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Utilization and Improvement of Marginal Soils Through Large Stock Grazing in Semi-Arid Summer Rainfall Areas in South Africa

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The Marginal Soils of Africa

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Abstract

The popular perception of rangeland and the management, in Sub-Saharan Africa, is mostly negative. The vast areas are seen as a problem without a solution. The common focus on the negative is overgrazing, undernourished livestock and desertification. With the world population increasing, especially in Africa, food production is a priority. With Africa having rangelands accounting for at least 65% of the surface area, this constitutes a major area for animal production. The chapter aims to alleviate the negative perceptions by adopting one of the grazing strategies, firstly by defining different grazing strategies. By the adoption of a grazing strategy the degraded rangeland can be reversed to good quality rangeland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC – Natural Resources and Engineering, Pretoria, South Africa

    M. V. Kidson

  2. ARC – Animal Production, Irene, Pretoria, South Africa

    S. M. Grobler & H. T. Pule

Authors
  1. M. V. Kidson
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  2. S. M. Grobler
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  3. H. T. Pule
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. V. Kidson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources and Engineering, Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa

    Adornis Dakarai Nciizah

  2. Natural Resources and Engineering, Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa

    Ashira Roopnarain

  3. Natural Resources and Engineering, Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa

    Busiswa Ndaba

  4. Dept. of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Roodepoort, South Africa

    Mashapa Elvis Malobane

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Kidson, M.V., Grobler, S.M., Pule, H.T. (2024). Utilization and Improvement of Marginal Soils Through Large Stock Grazing in Semi-Arid Summer Rainfall Areas in South Africa. In: Nciizah, A.D., Roopnarain, A., Ndaba, B., Malobane, M.E. (eds) The Marginal Soils of Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55185-7_1

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