An Empirical Study On The Livestock And Forage Balance Management Policy In Inner Mongolia Natural Grassland

Grassland is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in China. It is not only a major vegetation type that is capable of maintaining the ecological balance of arid regions in northwest China , but also important material base on which some ethnic minorities survival and develop.Nowadays, the outstanding problems of grassland are the lack of coordination between the development of animal husbandry and the grassland production capacity as well as the rapid expansion of grassland degradation.The livestock and forage balance management policy is a strategic and important policy that help to improve the grassland ecological environment and to promote sustainable economic development in pastoral areas.Based on the field research in pasturing areas of Erlianhot City,Sunitezuo Banner and Suniteyou Banner, this paper analysed the livestock and forage balance management policy in Inner Mongolia grasslands. In this study, it was showed that: temporal and spatial heterogeneity impacted on grassland carrying capacity; herdsmen have their own views and opinions of livestock and forage balance; whether the government can set a correct and scientific standard was not clear. Based on the analysis above, this paper evaluated objectively the implementation effect of the policy according to the random sample survey of more than 30 households and the random survey of dozens of 1×1m~2 samples.Research in those pasturing areas showed the following results: 1, Field statistics of 38 samples showed that coefficient of variation between samples is more than 10%. Those differences will lead to a large error of carrying capacity standards determined by grassland yield. It is doubted whether the livestock and forage balance standards set by the government is correct and scientific. The standards of government should be a guiding standards, therefore, herders should not be punished only by this standards; 2,Herdsmen deemed that a reasonable carrying capacity standard should be 33-40 mu / sheep unit in normal years .That was obviously different from the standard of 80-100 mu / sheep unit in winters which was made by the government; 3,What the herdsmen appealled strongly was the negative impact on their income caused by the policy. Percentage of 96 of surveyed households said that the livestock and forage balance management policy significantly influenced their income; 4, Herdsmen could adjust the quantities of livestock according to pasture conditions, family labour, and the economic situation as well as the traditional grazing experience which was worthy being adopted in the management process,so that they could protect their own grassland very well.Some measures and proposals about livestock and forage balance management policy which provided a theoretical basis and practical supports were put forward in the end.