Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands (Tasks for Vegetation Science, 32)

Desertification (land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting mainly from adverse human impacts) is the main environmental problem of dry lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of the total global land area. The phenomenon threatens about 3.6 billion hectares and currently affects the livelihood of about 900 million people. Thl! world is now losing annually about 1.5 million hectares of total irrigated lands (240 million hectares) due mostly to salinization, mainly in drylands. Salt affected soils are widely distributed throughout the arid and semi-arid regions, and particularly severe in China (7 million ha), India (20 million ha), Pakistan (3.2 million ha), USA (5.2 million ha), as well as Near East, southern Europe and elsewhere. Demands on production have increased the pressure on existing productive land and moved the limits of production onto increasingly marginal lands. Wise land-use practices have yet to be developed for such conditions. The Executive Director of UNEP reported to the Governing Council in February 1992 concerning the "Status of Desertification and Implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Comtat Desertification (PACD)". The Report concludes that major efforts to implement the PACD had gJne into supporting measures rather than concrete corrective field operations. Little evidence of progrl!ss was found in irrigated croplands, rainfed croplands or rangelands. It was recommended that every piece of land should be used in keeping with its ecological characteristics, natural capabilities and constraints. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Overview of problems and prospects for utilizing halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands....Pages 1-6 Global distribution and potential for halophytes....Pages 7-17 Salt affected soils as the ecosystem for halophytes....Pages 19-24 Use of halophyte forages for rehabilitation of degraded lands....Pages 25-41 Utilization of halophytic plants for fodder production with brackish water in subtropic deserts....Pages 43-75 Utilization of halophytes by livestock on rangelands Problems and prospects ....Pages 77-96 Halophytes in mixed feeds for livestock....Pages 97-100 Halophytic shrubs in semi-arid regions of Australia....Pages 101-113 Halophytes and halophytic plant communities in Inner-Asia....Pages 115-122 Forage halophytes and salt-tolerant fodder crops in the Mediterranean Basin....Pages 123-137 Halophytes and halophytic plant communities in the Arab region....Pages 139-163 North American halophytes: Potential use in animal husbandry....Pages 165-174 Halophytes as a resource for livestock husbandry in South America....Pages 175-199 Halophytic coastal marsh vegetation in East Africa....Pages 201-210 Halophytes of the Indian desert-communities of the various ‘ranns’....Pages 211-215 Banni grassland and halophytes....Pages 217-222 Potentials for cultivation of halophytic crops on saline wastelands and sandy deserts in Pakistan to overcome feed gap for grazing animals....Pages 223-230 Forage production from salt-affected and water-logged areas in Punjab, Pakistan: A case study....Pages 231-234 Prospects for saltbush ( Atriplex spp.) as animal feed in irrigated and marginal lands in Sudan....Pages 235-237 Halophytes and desertification control in Iraq....Pages 239-248 Feed value of some halophytic range plants of arid regions of Iran....Pages 249-253 Use of edible shrubs in pasture improvement under Mediterranean environment in northern Syria....Pages 255-258 The potential economic use of halophytes for agricultural development of southern Morocco....Pages 259-261 Production from grazing sheep on revegetated saltland in Western Australia....Pages 263-265 Impact of halophytes on animal health and nutrition....Pages 267-272 Small ruminant feeding trials on the Arabian peninsula with Salicornia bigelovii Torr.....Pages 273-276 Effect of feeding Atriplex amnicola on growth and carcass quality of dwarf goats....Pages 277-280 Halophytes as animal feeds in Egyptian deserts....Pages 281-284 Alhagi sparsifolia Schap.: A potentially utilizable forage in saline soils....Pages 285-288 Massive propagation of halophytes ( Distichlis spicata and Tamarix spp.) on the highly saline-alkaline soils in the ex-Lake Texcoco, Mexico....Pages 289-292 Vetiver grass, its potential in the stabilisation and rehabilitation of degraded saline land....Pages 293-296 Some features of salt tolerance in Senna ( Cassia acutifolia ), in Sudan....Pages 297-301 Characterization of progeny clones belonging to natural Sicilian Atriplex halimus populations....Pages 303-310 Back Matter....Pages 311-318 This volume elucidates new aspects of the problems faced in utilization of salt tolerant plants as a resource for livestock. It also explores the roles of halophytes in the rehabilitation of degraded lands, especially in the world's drier regions. It aims to develop a better understanding of the role of halophytes and the measures that can be taken to promote their better use so as to ensure maximum benefits, including the conservation of biodiversity. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Halophytes for Reclamation of Saline Wastelands and as a Resource for Livestock -- Problems and Prospects