Grazing Resources 
R. O. WHYTE 
Plant Production Branch, Agriculture Division, 
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, 
Rome 
In order to avoid generalizations on this very extensive subject 
which may be applicable to one area and not to others, the discus- 
sion will be limited to countries in regions in which experience has 
been gained under current FAO activities. These include the 
Working Party on Mediterranean Pasture and Fodder Develop- 
ment, the Working Party on the Development of the Grazing and 
Fodder Resources of the Near East, and the Co-ordinated Grass- 
land and Fodder Research Scheme of the Indian Council of Agri- 
cultural Research. These three activities cover a belt from Portu- 
gal to East Pakistan, characterized by lands which have been used 
and misused for centuries, by several different types of climate, 
and by a wide range of social and land-use systems. Throughout 
all of them aridity is a dominant factor. 
Grazing Lands from Portugal to East Pakistan 
The Mediterranean climate is primarily one of winter rainfall 
and summer droughts, increasing in intensity from the west to the 
south and the east as one proceeds farther away from the ameli- 
orating influences of the Atlantic and comes nearer to the Sahara 
and Arabian Desert. Certain regions of Spain and Turkey differ 
in having a continental type of climate resembling that in parts 
of North America. The degree of aridity in this region is related 
primarily to the duration and intensity of the summer drought; 
the problems are greatest in the countries of North Africa lying 
along the desert fringe of the Sahara. Most of the countries 
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