Effect of Water Harvesting and Re-Seeding on Forage Biomass Production from Rangelands in Sheikan Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan

This study was conducted at Sheikan Locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan. The area has a unimodal annual rainfall of 300-400 mm occurring during July-October. The main economic activities are crop and livestock production. Livestock are raised either under sedentary or migratory systems where natural grazing is practiced. The dominant livestock species are sheep, cattle, goats and camels. A main determinant of livestock production is low forage production resulting from low soil moisture due to low total precipitation and is also due to poor water infiltration rate associated with the prevalent type of sandy clay soils locally known as “gardud”. These soils are widespread and are prone to excessive runoff. Water harvesting is thought to increase soil moisture content and hence pasture productivity. This study aims to investigate effect of three water harvesting techniques namely contour ridges, runoff strips and flat (control); and two planting methods specifically reseeding and natural regeneration (un-reseeded) on forage biomass production, plant density and vegetation cover. Forage biomass production in the reseeded site was 3.65, 2.25 and 0.65 t/ha for the three treatments respectively. In the un-reseeded site the values were 2.85, 1.75 and 0.55 t/ha respectively (P \u3c 0.001). A similar trend was found for plant density and plant cover. It was concluded that water harvesting and reseeding resulted in increased forage biomass production and plant cover from rangelands. The results were discussed in relation to effect of increasing soil moisture content on improving livelihoods and mitigating environmental degradation