Definitions - Table

Forage resources include: rangelands and grazed forests, pastures, cereal stubble and hay crops. Rangelands include grasslands, phrygana ( garrigue ), shrublands and forest ranges. Pastures are further divided into leys, permanent pastures, meadows and fallow land.

EUROSTAT data only refer to the category "rough grazings". It possibly includes national statistics on pastures and some grassland area. However, EUROSTAT records underestimate the overall forage resources of the country.

Description and Ecology

Greece terrain is rather hilly and mountainous with few small plains and numerous islands. The climate is temperate and mild and generally favorable to agriculture. Of the total agricultural production of Greece , 70.3% derives from crop production and the remaining 29.7 % from livestock production (Kaldis and Galanopoulos, 2002).

Rangelands are the dominant resource with more than 5 million hectares, covering 40% of the total land area; they include grasslands, 50% of which are located in northern Greece in a variety of environments, from sea level to the alpine zone (Merou and Papanastasis, 2002). Forest ranges represent the largest part of rangeland and include sparsely forested areas. Dense high forests are not considered as grazing land although they may also be used for grazing ( Papanastasis and Kontsiotou, 1994) .

Pastures, cereal stubble and hay crops are important forage resources during winter and summer when rangelands are not suitable for grazing. Together with concentrated feeds, they cover 40-45% of animal needs and 100% in intensive production systems (barn based).

Pastures are grown on arable land and may be harvested for hay or grazed. Very few artificial or natural pastures exist, the most common being winter cereals, especially barley, for winter grazing and alfalfa during autumn after hay harvesting. Cereal stubble used to be an important grazing resource during summer months, after harvesting; nowadays, only a part of the area is used for grazing, mainly in mountainous areas, as stubble in plain and irrigated areas is burnt to facilitate the following crop. Among the hay crops, Medicago sativa and Vicia sativa are the most important species. Silage is not popular and widespread yet. Only small areas are cultivated with maize, sorghum and sugar beets.

Pastures include:

• leys with barley, oats and vetch, mainly for use during winter and early spring
• permanent pastures with grasses such as Festuca arundinacea, Dactylis glomerata, Lolium perenne, Trifolium repens and Medicago sativa ; the latter is normally used for hay production but is often grazed during autumn after the final harvest
• meadows, usually natural, harvested during spring and then grazed for the rest of the year
• fallow land, used for growing crops and temporary suspended from production. Cattle are generally confined to valleys and plain areas. The ruminant production system is dominated by sheep and goats.

Combination of different types of forage resources mainly depends on the ecological zone where a livestock system is found. In colder and drier areas supplement with hay and concentrates is needed whereas in milder areas the grazing season is prolonged (Papanastasis, 1990; Papanastasis and Kontsiotou, 1994). Figure 1 reports the main grazing systems of Greece on a calendar basis (by month), as surveyed in five regions with different bioclimates and pastoral systems: shaded area corresponds to rangeland, H+C corresponds to concentrates, F to forest, G to native grassland, S to summer cereal and W to winter cereal.

Figure 1 Reproduced from: Papanastasis, 1990

Area, Production and Yield

About 30% of the country total area is utilised for agriculture ( Kaldis and Galanopoulos, 2002) . Land use data are collected with ten-yearly census.

In the period 1970-2000, permanent grassland areas did not change and totalled 1.789 million ha. According to EUROSTAT, grassland areas are all classified as "rough grazings". Their distribution follows an increasing gradient from south to north on the central-eastern side of the Greek peninsula, with 14% of the total rough grazing area in the Peloponnisos, 13% in Sterea Ellada and 10% in Thessalia.

According to national sources, permanent pastures and meadows on arable land cover 45.000 ha and 43.000 ha respectively; pastures also include lays and fallow lands, for an overall total of approximately 660.000 ha (Papanastasis and Kontsiotou, 1994).

Production of rangelands is low due to poor conditions caused by irrational grazing management applied over a long period of time. It is higher in grassland and lower in forest ranges with an average of 1000 Kg/ha. Overall, rangelands produce about 5.5 million tonnes of forage per year while grazed forests about 500.000 t/yr.

