Assessment Of Rangeland Condition And Evaluation Of The Nutritional Value Of Common Grass And Browse Species At The Neudamm Experimental Farm, Namibia

Abstract

A case study assessment of rangeland condition and evaluation of the nutritional value of common grass and browse species at the Neudamm experimental farm was done from January to September 2011. The study objectives were to determine the botanical composition of grass and browse species, evaluate the nutritive values of common grass and browse species, determine rangeland condition among three camps under different management practices at the Neudamm experimental farm of the University of Namibia. For botanical composition of grass species, the step point method proposed by Hardy & Walker (1991) was used. Chi-square contingency table was used to analyze herbaceous species composition among the three contrasting camps with alpha at (0.05%), while P>0.0445221 showed a significant different between camps. Neudamm farm is at least 10000hectares in size and represent a typical commercial rangeland farm in Namibia. It was found that grazing camps which had been rested for a period of four years were in a very good state of health than those which had not been grazed annually and continuously. It was found that grazing camp under continuous utilization carried the greater number (28.13%) of decreaser species which are the most palatable grasses with high grazing value than the rested camps (28.07% versus 16.00%) respectively.