The role of grasslands in the less favoured areas of Mediterranean Europe

Transcription

1 19 EGF Symposium Alghero, 7-10 May 2017 The role of grasslands in the less favoured areas of Mediterranean Europe Porqueddu C. 1, Melis R.A.M. 1, Franca A. 1, Sanna F. 1, Hadjigeorgiou I. 2, and Casasús I CNR-ISPAAM - Sassari (Italy) 2 Lab. Nutrition Phys. and Feeding, Agric. Univ. Athens (Greece) 3 CITA-Aragón - Zaragoza (Spain) 4 FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Subnetwork

2 LFAs in the main Euro-Med countries Outline Permanent grassland acreage and in livestock population The case study: Sardinia Practices to improve grasslands Final remarks

3 LFAs in the main Euro-Med countries From The most important climate trait of Med areas is the concentration of rainfall between autumn and spring, with a relatively mild winter season, and its total absence during hot summer, associated to a large intra- and inter-annual variability.

4 LFAs in the main Euro-Med countries From: Country Definition Mountainous or hilly areas or areas with natural handicaps for cropping (e.g. harsh climate, short cropping season), or remote with difficulties in rural mobility or that undergo the danger of depopulation. LFAs % on total national area (%) % of total population in mountainous areas Greece Italy France Spain Portugal

5 LFAs in the main Euro-Med countries Red areas are interested by an advanced process of rural land abandonment Abandonment is more advanced in areas of direct (scrub+herbaceous vegetation, open spaces in sparse vegetation, pastures) or indirect (forests) pastoral relevance. Weissteiner et al., Global and Planetary Change

6 PG acreage and livestock population UAA by land use in Med European countries Data: Eurostat, 2013 RG = rough grazing P&M = Pasture+Meadow UAA = Utilized Agricultural Area Data are expressed in thousand hectares

7 PG acreage and livestock population Livestock in Med Europe Eurostat, 2017 The most adapted animal species are small ruminants and native beef cattle breeds

8 PG acreage and livestock population Evolution of heads number of bovine, sheep and goats heads ( ) (Eurostat, 2017) Marginalization of sheep sector in Iberic peninsula Slightly increase of sheep in Mediterranean Italy Reduction of goat heads in all countries except for Spain General increase of cattle units

9 Med grasslands show a low production compared to the other European grasslands PG acreage and livestock population Map of potential forage production (Lee, 1983; Huyghe et al., 2014)

10 They have a pivotal role in the maintainance of HNV areas PG acreage and livestock population

11 Case study: Sardinia Sardinia The island has a prevailing mountainous and hilly territory 40 N Gennargentu Massif 1834 m a.s.l. About 90% of its area is classified as LFAs km 2

12 Case study: Sardinia Schists Granite Trachytes Basalt Limestone The rainfall distribution shows a marked intra- and inter-annual variability, and the dry season can last for 4-5 months.

13 Case study: Sardinia Thousand of heads (Eurostat, 2017)

14 Case study: Sardinia Sardinia shares a variety of farming systems with the other Mediterranean countries Silvopastoral systems SPAIN PORTUGAL Dehesa Montado

15 Case study: Sardinia Sardinia shares a variety of farming systems with the other Mediterranean countries Agro-pastoral systems GREECE FRANCE Phrygana

16 Case study: Sardinia Sardinia shares a variety of farming systems with the other Mediterranean countries Mixed cereal-livestock farming systems SPAIN SPAIN

17 Case study: Sardinia Contribution of grassland in the animal diet in different Sardinian pedoclimatic zones (no. 36 sheep farms) Pedoclimatic zones AH AL GH GL BH Average CV N. sheep farms Stocking rate (ewes/ha) Milk yield (kg/head) Hay (kg/head) Concentrate (kg/head) Total Net Energy req. (FU) Hay contribution (FU) Concentrate contribution (FU) Grazed herbage contribution (FU) Grazed herbage contribution (% of total NE requirements) Molle et al., unpublished data

18 Case study: Sardinia Sheep milk and meat and their products Milk 350 k ton Meat 30 k ton Wool 5 k ton* Suckling lamb 9-11 kg Poor value, exported, 5% used in traditional handcraft (CLAL, 2016) 60% of cheese production reaches overseas markets Production peaks in December (Christmas time) and March-April (Easter) *value estimated on the number of sheep heads

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20 /head Case study: Sardinia Agro-pastoral systems and sustainability in Med Europe Milk or mixed Meat Income per head in representative sheep farms Subs. 2nd pillar Subs. 1st pillar Sales Modified from Pastomed, 2008

21 Open question How to increase sustainability of Mediterranean extensive farming systems in LFAs? Valorisation of products (added value) Direct compensation of ecosystem services (subsidies) Grassland profitability (primary production) Sustainability Mitigation of seasonality and forage self-sufficiency