Despite the low capacity, rangeland and grazed forests cover 55-60% of the needs of extensive grazing - because of the large area occupied - and are the most significant forage resource of the country throughout the year.

Production of pasture is very variable but is generally higher than rangeland, with an average of 2000 kg/ha. Despite this, the area does not increase as arable land is more profitable if used for cropping rather than for animal production.

Studies on phryganic rangelands in Crete report a forage productivity of 378, 534 and 367 g DM m² from low (25 m) to middle (675 m) and high altitude (1200 m), respectively. In low and middle zones, forage production peaks at the end of spring, while in the high zones it peaks at the end of summer. The bulk of these yields is contributed by the phryganic species (90%) in the first two zones while in the high zone the proportion is much lower (66%) as compared to herbaceous plants. Sarcopoterium spinosum is the dominant species in the low zone, Cistus incanus and C. salviaefolius in the middle zone and Ononis spinosa in the high zone (Kyriakakis and Papanastasis, 1999).

Among the hay crops the most important is alfalfa. The overall trend of cultivated area shows a steady increase since after World War II with a peak in the late seventies. From 1981 onwards the area constantly declines. Among the reasons is the accession to the EU in 1981 and the transfer of seed production from the State to private companies, few in numbers and lacking of sufficient experience.

Other legumes used as hay crops include Vicia sativa, Pisum sativum, Lathyrus cicera, Trifolium alexandrinum and Trifolium resupinatum. Hay production has always focussed on legumes, rather than grasses, for their soil improvement characteristics. Also, silage is not a popular feed system and 1990 statistics report only 4,400 ha cultivated with silage crops such as maize, sorghum and sugar beet (Papanastasis and Kontsiotou, 1994).

Area of green fodder grown on arable land increased by 63% over the period 1974-1988 from 4.900 ha to 8.000 ha. Over 60% of the area in 1998 was located in Kentriki Makedonia.

Composition and main Species - CROP-SHEETS

There are about 250.000 different species of grassland plants, the majority belonging to Graminaceae and Papillonaceae families ( Hatzopoulos, 1992).

Medicago sativa is the most important forage crop, grown in pure stands under irrigation or under rain-fed conditions. Medicago arborea , a drought-resistant shrub, is important for marginal rocky soil reclamation. Dactylis glomerata , Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne are among the most important cool-season perennial grasses in natural pastures (Vaitsis, 1997).

Constant grassland species in northern Greece ( Macedonia ) are Cynodon dactylon , Poa bulbosa among perennial grasses, Hordeum murinum and Vulpia myuros among annuals, Trifolium glomeratum and T. nigrescens for legumes, Anthemis auriculata , Capsela procubens , Plantago lagopus and Carlina carymbosa for broad-leaved forbs (Koukoura et al., 1998). Other dominant annual species are Avena barbata, A. sterilis, Trifolium campestre, T. scabrum, Onobrychis aequindentata and Medicago minima (Merou and Papanastasis, 2002).

A study on Mediterranean grassland of central Greece indicates four annual species of legumes, namely Medicago minima, Trifolium subterraneum, T.nigrescens and T.glonzeratum , making more than 50% of the total biomass.

In the Aegean landscape and in Crete , phrygana are typical ecosystems, resulting from degradation of the arborescent evergreen-sclerophyllous vegetation. Besides common shrub species (e.g. Thymus capitatus, Genista acanthoclada, Erica manipuliflora, Cistus spp., Phlomis spp. and Sarcopoterium spinosum ), Quercus coccifera represents a source of forage over the year (Tsiourlis, 1998; Tsiourlis et. al., 1998; Kyriakakis, 1993 ).

Woody fodder plants ( Robinia pseudoacacia, Gleditsia triacanthos, Amorpha fruticosa ) introduced in grasslands are also a source of forage and can adapt to dry and marginal areas (Ainalis et al., 1998).

Agronomic practices - GIS

Ruminant production systems may be intensive or extensive. The intensive system is dominant for cattle with more than 80% of the total raised in the barn, the rest left to free grazing.

