PROSPECTS FOR IMPROVING MEDITERRANEAN GRASSLANDS IN LEBANON THROUGH SEEDING, FERTILIZATION AND PROTECTION FROM GRAZING

Grassland productivity was studied for four years near Terbol, Lebanon. In the first year pasture availability and plant numbers were monitored along transects, and in the following three years the effects of sowing four Mediterranean annual legumes (three cultivars of subterranean clover and a local ecotype of Medicago rigidula) and top-dressing with superphosphate were studied. The results indicated that natural grasslands were dominated by annual grasses (Aegilops, Hordeum, Bromus, Lolium and Poa). Legume density was low, which resulted in poor legume productivity, especially in winter. Exotic legumes only resulted in a slight improvement in pasture productivity even when phosphate fertilizer was added. However, partial protection from grazing (for one or two months in late winter and spring) more than doubled the number of legume seeds in the seed bank compared with full protection and open grazing. The build up of seeds in the soil is an essential step towards the improvement of productivity in these degraded pastures, which form a large part of the land surface in Lebanon and on which small ruminant production largely depends.