Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:20:21.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sheep stocking under traditional and improved grazing systems in the cereal-sheep system of Castile-La Mancha (south-central Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Rafael Caballero
Rafael Caballero
Affiliation:
Agronomist, Department of Agroecology, Environmental Science Center, CCMA, CSIC, Finca Experiemental La Poveda, Ctra, de Campo Real km 1.300. 28500 Arganda del Rey, Madrid, Spain ([email protected]).
Get access

Abstract

Land-based systems of low stocking rate are usually associated with low environmental concerns. However, we hypothesized that traditional unrestructured grazing systems may represent more environmental costs than benefits. Community-based research work was conducted in the 1990s in the cereal-sheep system of Castile–La Mancha, with the objective of assessing the typology of the system, including the grazing structures and social groups involved in grazing management. Results showed that traditional management represented a heterogeneous spatio-temporal distribution of grazing at the regional level, with high variability at the local level. Occasional overgrazing may occur, but a trend towards fewer grazing-days with correspondingly more indoor feeding and widespread underuse of grazing resources was more apparent. Proposals to improve the grazing system reached a high degree of consensus among farmers, but the two social groups (cultivators and landless pastoralists) showed divergent views in some important management issues. The imbalance in group numbers indicated that collective action is difficult to achieve. Implementation of improved grazing practices would require a policy intervention based on the disentangled constraints and consensus among interested farmers.

Keywords

agro-pastoral systemsenvironmental implicationsgrazing managementlandless tenureMediterranean agriculture
Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2002 , pp. 177 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Babbie, E. R. 1973. Survey Research Method. Wadsworth, Belmont, California.Google Scholar
2.Baldock, D., 1998. Rural development and nature conservation with special attention to LFAs. Agenda 2000 and Prospect for the Environment. European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism. Occasional Publication No. 16:13–14.Google Scholar
3.BMDP. 1992. BMDP Statistical Software Inc. University of California Press, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
4.Brouwer, F., Baldock, D., Godeschalk, F., and Beaufoy, G.. 1997. Marginalisation of agricultural land in Europe. In Laker, J. and Milne, J. (eds.). Livestock Systems in European Rural Development. Macalauy Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. p. 25–32.Google Scholar
5.Caballero, R. 1993. An expert's survey on the role of legumes in arable farming systems of the Mediterranean area. J. Sustainable Agric. 3:133–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Caballero, R. 1999. Castile-La Mancha: A cereal-sheep farming system under change. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 14:188–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Caballero, R. 2001. Typology of cereal-sheep farming systems in Castile-La Mancha (south-central Spain). Agric. Systems 68:215–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Caballero, R. 2002. Policy schemes and targeted technologies in a cereal-sheep farming system. Agric. Human Values 19:63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Caballero, R., Rioperez, J., Fernández, E., Arauzo, M., and Hemaiz, P.J.. 1992. Performance of Manchega ewes grazing cereal stubbles and cultivated pastures. Small Ruminant Res. 7:315–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Correal, E., and Sotomayor, J.A.. 1998. Sistemas ovino-cereal y su repercusión sobre el medio natural. Pastos 28:137–180.Google Scholar
11.De la Cuesta, J.M. 1991. Legislación agraria en Castilla y León. Actas del 2° Congreso de Derecho Agrario International. Asociación Española de Derecho Agrario (ed.). Universidad de Oviedo, Spain, p. 183–193.Google Scholar
12.Gómez Sal, A., and Rodriguez, M.E.. 1998. Los recursos y el medio ambiente In Universidad de Alcalá (ed.). Ciencias de la Tierra y el Medio Ambiente. Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, p. 101–120.Google Scholar
13.Hodgson, J. 1990. Grazing Management. Science into Practice. Longman Handbooks in Agriculture, Harlow, England.Google Scholar
14.ICARDA. 1998. Indices of sustainability in a long-term rainfed wheat/legumes rotation. Annual Report 1997. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria, p. 39–40.Google Scholar
15.INE. 1998. Contabilidad Regional de España. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid.Google Scholar
16.JCCM. 2000. Junta de Comunidades de Castilla- La Mancha. Ley de Ordenación del Aprovechamiento de Pastos, Hierbas y Rastrojeras. Consejería de Agricultura y Medio Ambiente, DOCM No. 122, Toledo, Spain, p. 11831–11838.Google Scholar
17.Jones, M. J. 1992. Cereal production and its relationship to livestock: The point of view of the agronomist. In Guessous, F., Kabbali, A., and Narjisse, H. (eds.). Livestock in the Mediterranean Cereal Production Systems. Publication No 49. European Association of Animal Production (EAAP). Pudoc Scientific.Wageningen, The Netherlands, p. 14–19.Google Scholar
18.Lacasta, C. 1995. Investigaciones sobre el secano en Castilla-La Mancha. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Mancha, Madrid.Google Scholar
19.Linston, H. A., and Turoff, M. (eds). 1975. The Delphi Method. Techniques and Applications. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
20.Marton, A. 1988. Sampling and non-sampling errors in surveys. Seminario internacional de Estadística en Euskadi. Instituto Vasco de Estadística, Cuaderno No. 15, Bilbao, Spain.Google Scholar
21.Milchunas, D. G., and Lauenrot, W.K.. 1993. Qualitative effect of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments. Ecol. Monog. 63 (4):237–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.M° de Agricultura. 1997. Anuario de Estadística Agraria. Secretaria General Técnica, Madrid.Google Scholar
23.Molina, E., Ferret, A., Caja, G., Calsamiglia, S., Such, X., and Gasa, J.. 2001. Comparison of voluntary food intake, apparent digestibility, digest kinetics and digestive tract content in Manchega and Lacaune dairy sheep in late pregnancy and early and mid lactation. Animal Sci. 72:209–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Nieto, A. 1959. Ordenación de pastos, hierbas y rastrojeras. Junta Provincial de Fomento Pecuario, Vol. 1, Valladolid, Spain.Google Scholar
25.OECD. 2000. Agricultural Policy Reform: Development and Prospects. OECD Policy Brief. June 2000. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
26.Olson, M. 1971. The Logic of Collective Action. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
27.Papastylianou, I. 1999. Estimation of nitrogen fixed by legumes in long-term vs short-term cropping systems. Agron. J. 91:329–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Parker, C. F. 1990. Role of animals in sustainable agriculture. In Edwards, C.A., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R.H., and House, G. (eds.). Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa. p. 238–245.Google Scholar
29.Petersen, J. E., and Baldock, D.. 2000. Conference on environmental standards and cross-compliance in agriculture. La Cañada 13:9–10.Google Scholar
30.Power, J. F. 1987. Legumes: Their potential role in agricultural production. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 2:69–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Ruiz, M. F., and García, S.A. (eds.). 1998. Mesta, transhumancia y lana en la España moderna. Crítica-Grijalbo, Barcelona, Spain.Google Scholar
32.Steinfeld, H., de Haan, C., and Blackburn, H.. 1998. Livestock and the environment. In Lutz, E. (ed.). Agriculture and the Environment. Perspectives on Sustainable Rural Development. The World Bank. Washington, DC. p. 283–301.Google Scholar
33.Thomson, S. F. 1987. Feeding systems and sheep husbandry in the barley belt of Syria. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar