Degradation of crop and grazing lands is a pervasive problem that negatively impacts agricultural productivity and livelihoods of crop-livestock farmers in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Area enclosure together with a cut and carry livestock feeding system is often advocated as an approach for the regeneration of degraded grazing lands. This paper reports the results of a two-year farmer participatory study conducted to assess the effects of infiltration trenches (ITs) andChloris gayanaKunth (Rhodes grass; cultivar Masaba; tetraploid; C4 grass species) reseeding on restoration of degraded grazing lands. A split plot design was used with IT as the main plot andC. gayanareseeding as a sub-plot on 28 private grazing plots under enclosure. The results showed that IT alone increased soil moisture content and prolonged the growing period. IT andC. gayanareseeding together significantly (P≤ 0.05) increased herbage dry matter yield and improved soil chemical properties. The highest mean herbage dry matter yield (21 Mg ha−1per cut) was recorded for plots treated with IT and reseeded withC. gayana. The higher herbage dry matter yield was attributed to increased soil moisture and the resultant prolonged growing period induced by the trenches coupled with the ability ofC. gayanato effectively utilize the retained water. The results suggest that an integrated land management approach involving enclosure, in-situ water conservation andC. gayanareseeding can rapidly increase biomass productivity on degraded grazing lands while also enhancing soil quality with concomitant livelihood benefits for farmers.

中文翻译：

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恢复牧场以增加青尼罗河流域的生物量产量并改善土壤特性：渗透沟和 Chloris Gayanare 播种的影响

作物和牧场退化是一个普遍存在的问题，对埃塞俄比亚青尼罗河流域的农业生产力和农牧民生计产生负面影响。区域封闭与切割和携带牲畜饲养系统通常被提倡作为退化牧场再生的一种方法。本文报告了一项为期两年的农民参与性研究的结果，该研究旨在评估渗透沟 (IT) 和黄花菜Kunth（罗德草；栽培品种 Masaba；四倍体；C4 草种）在退化牧场的恢复中重新播种。采用裂区设计，以 IT 为主区，C.gayana在围场下的 28 个私人放牧地块上重新播种。结果表明，IT单独增加土壤水分含量并延长生长期。信息技术和C.gayana一起重新播种显着（磷≤ 0.05) 增加牧草干物质产量并改善土壤化学性质。最高平均草本干物质产量（21 Mg ha-1每次切割）记录用 IT 处理并重新播种的地块C.gayana. 较高的牧草干物质产量归因于土壤水分的增加以及由此导致的由沟渠诱导的生长期延长以及C.gayana有效利用滞留水。结果表明，综合土地管理方法包括围场、就地节水和C.gayana重新播种可以迅速提高退化牧场的生物量生产力，同时还可以提高土壤质量，同时为农民带来生计收益。