The raising of livestock is of great importance in the Tibet
Autonomous Region of China (TAR), since animal products are a primary source of
cash income in many rural households.
However, animal nutrition is currently very poor, with animal feeds
based on by-products (mostly straw) from the predominant cereal crops, and low
quality fodder and forage from the mountains.
Over the past 2 years, field experiments have been established at three
different sites to investigate the productivity of cereal / fodder legume
intercrops within the central Tibetan environment. In the first set of experiments, relay intercrops were
constructed with winter cereals (wheat or barley) grown at a range of different
row arrangements with vetch or alfalfa sown into the inter-row space. Preliminary results showed that satisfactory
grain yields (3 - 5 tonnes/ha and roughly equivalent to typical farmer yields)
could be attained at lower cereal densities (e.g., from 50% or 67% cereal
densities). Fodder yields appeared
inversely proportional to cereal density.
Vetch produced approximately twice the dry matter of lucerne in the 6 months
following establishment (3 tonnes/ha at 50% density rather than 1.5
tonnes/ha). Experimentation is
continuing during the 2005/06 growing season.
In addition, experiments are underway to assess the performance
of vetch/winter cereal intercrops established by broadcasting vetch seed into
winter cereals sown using normal farmer methods.