Studying the Impact of Grazing on the Current State of Grassland in the Semi-Desert Zone

Beybit Nasiyev¹, Diamara Tulegenova¹, Nurbolat Zhanatalapov¹ , Askhat Bekkaliev¹ and Zebri Shamsutdinov²

¹West Kazakhstan Agrarian-Technical University Named After Zhangir Khan, Republic of Kazakhstan, 090000, Uralsk, Zhangir khan Street, 51 ²The All-Russia Scientific-Research Institute of Forages named after V.R. Williams, Russia, 141055, Lovnia, Science Hill

ABSTRACT: Agrarians of the Republic of Kazakhstan face the task of exporting 60 tons of meat by 2016. While 20 years ago Kazakhstan exported over 180 thousand tons of meat, in 2009 it exported only 300 tons. This shows great unfulfilled potential of livestock breeding. Since 2015, thanks to the Eurasian Union, barriers have been eliminated between many countries, licensing procedures were simplified, and veterinary norms were unified, thus creating all conditions for increasing export. Availability of natural forage lands, low-cost pasture technology of beef cattle breeding creates the potential for establishing Kazakhstan as a significant and a competitive player in the global market. In this regard, increasing productivity of natural pastures is a priority task. The purpose of the research is to develop adaptive technologies for rational use of natural grassland ecosystems, ensuring their faster recovery and increasing their productivity, and improving the parameters of the environment in the semi-desert zone of Kazakhstan. The modern state of the semi-desert grassland areas has been determined in the study. The results of the research have established feasibility of moderate (65-75% grazing) pasture use. With intensive use of pastures, a change in floristic composition and productivity has been detected, as well as deterioration of agrochemical and agrophysical parameters of pasture soils. The research performed on a variety of environmental and anthropogenic levels in terms of light-chestnut soils of the semi-desert zone revealed 5 degrees of pasture degradation.

KEYWORDS: Pastures; monitoring; pasturing; floristic composition; soil cover; productivity; pastoral degradation

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