I would assess the biomass yield and forage quality. You may want to select species that are tolerant to recurrent defoliation (intense grazing). In a dry condition, you may want to select drought tolerant species. Perhaps root system plays an important role in crop survival in dry conditions. Overall, there are always tradeoffs between yield, quality, survival....

There are many factors required for a forage selection like the matching of forage species to the characteristics of the soil. For selecting plants, legumes can fix nitrogen from the air, can reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers, as well legumes are more productive in the summer than grasses. For dry soil, Alfalfa is relatively drought-tolerant but produces yields almost proportional to the amount of water available to the crop. Here some articles may help, and good luck! Mohamed

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/publications/ay253.htm

http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/ilri/x5488e/x5488e0h.htm

http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/pasture-management-180.aspx

First and foremost, one must assess the species for its ability to regrow successfully after each grazing or cut. Another important parameter to assess it for is its animal stock carrying capacity. The biomass and forage quality must be such that qualify it as a suitable pasture species.The higher its carrying capacity, the better it is for use as a pasture species for a grazing land. Also important is the fact that it must have agronomic characteristics that allow it to perform well when grown in mixture with one or more crop crops. It must tolerate frequent grazing and have sustained regrowth as a result of a deep root system.

Important parameters for assessing suitability of indigenous legumes for pasture species for dry land pasture/crop systems include: rate of biomass accumulation, total biomass yield from a number of cutbacks (simulating grazing cycles), rate of regrowth after every cutback, and quality variation with stage of development. A suitable legume should have fast establishment, be able to accumulate suitable amount of biomass in the shortest time possible, as well as have fast regrowth after cutback.

Dear Francouis,

Many years ago my country had a program for establishing new and renewing existing pastures. In areas where there were possibilities to irrigate, alfalfa was the main crop. While in areas where such conditions did not exist two possibilities were to choose. The first one, mixture of 5-6 grass types (mostly Lolium and several other, for which I can't recall, as this was more than 20 years ago). The second choice, was to use Onybrychis sativa Lam.

The latter was especially appreciated as it has deep roots and is drought-resistant. It was especially appreciated by honey-bee keepers as well since it is very much loved by the bees.

Finally, first and utmost factor to determine what to seed/plant is the kind of animals that will graze (if using free-grazing system of exploitation). Remember that different animals use the grass differently i.e. cows just "cut" the grass, while sheep & goats tend to pull it off. So, depending on this you choose if you will use grass type with deep or shallow roots. Of course, do not neglect water availability, as grasses are huge water users.

1.Biotic and abiotic resistant types

2. resistance to severe grazing that means capacity to withstand and once again it has to rejuvenate.

3.There should not be mutual competition and they should be complementary in nature.

Thank you

Early fast growth, non shattering seed and early flowering dates are .

Dear Francuois,

Robustness, adaptation to local climate is essential. Loof for low requiring species becasue in dry-lands agriculture self-sufficiency is essential.

Best regards,

Alfredo J. Escribano.