GRASSLAND FORAGE PRODUCTION AS THE BASIS FОR THE EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Abstract

The paper presents a statistical analysis on the state of the livestock rearing branch over the past 27 years (1990-2017). Its level of profitability decreased from 29 to 14%, beef cattle breeding (-38%) and sheep breeding (-28%) are unprofitable and wool production        (-59%) is not profitable. During this period, the livestock and poultry population in terms of conditional in all categories of farms in the Stavropol Territory decreased by 2,2 times. The number of horned cattle was the most significantly reduced (by 2,9 times), sheep and goats by 3,1 times, pigs by 2,5 times. The effective development of the branch is largely associated with the feed base. Here, grassland forage production plays an important role. A comparative example of two floristic vegetation lists (per 100 m²) – zonal virgin land and its modification  – shows the current state of natural communities. The zonal steppe is floristically rich (41 species per 100 m²), with a productivity of 29,2 centners per hectare of hay, consists of such representatives of the wild-growing flora as: Koeleria cristata, Bromopsis riparia, Medicago  romanica, Festuca  valesiaca, Festuca  pratensis, Onobrychis arenaria and others. The second item is a degraded village pasture used for grazing individual livestock and sheep. Herbage is floristically poor (21 species per 100 m²), its productivity is 13.4 centners per hectare of hay. As a part of the herbage, are almost all weed and ballast species:  Centaurea  diffusa,  Bromus arvensis, Eryngium campestre and others, which have no feed value. And such low-productive, floristically poor grass stands occupy large areas in the Stavropol region. Measures have been proposed for the conservation of natural forage lands and the creation of new highly productive herbages, which, from the point of view of the livestock rеaring economy, will make it possible to properly increase the volume of feed resources and, accordingly, the stability and sustainability of livestock production for the population.