welcome

HPAU, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh

Farming System Approach For Food Security And Sustained Rural Economy

Speaker - Sandeep Singh

Introduction

INDIAN agriculture has challenge of providing national as well as

household food and nutritional security to its teeming millions

in a scenario of plateauing genetic potential in all major crops.

declining productivity in vast tracts of rainfed/ dryland areas

constituting approximately 44.2% of net cultivated area.

Wide-spread occurrence of ill-effects of green revolution technologies

in all intensively cultivated areas is threatening the sustainability of the

important agricultural production systems and national food security.

.

The human population of India has increased to 1210.2 million at a growth rate of 1.76 per cent in 2011 and is estimated to increase further to 1530 million by 2030.

On the other hand our national food grain production for past 3-4 years is hovering around 234 million tonnes.

There are projections that demand for food grains would increase from 234 million tonnes to 345 million tonnes in 2030.

The average size of the landholding has declined to 1.21 ha during 2009-10 from 2.30 ha in 1970-71.

Declining size of landholdings without any alternative

income augmenting opportunity is resulting in fall of

farm income and causing agrarian distress.

To meet the multiple objectives of poverty reduction,

food security, competitiveness and sustainability,

several researchers have recommended the farming

systems approach to research and development.

Farming system is the scientific

integration of different interdependent

and interacting farm enterprises for the

efficient use of land, labour and other

resources of a farm family which

provide year round income to the

farmers specially located in the

handicapped zone.

Farming system

What is it

Farming system approach envisages the integration of agroforestry, horticulture, dairy, sheep and goat rearing, fishery, poultry, pigeon, biogas, mushroom, sericulture and by-product utilization of crops with the main goal of increasing the income and standard of living of small and marginal farmers.

Role of Farming SystemFood security

Provide balanced food

Quality food basket

High productivity and enhanced farm income

Effective recycling of resources

Minimizing environmental pollution

Employment generation

Role of Farming System

Food security: Food security is defined as the balanced food supply and

effective demand for food.

Ensuring food security to the individual wards off the gender-based intra-household discrimination.

Thus food security needs to be redefined as “livelihood security for the household and all members within, which ensures both physical and economic asses to balanced diet, safe drinking water, environmental sanitation, primary education and basic health care.

Table 1: Per capita availability and deficit of different components

Food Items Per capitaAvailability

ICMR dietaryguidelines forIndians

Per capita deficit

Milk 216 grams/day 300 milli litre/day 34 grams/day

Egg 30 eggs/annum 180 eggs/annum 150 eggs/annum

Meat 3.24 kg/annum 10.95 kg/annum 7.71 kg/annum

Food grains 444 g/day - -

GOI 2003

Economic and ecological access to food could be only ensured by adopting farming system approach consisting

of: 

Change from commodity-based to resource-based planning.

Integrated use and management of land, water and human resources to maximize income and employment.

There is need of farming system which has several components like dairy, poultry, goatry, fisheries etc. along with crop production.

In this way, farming system would not meet the food for but also cater the need of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals required for good health.

Conjunction of horticulture and agroforestry with cropping would ensure the seasonal access to fruits, fuel, fodder and fibre.

Provides Balanced Food

As the living status is improved the requirement of cereals will be decreased and supplemented by other items viz. milk, egg, meat, fruit etc.

Integration of allied enterprises with cropping increase the nutritive value of the products.

Cropping with pigeon+fish+mushroom founds to have the highest protein of 1963 kg.

Integration of cropping with fish + mushroom and pigeon/poultry could result in 31 to 52 % higher protein yield than cropping alone.

Quality food basket

Higher productivity and enhanced farm income

• Integration of fish in rice system decreasing the rice grain yield due to presence of fish trenches occupying 10% of the rice area, however, additional income increased.

• The profit can be increased more when fish, vegetable system and livestock include in rice – rice farming system.

Table 2: Economics of rice-poultry-fish-mushroom system of Integrated Farming System

Component Integrated farming system (0.40 ha)

Conventional cropping system (0.40 ha)

Additional net income from IFS over CCS (Rs)

Gross income (Rs)

Cost of production (Rs)

Net income (Rs)

Gross income (Rs)

Cost of production (Rs)

Net income (Rs)

Crop 19076 11398 7678 13536 7202 6334 1344

Poultry 2861 1944 917 - - - 917

Fisheries 3568 1486 2082 - - - 2082

mushroom 6156 5078 1078 - - - 1078

Total 31661 19906 11755 13536 7202 6334 5421

Rangasamy et al. 1996Tamil Nadu

Table 3: Productivity (rice equivalent yield) and profitability of different components under integrated farming system

Treatments Area(ha)

Productivity kg-1

ha-1year)Cost of Cultivation (Rs)

Net returns (Rs) B:C ratio

Integrated farming systemRice-rice system

0.33 2175 8683 7387 1.84

Hybrid maize-sunflower

0.20 908 3697 3540 1.96

Vegetables 0.20 2136 4712 3673 2.00

Fodder + goat 0.21 1339 6289 7060 2.75

Fish 0.06 203 515 926 2.23

Poultry (0.005) 327 2145 300 1.13

Total 1.00 7088 18225 22887 1.97

Conventional Rice-rice

1.00 5611 25503 17293 1.64

Channabasavanna et al. 2009Karnataka

Crop by-product is utilized as fodder for animals, and animal by-product i.e.

milk, and dung may be utilized for increasing income and soil fertility,

respectively.

