Welcome..,

Assessing The Productivity Of Fodder Crops Under Silvipasture System

Presented by :C.Veeramani

Bsf-10-030

The production of woody plants combined with pasture is

referred to Silvipasture system.

The trees and shrubs may be used primarily to produce

fodder for livestock or they may be grown for timber, fuel

wood, and fruit or to improve the soil.

Silvipasture system:

A fodder bank of Trema orientalis trees and Setaria sphacelata pasture grass.

i) Protein bank

ii) Livefence of fodder trees and hedges

iii)Trees and shrubs on pasture

Categories of the system :

In this Silvipastural system, various multipurpose trees( protein

rich trees ) are planted on or around farmlands and range lands

for cut and carry fodder production to meet the feed

requirement of livestock during the fodder deficit period in

winter.

Example: Acacia nilotica, Albizia lebbeck, Azadirachta indica,

Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium, Sesbania

grandiflora

Protein bank

In this system, various fodder trees and hedges are planted

as live fence to protect the property from stray animals or

other biotic influences.

Example: Gliricidia sepium, Sesbania grandiflora,

Erythrina sp, Acacia sp.

Livefence of fodder trees and hedges

In this system, various tree and shrub species are scattered

irregularly or arranged according to some systemic

pattern to supplement forage production.

Example:Acacia nilotica, Acacia

leucophloea ,Tamarindus indica, Azadirachta indica.

Trees and shrubs on pasture

Increased income opportunities through diversification of

production

Enhanced wildlife habitat

Soil-improvement:

Planning a silvopastoral system

Productivity in Fodder tree plantation :

Fodder Production in Farming Systems

Forage Production on Terrace Riser/Bunds

The many benefits of silvopasture include:

A silvopastoral system, in addition to producing forage for livestock, may produce sawtimber, pulpwood, posts and poles for fences and other structures, and non-timber forest products such as nuts, fruit, honey, maple sugar, mushrooms, fodder, and materials for crafts.

Livestock on silvopasture can be domestic mammals or domestic birds ,Wildlife such as deer will also benefit from silvopasture and can bring in income from hunting.

Animal species provide a wide range of products including wool, feathers, leather, meat, milk, and eggs.  

Increased income opportunities through diversification of production

Cover and food for wildlife is provided by structural and

species diversity of the tree and shrub overstory.

Forest/grassland edges attract a variety of species such as

deer and upland game birds. 

Plant species may be manipulated through carefully

managed grazing and timber harvesting to attract desirable

wildlife species like variety of species of deer, Indian

gaur,etc..,

Enhanced wildlife habitat

Trees hold nutrients in an efficient, closed cycling

system. Their deeper roots tap nutrients from lower soil

levels that are inaccessible to forage species, and nitrogen-

fixing trees can raise the nutrient levels of pasture soils.

Roots combat the compaction of soil and cut soil and

organic matter losses to erosion, thereby improving soil

structure and soil biological activity.

Soil-improvement

Shade and reduced wind velocity raise the moisture level

of soils by reducing evaporation.

Trees planted in a living snow fence can raise soil

moisture by harvesting and distributing snow.

Some species can remedy soil toxicities that limit

livestock forage production, such as salinity.

Well-planned location and spatial pattern of tree plantings

can meet many needs in a silvopastoral system. 

In addition to deciding which species will provide the

desired products, the agroforester must consider how the

pattern of trees affects wildlife habitat, ease of livestock

handling, forage and tree growth and competition, snow

distribution, and microclimate.

Planning a silvopastoral system

The integrated approach of growing grasses and fodder crops under

silvipasture and agroforestry systems is one of the major alternatives to

augment fodder and fuel wood production.

The experiments conducted at VPKAS Almora revealed that Digitaria

decumbans; Pennisetum clandestinum and Chloris gayana were the

promising grass species, which can be grown successfully under pine and

deodar plantations.

The performance of local grass species was the poorest.

Productivity in Fodder tree plantation :

Grass species Forage yield (t/ha)

Pine trees Deodar trees

Pangola 14.01 13.66

Rhodes 4.78 3.06

para 0.48 2.06

guinea 0.41 2.04

Kikyu - 6.42

Local 0.25 0.22

Yield performance of improved and local grass

species under Pine and Deodar trees

Treatment Dry matter (t/ha) Carrying capacity Au/ha/annum

Control 6.9 2.7

Control+Setaria 15.1(2.2+12.9) 6.6

Control+Setaria+Siratro 15.5(2.1+12.9+0.5) 6.1

Control+Setaria+Siratro +Leucaena 17.1(2.3+14.2+0.4+0.2) 7.2

Control+Setaria+Siratro +Robinia 18.4(2.4+14.5+0.6+0.9) 7.4

Dry matter production and carrying capacity of improved grassland and a silvi-pastoral system.

Every household in the hills rear different kinds of

animals for various purposes but for maintaining the milch

animals it is essential to put some part of the cultivable

land under forage crops.

Following approaches are being proposed in view of their

wider acceptability by the farming communities.

Fodder Production in Farming Systems

A non-competitive land use system for the forage production in the hills is to

grow improved grasses on terrace bunds and risers.

There is added advantage to produce forge without any fertilizer or manure

since it is available from the cropped terrace.

The field experiments conducted in U.P. hills reveal that growing grasses on

terrace riser was found significantly beneficial for increasing the grain yield

of rice and wheat over control.

The performance of different improved grass species was statistically similar

but superior to local species.

Forage Production on Terrace Riser/Bunds

• Anonymous, 1991. Effect of nitrogen levels and harvesting

stages on the grain and fodder yield of maize. Annual Prog.

Report Dept. of Agronomy, HPKV, Palampur 18:205-06.

• Anonymous 1997. Annual Report Cropping Systems

Research, Department Agronomy, HPKV, Palampur.

• http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/resources/studentprojects/

silvopasture.html

• B.S.Chundawat & S.K.Gautam.Textbook of agroforestry

Reference:

Thank you ..,