Abstract

On farm field experiments were conducted in three farmer’s fields at dryland tracts of Tirupur district for two years from September, 2009 to March, 2011 to assess the carrying capacity of silvipastoral farming system. The treatments consisted of five silvipastoral systems viz., Acacia leucophloea + Cenchrus ciliaris, Acacia leucophloea + Cenchrus ciliaris + Stylosanthes hamata, Acacia leucophloea + Cenchrus setigerus + Stylosanthes hamata, Acacia leucophloea + fodder sorghum + Pillipesara and Acacia leucophloea + Cenchrus setigerus + Stylosanthes hamata and fodder sorghum + Pillipesara. One unit of Mecheri sheep of five ewes (female) and one ram (male) and two buffaloes were maintained in each location. Among the silvipastoral systems, rotational grazing of 39 numbers of sheep per ha of silvipasture land with Cenchrus setigerus + Stylosanthes hamata and fodder sorghum + Pillipesara system was found to be the best.

Keywords: Dryland, silvipastoral farming system, carrying capacity, grazing