Best practices in pasture management: Pasture Improvement

Revitalize Your Pastures, Sustain Your Livestock

This technology aims to maintain the best species and support their productivity in managed tracts of land known as pastures. These areas receive intensive inputs like fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation, distinguishing them from less intensively managed rangelands. Various approaches are employed, including controlling weedy patches, partially disturbing the land, and sowing improved grasses and legumes. Additional methods encompass under sowing croplands with grazing plant species, establishing shrub hedgerows along pasture margins, and planting grasses with high productive capacity.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

7•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 7/9; level of use 8/9

Project adoption1

Technology integrated in the ENSURE project.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive medium

The poor: Positive high

Under 18: Positive low

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Limited availability of affordable livestock feed: Small livestock producers may face difficulties accessing sufficient and affordable forage resources.
Low pasture productivity: Degraded or poorly managed pastures may not provide adequate quantities of nutritious feed.
Overgrazing pressure: Excessive grazing can reduce desirable forage species and progressively degrade pasture resources.
Weed invasion: The spread of weeds can reduce pasture productivity and the availability of preferred forage species.
Inadequate pasture establishment: Poor selection of species and inappropriate establishment practices can limit the productivity of improved pastures.
Limited technical knowledge: Farmers may need stronger technical capacity to establish, manage, monitor, and sustainably use improved pastures.

Solution

Increased feed availability: Improved grasses and legumes increase the quantity of forage available to livestock producers.
Reduced dependence on purchased feed: Productive pastures provide a locally available source of animal feed.
Pasture rehabilitation: Reseeding, controlled grazing, weed management, and introduction of improved species help restore degraded pastures.
Climate-appropriate species selection: The technology recommends pasture species according to climate and agroecological conditions.
Improved pasture management: Monitoring, weeding, slashing, reseeding, and controlled grazing help maintain pasture productivity.
Strengthened producer capacity: Training and practical guidance equip producers with knowledge for establishing and sustainably managing improved pastures.

Key points to design your project

The Pasture Improvement technology combats poverty among livestock producers by boosting productivity and reducing reliance on expensive feed. Enhanced pasture management ensures the availability of nutritious forage, thus supporting food security and alleviating hunger. Equipping producers with necessary skills not only fosters economic growth but also creates employment opportunities. Moreover, sustainable management practices promote climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem health.

To integrate this technology into your project and outline the necessary steps and prerequisites, follow these guidelines:

Assess the specific needs of your project concerning pasture and forage crop management.
Conduct comprehensive training sessions for farmers and project managers on improved pasture management practices and effective utilization of the technology.
Select appropriate pasture species and management techniques based on climatic conditions and livestock requirements.
Ensure access to high-quality seeds and essential inputs for establishing and maintaining improved pastures.
Implement improved pasture management practices in the field, adhering to specific recommendations for each phase of the process.

Considering that the cost of establishing new pastures with improved perennial grasses ranges from USD 400 to 600 per hectare, distributed across land preparation (10%), weed control (13%), fertilizer (27%), and seed (50%) over several years, estimate the budget for your project accordingly.

Ensure adequate training and post-training support by engaging a team of trainers. Develop communication materials like flyers, videos, and radio broadcasts to promote the technology effectively.

Collaboration with private seed companies, cooperatives, seed growers, and farmers is essential for the successful implementation of the technology.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 7 out of 9

Semi-controlled environment: prototype

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ENSURE
Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension

Kenya
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Uganda
Tanzania

Direct: 3,000,000

13.14 million

2024–2027

149,940 farmers trained
9,996 Training
2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected
350 agent trained

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
South Sudan	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid		–		–
Subhumid	–		–
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

Assessment and Planning: Evaluate the specific pasture conditions, considering factors like soil type, climate, and existing vegetation.
Input Application: Apply necessary inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation, with consideration of the identified needs of the pasture.
Implementation of Improvement Techniques: Carry out techniques like controlling weedy patches, partial land disturbance, and sowing improved grasses and legumes. Additional methods may include under sowing croplands, establishing shrub hedgerows, and planting high-productivity grasses.
Monitoring and Management: Regularly monitor the progress of pasture improvement, assessing factors like plant growth, weed control, and overall productivity.
Implement management practices such as re-seeding, weeding, slashing, and controlled grazing to maintain optimal conditions.
Balanced Feeding and Grazing Management: Ensure that livestock have access to balanced nutrition from improved pastures, while avoiding overgrazing to prevent degradation.
Adaptation and Continuous Improvement: Adjust strategies based on feedback and changing environmental conditions, optimizing pasture productivity over time.