Rangeland Production Systems in Balochistan, Pakistan
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RANGELANDS 16(1), February1994 21 Rangeland Production Systems in Balochistan, Pakistan Abelardo Rodriguez Introduction million goats, 0.8 million cattle, and 0.24 million camels. Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan, with Of the 4.3 million people living in Balochistan in 1981, 16°h were located in urban areas while the rest were in 34.5 million ha (45%of thetotal area), 4.3 million people in 1981 and an estimated population of 7.1 million in 1990 rural areas. Population growth has increased the already on the (Van Gilesand Baig1991). It is locatedin the western part excessively high pressure rangeland resources, of Pakistan, sharing borders with Iran to the west and posing serious questionsabout the sustainability of the livestock sub-sector. Afghanistan to the north (Fig. 1). Irrigated fruits and Rangeland Resources and PropertyRegImes The rangelands have been broadlyclassified into 'poor', 'medium', and 'high' potential areas, producingannually less than 50kg, 60-190kg and 200-250 kg dry matterper hectare, respectively. The rangelands classifiedas poor cover about 62% of the Province and are generally in the south, and those classifiedas medium (25% of the area) and high (13% of the area) potential areas are mostly on the highlands (Fig. 1) above 1,000 m. An unknownarea within these classes is mountain sides and plateaux covered by thin soils usually inaccessible to grazing.The range vegetation typeschange from south to north as the rainfalldecreases. Inthe south desert scrubsdominate; in the central areathere is a shrub steppe of Haloxylonand Artemesia(sagebrush) species and in the north a peren- nial grassland based on species of Cymbopogonand Chrysopogon. Many of the native annuals have almost disappeared due to heavy grazing pressure (Thomson and Rodriguez 1994). There are two types of rangelands in Balochistan, depending on property regimes: common and open rangelands. Common rangelands are traditionallyowned by tribes, with customaryinstitutional arrangements for their sustainability and effective management. Open rangelands have unrestricted access and are free to all and are usuallydeteriorated rangelands that used to be commonly owned. At some point in time, the group or tribe makes a decision as to whethera rangeland is so degraded that it should not be considered as a common rangeland. Open rangelands have been increasing in an areaas themore exclusive common have lost 1. Balochistan m Pakistan. rangelands FIg. Highland (above 1,000 altitude), the ability to sustainthe animals' grazing needs and are vegetables produce most of the agricultural value. While abandoned by their owners (Buzdar et al. 1989). thevalue of crop production has been increased through Twofactors have causedrangeland degradation: excessive use of irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides, the value of populationgrowth and external socialand economicfor- livestock production has increased mainly because ces. For example: "In 1980, war in Afghanistan caused of the largernumbers of animals, mostly small ruminants massive migrations to Pakistan. At least 3 million refu- and camels. Balochistanhas 11.3 million sheep and 7.4 gees fled into Pakistan with their livestock, 600,000 peo- with 4.8 million and to Balochistanalone. The author is an agricultural economistin the Farm Resource Management ple sheep goats Program, Intl. Center of Agr. Research in the Dry Areas, P.O. Box 5466, Because they have largely concentrated in a number of Aleppo,Syria. Thispaper waswritten while theauthor wasworking as advisor tothe MART Prolect, Arid ZoneResearch Institute,Quetta, Pakistan. Financial camps along the borderareas, their presence hasresulted support fromthe united StatesAgency for International Development isgrate- in extremes of degradation in the neighborhoodsof their fully acknowledged. 22 RANGELANDS16(1), February 1994 camps in northern Balochistan.The effect of a sudden increase equivalent to 14% of the total livestock and human population in Balochistan on the already satu- ratedand fragile environment has been drastic."