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GRASS PRODUCTIVITY AND CARRYING CAPACITY OF 

THE CHOLISTAN DESERT RANGELANDS

MUHAMMAD RAFAY1, MUHAMMAD ABDULLAH1, TANVEER HUSSAIN1,

TAHIRA RUBY2 AND RAHMATULLAH QURESHI3*

1Department of Forestry, Range and Wildlife Management, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

2Department of Life Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

3Department of Botany, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

*Corresponding author’s email: rahmatullahq@yahoo.com

Abstract

Cholistan desert is hot and an arid rangeland located in the southern Punjab, Pakistan. The wet season lasts from June to September, whereas dry season falls from October to January with seasonal and annual variation in rainfall and temperature. The monthly sampling over 2 year’s period was carried to determine the grass productivity from 20 sites during 2010-12. The average dry biomass production of grasses was 263.22 Kg/ha during the dry season, whereas the same was 370.22 kg/ha in wet season. The maximum carrying capacity (17.25 ha/AU/year) was observed in the wet season, while the same was the lowest (24.2 ha/AU/year) during the dry season. Based on the results, it is concluded that the Cholistan rangeland is degraded due to overgrazing resulting into reduction in biomass production especially during the dry season coupled with the removal of palatable species from the whole rangeland. There is need to manage proper stocking rate during the growing season along with the introduction of high yielding livestock breeds that may help to reduce grazing pressure and improve productivity.

Key words: Grass productivity, Carrying capacity, Biomass production, palatable species, Cholistan desert, Livestock breed.