22 Grassland growth (kg ha -1 d -1 ) Practices to improve grasslands Problem: matching animal requirements with grassland forage availability Daily growth rate of a Mediterranean semi-natural pasture Perennial species Integration with annual forage crops Perennial species Hay Shrubs/trees Stubbles Transhumance

23 Pasture DMY (t ha-1) in six sites (average of 5 years) measured with the method of Corrall and Fenlon (1978) Site Practices to improve grasslands Altitude Type of soil Fertilisation: 100 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1, kg N ha -1 Not fertilised DMY (t ha -1 ) DM % Extension of forage availability (m a.s.l.) Fertilised (in weeks) BONASSAI 80 Limestone CHILIVANI 350 Alluvial BADDE ORCA 600 Trachitic PATTADA 650 Granite CAMPEDA 650 Basaltic S. ANTONIO 650 Basaltic From Bullitta and Caredda (1982)

24 Practices to improve grasslands Seasonal Use of Forage Resources (San Miguel et al., 1996) Integration of grassland resources

25 Practices to improve grasslands Integration of grassland resources Seasonal percentage of herbaceous, shrubs and trees in the diet of goats and sheep (Castro and Fernández Núñez, 2016)

26 Practices to improve grasslands Pastoral annual legumes with hard seeds for permanent pastures Trifolium subterraneum Trifolium resupinatum Medicago polymorpha Ornithopus compressus Biserrula pelecinus Drought escape is the main adaptive strategy that exhibit for surviving during the dry period as seed High production and tolerance under heavy grazing

27 Practices to improve grasslands Perennial legumes for rainfed grasslands - Drought tolerant - Flexibile use (grazing/ hay) - Presence of beneficial secondary compounds - Multi-use Medicago sativa Sheep grazing on alfalfa Sulla coronaria Onobrychis viciifolia

28 Practices to improve grasslands Plants containing condensed tannins (<5%) Beneficial effects Lower protein degradation rate in the rumen higher amino acid absorption lower burden of intestinal parasites and flies attacks From Waghorn and Hegarty, 2011 Sheep grazing on sainfoin pasture in Aragon Sheep grazing on sulla pasture in Sardinia Decrease of dependence on pharmaceutical treatments and avoidance of helminths resistance Higher animal production Lower enteric CH 4 generation

29 Practices to improve grasslands Other legumes with potential for Mediterranan marginal lands Bituminaria bituminosa Re-growth in mid September Sternberg et al., 2006

30 Practices to improve grasslands GRASSES Perennial grasses for permanent pasture Festuca arundinacea Dactylis glomerata Phalaris aquatica

31 Practices to improve grasslands Persistence in perennial grasses for permanent pasture Average row cover (%) after 6 years. Mean values among six sites in Mediterranean environments. From Annicchiarico et al. (2013) Survival after summer Dactylis temperate origin Dactylis Med origin

32 Practices to improve grasslands Seasonal production of native grasses adapted to Mediterranean environments Porqueddu et al. (2008) F. arundinacea D. glomerata

33 Practices to improve grasslands Use of mixtures of adapted native grasses and legumes EU Action COST 852 Quality Legume-Based Systems for Contrasting Environments Species belonging to 4 functional groups: - Grass / Legumes - Fast establishing / Slow establishing (= annuals/perennials) NATIVE SPECIES (Dry Mediterranean mixture) G 1 = Lolium rigidum Nurra G 2 = Dactylis glomerata Currie L 1 = Medicago polymorpha Anglona L 2 = Medicago sativa Surigheddu

34 Practices to improve grasslands Improving forage quality using native species-based mixes Plot CP NDF IVDMD L2 mono centroid dom G2 and L dom L dom L1 and L dom G1 and L dom G2 and L dom G dom G1 and G dom G dom L dom G1 and L L1 mono G2 mono G1 mono mean mono % change mono/centr G1, G2 = grass L1, L2 = legume 1= fast establishing species 2=slow establishing species Average values of 5 harvests along the year Maltoni et al. (2007)

35 Improving research impact on farming systems Involvement of farmers: Visual assessment for the evaluation of new materials ARIMNET Project REFORMA REFORMA Traits DMY Forage quality Interest as a crop Interest as feed Crop global value Score ranking 1= very poor/low 2= poor/low 3= sufficient 4= high/good 5= very high/very good Marchouch (MOR) Sassari

36 Final remarks These complex systems have a high degree of diversity and require a holistic multidisciplinary approach and the identification of solutions adapted to a local scale, involving also stakeholders The set up of Decision support systems and the knowledge transfer could help farmers in grassland management Research on the improvement of adapted species finds a bottleneck in the step of multiplication and seed distribution to farmers

37 Thanks for your attention Enjoy the Symposium!