F. and G.C. Hawtin .1981. Production, Trade and Uses, 7-13. In Webb, C. and G. Hawtin (eds.), Lentils. CAB, Oxon, U.K and ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.