(Cossins 1988). Grazing Systems The three major grazing systems in Balochistan are nomadic, transhumant, and sedentary; these depend on the lifestyle of the animal ownerand the rangeland prop- erty regime. True Nomadic Grazing Systems The true nomadsfollow the seasonal patternsof forage production, spending thesummers in the coldhighlands in Central Asia and winters in the warmer lowlands of Pakistanand India. They move across the open range- landswhere they spend afew days,or sometimes weeks if range vegetation is abundant. They can pass throughthe tribal commonrangelands, but cannotprolong their stay. In the lowlandsof the Indusvalley they have contactswith local farmers,fromwhom they buy stubblegrazing rights, straw,and otherfeed for their animalsand sell their own labor, animals, and animal by-products.Their arrival in the lowlandsmust coincide with the harvesting season so Fig. 2. Nomadic pastoralistson the move in the Quetta valley. they can sell their labor and buy cheap feed for their dependent on their small ruminants. They are co-owners animals. Likewise, their return to the highlands in the in the common tribal rangelands, and in most cases their spring and summer must coincide with the growth of movements take placeonly within the limits oftheir tribal palatable forage resources and with seasonallabor require- lands. They move from commonlyowned rangelands to ments (Buzdar et al. 1989). the open rangelands asforage availability fluctuates, and Thirtypercent of the small ruminants in Balochistan are they usually return to their permanent dwellings in the reared under this type of grazing system (FAO 1983). rangelands during the summer months. In years of Nomadic familiesown 80-100 head of sheep and goats, drought, some of them take their familiesand animalsto with about 20 animalsper male family member. Three or the nearbyagricultural valleys, where the family sells its four families keep their livestock together, making up labor, and their animals graze stubble or grasses in and flocks of about300 animals. A nomadic flock of 100 anim- around the fields. They possess camels and donkeys, als, ofwhich 85 are sheep and 15 are goats, usually has45 which are used for transportation of crops and other breeding ewes and 8 does (FAO 1983). The estimated goods. They earnenough moneyby these means to buy daily income of one adult in 1992 rupees was Rs13 per wheatgrain and other supplies (Buzdaretal. 1989).Trans- day, which was one quarter of the urban daily wage of humantflock sizesrange from 20 to 80 sheep and goats. Rs55. Dataon health and educationare not available from Sixty-five percentof the sheep and 50% of the goats are these nomads, but it is easy to deduce that basic services managed as transhumant flocks (FAO 1983). are not available or are well below the provincialaverage. Given this extreme poverty,itseems unrealistic to design Sedentary Grazing Systems livestockdevelopment schemes beforegreatly improving Most of the people living in the agricultual villages in the welfareof this sector of the population. Balochistan raise a few anImals. This supplementary animal sometimes accountsfor a of TranshumantGrazing Systems raising majorportion Buzdar et al. between transhum- thehousehold income and helpsincrease farm productiv- (1989) distinguished Women a not in the of antswith land transhumants) ity. play major role, only raising ownership(semi-sedentary these animals, but also in their and those without it (semi-nomadictranshumants). The converting by-products transhumants raise rainfed into food and saleable items like carpets. Usually a shep- semi-sedentary crops, mainly herdis to takecare of all the animals in a winter wheat. Each winter they move from the central employed village of Balochistan tothe warmer areas of the Indus as a single flock. As the agricultural villages are normally highlands inhabited members of the same or clan When are in the lowlands, behave like the by lineage group, valley. they they have use over the to the nomadicpopulation, sellingtheir labor, animals, and by- they rights rangelands adjacent tothe farmers and from them village (Buzdar et al. 1989). products crop buying grains 70'sthere has been and feed for their animals. Since the mid a steadydecrease in the number of transhumant herds; flocks are The semi-nomadic transhumants are almostcompletely many becoming increasinglysedentary as communities settle RANGELANDS16(1), February1994 23 aroundthe permanentwater from new tubewells, and as Credit is not readilyavailable for small land-owners, and formershepherds increasingly find alternativework oppor- only 1 2% of the households had borrowedfrom theAgri- tunities (Cossins 1988). The presence of irrigationwater cultural Development Bank. Large land-ownerstook 38% in certain areasof Balochistan hasencouraged an increase of the loanswhile farmers with 5-20ha were granted 62% in the livestock population through the availability of of the loans (Massod et al. 1988). Small producersover- stubble and fodder. At the same time, when the stubble come this by using their sheep and goats as collateralto and fodder are not available for grazing or foraging, the obtain credit from money lenders. When cash is required, animals are turned out on the commonor open range- usually in poor agricultural years or for special social landswithout appropriatemanagement. Depletionof the occasions, money is borrowed and paid back in kind vegetation cover has reduced the ability of the water- (sheep or