Integrated Farming System: Key for Sustainable Agriculture

Author: A.S. Bayskar, A.B. Chorey, M.M. Ganvir, R.S. Patode, A.A. Mohod and B.V. Pawar

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Abstract

In rainfed agriculture, farmers concentrate mainly on crop production, which intensified by climate change, degradation of natural resources, build up pests and diseases, market fluctuations and policy changes, which is turn in distress on Indian farmers. In India, around 85 percent of the operational holdings are small and marginal, i.e. holdings of less than 2 ha. The operational farm holding in India is declining and over 85 million out of 105 million are below the size of 1 ha. Due to ever increasing population and decline in per capita availability of land in the country, practically there is no scope for horizontal expansion of land for agriculture. Only vertical expansion is possible by integrating cropping and allied enterprises requiring less space and time and ensuring reasonable returns to farm families. In this context, integration of various agricultural enterprises, viz., cropping, animal husbandry, fishery, forestry, backyard poultry etc. have great potentialities in the agricultural economy and it is also suitable strategy for augmenting the income of a farm. These enterprises not only supplement the income of the farmers, help in increasing the family labor employment throughout the year but also sustain soil health by effective residue recycling due to additional components brought into integration within the farm. For that reason, developed location specific Integrated Farming System (IFS) model that considers various factors such as socio-economic conditions, farm resources availability, and the nutritional requirements of families and integrating these elements can indeed lead to a more sustainable agricultural system, benefiting both individual families and the nation

Keywords

Enterprises, Integrated farming system, Small holder, Sustainability, Climate resilience

Conclusion

The literature reviewed revealed that IFS is beneficial for the better management of available resources at the farm level for higher system productivity, profitability, and employment generation. IFS is needed to sustain the Green Revolution while protecting the environment and ensuring farmers' food, nutrition, and livelihood security as these farms also exhibit ecological and non-tangible benefits. The systematic adoption of an IFS model on farms ensures a substantial generation of income and diversified food products to sustain farmers' food, nutrition, and livelihood

References

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How to cite this article

A.S. Bayskar, A.B. Chorey, M. M. Ganvir, R.S. Patode, A. A. Mohod and B.V. Pawar (2024). Integrated Farming System: Key for Sustainable Agriculture. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(10): 144-152