In the case of sheep and goats, three main pastoral systems exist (Papanastasis, 1990):

• domestic or house system where a few animals per family are kept in the barn to produce milk and meat. Feeding is with hay and concentrates the whole year round. In 1980 about 9% and 19% of the total sheep and goat populations, respectively, were raised under this intensive system
• village or flock system with 83% of sheep and 78% of goats in 1990. Grazing takes place in rangelands all day and overnight is in stable
• transhumant or nomadic system (8% of sheep, 5% of goats in 1990) with migration to lowlands during winter and highlands during summer.

The last two systems are the most common and are classified as extensive.

References

• Ainalis A.B., 1998. Growth dynamics of some woody fodder plants in relation to spacing and grazing In: European Commission - Environment and Climate Programme, 1997. Ecological basis of livestock grazing in Mediterranean ecosystems. Proceedings of the International Workshop held in Thessaloniki on October 23-25, 1997. Papanastasis V.P. and Peter D., eds.
• Hatzopoulos, 1992. Considerations of remote sensing applications on grassland classification and mapping in Greece . In: Institute for Remote Sensing Applications, 1992. European collaborative programme workshop on grassland classification and mapping. S. Folving and C.M. Girard, eds., JRC and INAPG, Paris, 28-29 April 1992
• Kaldis P.E., Galanopoulos K., 2002. Development and agro-food policies in the Mediterranean region. Country report 2002. Greece . CIHEAM.
• Koukoura Z., Tsiouvaras C. and Papanastasis V.P., 1998. Long term effects of grazing on biodiversity of a Mediterranean grassland in northern Greece . In: European Commission - Environment and Climate Programme, 1997. Ecological basis of livestock grazing in Mediterranean ecosystems. Proceedings of the International Workshop held in Thessaloniki on October 23-25, 1997. Papanastasis V.P. and Peter D., eds.
• Kyriakakis S., 1993. General information on Creete. Historical background, physiographic features, main land use types and rangelands. Herba, n.6: 14-16.
• Kyriakakis S.D. and Papanastasis V.P., 1999. Seasonal growth of forage production in relation to altitude in rangelands of western Crete and its implication to sustained animal production. CIHEAM-IAMZ Options Mediterraneennes, Zaragoza . http://www.ciheam.org/
• Merou T. and Papanastasis V.P., 2002. Legume and grass density under various treatments in a Mediterranean grassland in Macedonia , Northern Greece . In: FAO/CIHEAM REU Technical Series 64, 2002. Lowland grasslands of Europe : utilization and development.
• Papanastasis V. and Kontsiotou, 1994. Forage resources and herbaceous forage plants in Greece . Herba, n.7: 44-50.
• Papanastasis V., 1990. Pastoral and forage systems in Greece . 6^th Meeting of the FAO European sub-network on Mediterranean pastures and fodder crops. Development and preservation of low input mediterranean pastures and fodder systems. Bari , Italy , (218 pages).
• Tsiourlis G.M., 1998. Evolution of biomass and productivity of grazed and ungrazed kermes oak shrubs in an insular phryganic ecosystem of Naxos , Greece . In: European Commission - Environment and Climate Programme, 1997. Ecological basis of livestock grazing in Mediterranean ecosystems. Proceedings of the International Workshop held in Thessaloniki on October 23-25, 1997. Papanastasis V.P. and Peter D., eds.
• Tsiourlis G.M., Kasapidis P., Parmakelis A. and Dretakis M., 1998. Effects of grazing on the structure of phryganic ecosystems in the Asterousia mountain of Crete , Greece . In: European Commission - Environment and Climate Programme, 1997. Ecological basis of livestock grazing in Mediterranean ecosystems. Proceedings of the International Workshop held in Thessaloniki on October 23-25, 1997. Papanastasis V.P. and Peter D., eds.
• Vaitsis T., 1997. Greece : Breeding for drought resistance, persistence and forage productivity. In: ECP/GR. Report of a Working Group on Forages, 1997. Sixth meeting, 6-8 March 1997, Norway . Maggioni L. et al. (eds.), IPGRI.