Final report : activities, findings and conclusions of the range management improvement project, 608-0145, Morocco

USU"s experience indicates the extent to which rangeland degradation and deterioration of livestock production have occurred in Morocco, but also suggests that substantial improvements are possible, given additional research and extension to increase forage productivity and improve animal husbandry practices. As soils on grazing perimeters are severely eroded and compacted, range improvement is best accomplished through soil ripping and contour terracing techniques, but is dependent on the availability of plant cover. USU"s efforts to seed with imported forage were generally not successful, however; continued research into species adaptability and the revitalization of native species is essential. Livestock (in Morocco, primarily sheep) management problems were common at all sites. Lambing periods should ideally coincide with periods of increased forage; unproductive ewes should be culled from the herd, as should inferior rams, to provide more forage for productive animals; and breeding should be controlled through sterilization of inferior rams. The Moroccan herders, however, tend to place more value on the size of the herd than on its quality, and so allow indiscriminate and unplanned breeding. Not only does this practice cause shortages of fodder due to overstocking, but it also hinders development of wool production, since uncontrolled breeding produces inferior wool. The breeding issue is also affected by a marketing constraint: since male carcasses with testicles are worth more at market, conventional castration techniques are unacceptable. The short-scrotum technique introduced by the project is an appropriate approach to controlled breeding. However, producers" failure to adopt new technologies is usually not a cultural phenomenon, but rather a reflection of their severely limited resources. A strong extension service that can offer technologies with short-term benefits is needed, as are a national commitment to livestock/rangeland programs, and most important, given Morocco"s shortages of funds and trained personnel, a focusing of efforts in areas where producer/rangeland user organizations exist. Training was successful: 11 M.S."s were provided and several people took part in workshops, seminars, and short courses. The project"s major physical output, the Plant Materials Center (PMC) was completed in 1986, but there has been some confusion as to whether USAID/M thinks the center should be privatized and to what extent). Such action would contradict the public service aspects which were the driving force behind creation of the PMC.