Effect of reseeding of Rhodes Grass on the Restoration of Degraded Rangeland of Borana, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The degradation of semiarid rangelands in Borana can be traced back to the three to four decades, which is remains today harming rangeland productivity. Hence, we conducted study that evaluates different restoration methods on highly degraded rangeland in Dugda Dawa district. There were six treatments and replicated three times. The treatments were: (T1) no hoeing + seeding Rhodes grass, (T2) hoeing + seeding Rhodes grass, (T3) hoeing + mulch + seeding Rhodes grass, (T4) no hoeing + manure + seeding Rhodes grass, (T5) hoeing + manure + seeding Rhodes grass and (T6) hoeing + mulch + manure + seeding Rhodes grass. The study was carried out over the course of two rainy season March“June 2007 and 2009. Data were collected from emergence to seed yield within four months of experimental period. Accordingly, the result showed as variation observed among treatments to recover degraded rangeland. The highest dry matter yield, plant cover, germination, height and seed yield were observed for Hoeing + manure + mulch + seeding Rhodes grass and hoeing + manure + seeding Rhodes grass. Moreover, during group discussion and field day demonstration on experiment site, the grass cover was appreciated by the local community and really proved to be a possibility for rehabilitating degraded rangelands through reseeding grasses. Hence, in the context of this work, options for rehabilitating and improving the recovery of highly degraded rangelands will be through simple tillage (hoeing), manure application and reseeding grasses. Moreover, a promising techniques (hoeing + manure + seeding) stimulated as substantial promise as cost of restoration technique was low.