Аңдатпа
Land degradation of pasture ecosystems is a major challenge in arid and semi-arid regions, reducing forage productivity and threatening the sustainability of livestock production. In Kazakhstan, where natural pastures constitute the largest share of agricultural land, sustainable pasture restoration and management practices are urgently needed to rehabilitate degraded forage lands and enhance long term productivity. Therefore, the development of effective, environmentally safe methods for restoring pasture productivity is highly relevant. The study was conducted in 2023–2025 during the growing seasons at the Toraighyrov University experimental sites and the peasant farm “Zamandas” in the Pavlodar region, northeastern Kazakhstan. Two field experiments were established in the steppe zone under arid climatic conditions. The first experiment evaluated surface improvement of degraded crested wheatgrass pastures using disk tillage combined with biofertilizers and organic amendments (Fig. 1). The second experiment investigated radical improvement through the establishment of multi-species perennial grass mixtures, including both local and introduced drought-resistant species. Soil agrochemical properties, plant biometric parameters, yield of green biomass, and energy value of forage were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using variance and nonparametric methods. Surface improvement significantly enhanced soil fertility and pasture productivity. The combined application of disk tillage with organomineral fertiliser and vermicompost increased green biomass yield by 3.65 t/ha and metabolizable energy by 14.22 GJ/ha compared to degraded control pastures. Plant height increased by 37.2%, stand density by 74.8%, and soil humus content by 0.8%. In the second experiment, all seeded grass mixtures outperformed natural pastures, with biomass yields increasing from 6.42 to 19.56 t/ha and energy yield increases from 18.67 to 48.15 GJ/ha in the first year. The results demonstrate that both surface and radical improvement methods are effective for restoring degraded pastures and enhancing forage quality under steppe conditions.