|
|
|
|
|
|
 armer Amin Yagen of Tarhin, in El Bab, Northern Syria, had cause for satisfaction in September. Of 300 fertile ewes in his flock, 141 lambed in that month. Of these, 30 gave twins. And one had triplets.
This is a twinning rate of 31%. A more typical rate for the region would be 5-10%. Moreover, in the past, none would have lambed until December, exposing them to winter conditions. Earlier lambing has therefore much reduced mortality. It also means that Mr Yagen's lambs hit their sale weight--about 45-50 kg--at a time in the spring when there is a shortage of such lambs, and their price is high.
Mr Yagen had cause for satisfaction at
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
harvest time, too. This year, in what was generally not a good year for cereals in Syria, he obtained a yield of around 3.4 tonnes per hectare from certain barley fields, against 2.8 from others; some neighbors got only 2 t/ha. In general, he has been seeing yields 20% above those of his neighbors in recent years.
The key to these improvements is the use of forage legumes in rotation with cereals. In 1986, ICARDA began work in the El Bab area on a on a project to develop and transfer the technology in farmers' fields. The idea itself was not new; traditionally, farmers did practise this kind of farming, in order to feed their draft animals as well as raising cereals.
|
|
|
|
|
