Abstract
Agricultural development through settlement schemes on desert lands has always raised acute debates, especially over environmental issues due to cultivation based on intensive additions of water and fertilizers. However, nutrient cycling approaches at the farm level are generally based on apparent N flows, i.e., purchased inputs and sold products, without considering nutrient flows driven by mobile herds crossing the arable lands of sedentary farmers. Through a territory level approach, the present study aimed to assess the contribution of mobile pastoral herds located in the newly reclaimed land on the western desert edge of the Nile Delta on the supply of the manure for local sedentary farms. Based on a survey of 175 farmers, we calculated the partial farm nitrogen balances. Supplemental interviews were conducted with the pastoral community to assess the additional manure coming from grazing practices in the research area. The results show that the sedentary mixed crop-livestock systems based on the planting ofTrifolium alexandrinumand a manure supply make a useful contribution toward converting poor, marginal soil into fertile soil. Moreover, grazing of crop residue by pastoral herds on the reclaimed land contributes to social sustainability by maintaining social links between the first occupants, the Bedouins, and the new settlers. Grazing accounts for 9% to 34% of farm-level N input and 25% to 64% of farm-level N output depending on the village and the cropping system. This contribution calls for different rural policies that consider the complementarity between pastoral herders and sedentary farmers that supports both systems' social and environmental sustainability.
Highlights
Recent studies highlight the multiple benefits of integrated croplivestock production systems in terms of the diversification of farm activities and the creation of a safety net that decreases farm household vulnerability (Barrett et al, 2001; Alary et al, 2011), and in terms of efficiency and sustainability, partly due to the contribution of livestock to nutrient cycling (Powell et al, 1996; Herrero et al, 2010; Powell and Rotz, 2015)
Five zones in the newly reclaimed arid lands (NRLs) were chosen according to a chronological gradient of land reclamation: Nahda in the reclaimed land settled in the 1960s, Sukhar el-Bangar primarily reclaimed in the 1980s, and Hammam in the 1990s, and Tiba and Bustan extension (New NRLs), settled at the end of the 90s (Figure 1) (Alary et al, 2018)
Four of the six farm systems are considered as mixed crop-livestock systems from the Old NRLs (Groups G3 & G4 in Figure 3) and New NRLs
Summary
Recent studies highlight the multiple benefits of integrated croplivestock production systems in terms of the diversification of farm activities and the creation of a safety net that decreases farm household vulnerability (Barrett et al, 2001; Alary et al, 2011), and in terms of efficiency and sustainability, partly due to the contribution of livestock to nutrient cycling (Powell et al, 1996; Herrero et al, 2010; Powell and Rotz, 2015). Most social and ecological studies on the new cultivated zones in harsh environments shared by mobile herders and sedentary farmers highlight the conflictual and recurrent resource ownership problems and access (Bassett, 1988; Thebaud and Butterbury, 2001; Galvin, 2009) In this context, Powell et al (1996) illustrated how land use and tenure policies inhibit livestock mobility. These rules reduce the farmer’s access to manure from pastoral herds, increasing the need for other external nutrient inputs, such as mineral fertilizers, to prevent a decline in soil fertility and crop yields This phenomenon is acute in desert reclaimed lands that require significant nutrient additions before being cultivated and productive. The present study aimed to assess mobile pastoral herds’ environmental and social contributions at the territory level by focusing on nutrient flows and the consequent social interactions between pastoral herders and farmers
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