Searching Alternative Uses of Grassland for Sustainable Development: Evidence from the Eastern Black Sea Region, Turkey

Abstract

Sustainably utilizing natural resources would provide sustainable livelihoods for agrarian communities in developing countries. Using alternative and more efficient methods to utilize natural resources will probably serve to achieve this goal. Ensiling grass in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey is assumed to provide an alternative roughage fodder source for the animal husbandry sector which has faced dramatic declines for the last decades. This study investigated the possibilities of preparing and adopting grass silage in the region where drying grass to provide roughages for winter feeding is troublesome due to the heavily rainy climate during the harvest season. The study was organized in two broad sections; (1) socioeconomic survey and (2) ensiling process for roughage fodder provision. In the first section, socioeconomic characteristics of livestock farmers, farming practices applied, problems encountered by farmers, and awareness level about grass silage in the region were investigated. In the second section, a silage preparation process was carried out by (1) harvesting and ensiling of grass, (2) determination of the composition of grass silages, and (3) determination of aerobic stabilities of silages. Results showed that livestock farmers in the region have small numbers of animals and operate conventionally, farmers tend to be older, hold an elementary school degree, and are mostly not open to innovations. They face serious problems with drying their grass to provide roughage fodders and lack information about this technology. The ensiling process revealed favorable results that grass produced in the region can be successfully turned into silage. The quality can further be increased with some additives. The study concludes that to sustainably utilize the regional grasslands, awareness-raising campaigns and extension programs for ensiling technology should be organized.