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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
In India, grazing lands are around 12 million hectares which constituted the main grazing resources for the huge livestock population (512.05 million). But the productivity of the grazing lands is low due to over grazing and poor management. There is urgent need to improve the productivity of community grazing lands through sowing mixed stand of grasses and legume, increase grazing period and plantation of fodder trees on grazing lands. Korangadu pasture a private pasture land and a time tested model maintained by the farmers and it is the major source of feeding on zero budgets. Korangadu typically consists of a mixture of grass, legume and tree species including annual and perennials. It has predominantly three major species of flora, which are spatially in three tiers. The lower tier is grown with kolukattai grass (Cenchrus sp.), an upper tree species include Velvel (Acacia leucophloea) and land is fenced with thorny shrub locally called as Mullu Kiluvai (Commiphora berryii) as live fence makes up the middle tire. Once established pasture land with tree fodder will serve for 3-5 years with less labour and investment. Even the lands covered grove, waste lands, porampok lands may be converted into pasture land and the animals may be allowed to graze. This is comparatively cheaper than harvesting and chaffing the fodder to feed the animals.