Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine a reliable and effective way to visually assess pastures under the site conditions that prevail in the Kyrgyz Republic, in particular the mountainous terrain. Such a method should make a visual evaluation of pasture conditions in the field possible and help build awareness among land users of soil and pasture degradation and the need for sustainable use of pasture areas. To this end, the Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) method was applied and verified in a research area in the Naryn district in the Kyrgyz Republic. This process included the application of 2 additional visual site assessment methods—the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating and the method described in the Monitoring Manual for Summer Pastures in the Greater Caucasus in Azerbaijan by Etzold and Neudert in 2010, referred to subsequently as the MMSP method. A comparison of the VSA results to standard field measurements and laboratory-based analysis was also performed. The VSA method was found to be only mode...
Highlights
Livestock keeping has a long history in the Kyrgyz Republic (398–448N; 698–818E), during which management practices have undergone numerous changes (Doerre and Borchardt 2012; Liechti 2012)
Due to the country’s location at the juncture of the Tien Shan and Pamir mountain systems, it is mainly characterized by mountainous terrain; about 93% of its territory lies at elevations higher than 1000 m above sea level (Iliasov and Yakimov 2009), which creates heterogeneous site conditions
In addition to the Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) method, 2 other field methods of visual site assessment with alternative indicator sets were tested during this study. These were the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (MSQR) (Mueller et al 2007) and the method described in the Monitoring Manual for Summer Pastures in the Greater Caucasus in Azerbaijan (Etzold and Neudert 2010)
Summary
Livestock keeping has a long history in the Kyrgyz Republic (398–448N; 698–818E), during which management practices have undergone numerous changes (Doerre and Borchardt 2012; Liechti 2012). This is especially true for recent times; Crewett (2012: 267) reported that ‘‘over the past 50 years, the procedures and responsibilities for the allocation of usufruct rights to pastures have experienced considerable modifications.’’ After the introduction of individual pasture lease right in 2002, in 2009 a different mode of pasture access was introduced: access was to be managed by local user groups (Crewett 2012). In order to protect the pastures and allow sufficient agricultural production, it is necessary to develop a pasture management system that is well adapted to local conditions (Gareeva et al 2008)
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