Integrated Rehabilitation Approaches to Improved the Revival of Denuded Rangeland Areas Under Semi-arid of Afar Region

Abstract

Rehabilitation of denuded rangeland area through integrated approach was done in chifera district, zone one (Awsi Resu) of Afar Regional State. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of soil and water conservation structures & to create awareness among the pastoralists/ agro-pastoralists on how to make soil & water conservation structure for forage production. The experimental treatments were Soil bund (SB), Stone bunds (StB), Stone faced soil bund (SFSB) & Control (C) and Experiential Design was RCBD with three replication. The study was carried out over the last three rainy seasons from 2014/15 and 2016/ 2017. Data were collected from emergence to dry matter yield within three years of the experimental period. Accordingly, the result showed as variation clearly observed among the treatments to revive the denuded rangeland area. There is a significant difference at (P<0.05) parameters collected in all water/soil conservation structures in each seasons.  A total of 18 species of grasses, 2 species of legumes and 4 species of other herbaceous were identified in the study district. Of the grass species 12(66.7%) species were perennials and 6 (33.3%) species were annuals. Higher numbers of perennial grasses were found in soil faced stone bund (SfSb) structure as compared to control one like Cynodon dactylon, Cenchrus ciliaris, Panicum coloratum, and Chrysopogon pulmolosus are commonly found in soil faced stone bund (SfSb) structure. But mostly annual grasses were found in stone bund (Sb) & control structure like Eragrostis teniufolia, Aristida adoenesis and Tragus beteronianus. The highest dry matter production was harvested from the treatment in soil faced stone bund (SfSb) structure which was 2.5tone/ha and followed by the treatment soil bund (Sb) was 1.37tone/ha. The results also showed that pastoralists also revealed that Stone faced soil bund (SfSb) were more suitable for restoration of degraded areas. Therefore, we conclude that from this finding, stone faced soil bund (SFSB) is more effective method to rehabilitate denuded rangeland areas in semi-arid areas. However, continuous onsite training & practical demonstration was very crucial to enhance the adoption rate of conservation practices.

Keywords: Rehabilitation, soil faced stone bund, stone bund, soil bund, emergence & dry matter yield