DefinePK

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present survey was undertaken to assess the prospect of range development in Pothowar tract Punjab. For this purpose at local level, 64 persons i.e. eight large farmers, eight medium farmers, sixteen small farmers and thirty two landless persons were interviewed. At Govt. level, all range personnel were also interviewed. The number of livestock kept was highly correlated with the size of landholdings of people. Major source of income was from livestock rearing. For grazing purpose, the dependence of people on vegetation of Govt./state owned Rakhs varied from 74-99.9 percent. More than 52 percent forage requirements of livestock of all respondents remained unmet after grazing. Grazing problems faced by the majority of graziers were low carrying capacity of Rakhs, lack of drinking water and protection measures forced by the Forest Department. The major constraints regarding range development efforts were lack of funds, and interest of range personnel working in the field. Other constraints were half hearted implementation of existing range management regulation and inadequate research.