The effective recycling of farm resources is possible by

adoption of farming system research.

Effective recycling of resources

Resource recycling with productivity linkages in lowland farming systems

Table 4: Nutrient value of recycled poultry manure

Particulars Content ( per cent ) Nutrient added (kg)

N P K N P K

Raw poultry manure 4.81 3.06 1.44 33.7 21.4 10.1

Settled silt of the pond in which poultry dropping is used as source of fish feed

3.52 1.38 1.06 158.4 62.1 47.7

Integration of poultry + fish + mushroom + cropping applied with recycled poultry manure sustained the productivity of soil through addition of bio-resource residue with better NPK nutrient supply potential.

Rangasamy (1996)Tamil Nadu

Poultry and fish in lowland of Tamil Nadu

Resource flow in crop+dairy+biogas+spawn+siliviculture in integrated farming system

Minimize environmental pollution

•In Punjab, Haryana and western Utter Pradesh, burning of rice residue is common practice, which increased the concentration of green house gases in atmosphere, in addition to huge amount of nutrient loss.

•Such situation could be avoided by introduction of some more enterprises like animal husbandry on the farm.

•Rice straw may be used as animal feed.

Employment generation

• Since crop based agriculture is highly season specific and time bond, the intensity of labour requirement increases during sowing and harvesting time of crops.

• For rest of the time farmers sitting idle if they do not have off-farm activities. This leisure time could be utilized effectively by adoption of farming system, which keeps the whole family busy throughout the year.

Table 5 : Cost return and employment potential under different mixed farming (MF) system

Farming system ExpenditureGross

income (Rs. ha-1)

Net returns

(Rs. ha-1)

Employment man days

year-1

Arable

MF with 2 cows

MF with 2 buffalo

MF with 2 cow + fish

MF with 2 buffaloes +fish

MF with 2 cows + 15 goats +10 poultry + 10 ducks + fish

MF with 2 buffaloes +15 goats + 10 poultry + 10 ducks + fish

14,171

34,972

47,257

35,170

47,455

43,311

55,596

38,264

72,640

71,545

76,064

74,969

88,222

87,127

24,093

37,668

24,288

40,894

27,514

44,911

31,531

257

374

390

374

390

380

396

Tiwari et al. 1998MF= Mixed FarmingMadhya Pradesh

Farming System Research

Farming System Concept was developed in 1970.

It is designed to understand farmer priorities, strategies and resource

allocation decisions.

Used in conjunction with on-farm research to identify and adopt

technologies useful to location specific problems of farmers.

Farming systems research and development approach associated with

small farmers and focuses on their conditions and aspirations.

Its goal to develop sustainable land use system which will optimize

resource use and increase income and employment for farm families.

Farming System Research For Different Agro Climatic Zones In India

• Pastures with forestry, goats, rabbits, and settled agricultural crops like millets, wheat, barley, and fodders.

High altitude cold deserts

• Animal husbandry with the camels, sheep and goats, and growing with fodder and field crops.

Arid and desert region

• Horticultural crops as a major component and agriculture mainly on the hill terraces and slopes with maize, rice, wheat, pulses and fodder crops.

Western and central Himalayas

•Primitive crop husbandry with rice, millets, pulses etc. Agro forestry system are also common. Piggery and poultry are the chief livestock activity.

Eastern Himalayas

•Intensive crop husbandry like rice-wheat-maize/mustard/pulses and livestock, dairy, cattle and buffaloes.

Indo-Gangetic Plains

•Cotton-sorghum-millets/pulses with dairy cattle, sheep and goats and poultry are the secondary livestock and animal husbandry enterprises.

Central And Southern

Highlands

• Major activity on plantation crops, cultivating rice and pulses are the secondary agricultural activity. Cattle, sheep and goats are the livestock components which in most parts, are maintained as large herds.

Western Ghats

• Rice cultivation with other enterprises like fishery, poultry and piggery, etc., capture fisheries of marine ecosystem is a specialized enterprise.

Delta And Coastal Plains

Table-6. Economics of different components of F.S.R. unit

Components Total labour (man days)

Total expenditure

(Rs)

Gross return (Rs. ha-1)

Net return (Rs. ha-1)

Return per rupee

invested (Rs)

Field cropsMulti-storeyed croppingPomology OlericultureFloriculture Pisciculture Poultry Duckery Mushroom Apiary BiogasTotal

98.287.018.496.44.0

31.023.023.0

180.01.0

11.0573.0

3,3153,831900

3,812125

3,7229,2405,387

18,184170600

49,286

8,95412,9202,366

12,114225

20,32510,2216,100

31,0401,3502031

107,646

5,6389,0891,4668,302100

16603981713

12,8561,1801,431

58,360

2.703.372.633.181.805.461.111.131.707.943.382.18

Behera and Mahapatra (1999)Bhubaneshwar

Table 7: Major zone and livelihood production systems in the Himachal Pradesh

Zones Climate Altitude(m amsl)

Livelihood production system

Himachal Pradesh

Zone I

Subordinate and low hills

Sub-tropical200-800

Agri- LivestockFish-Horticulture

Una,Bilaspur,Hamirpur,And parts of

Sirmaur,Kangra Solan and Chamba district

Zone II

Mid-Hills

Sub-humid801-1800

Agri-horti-Livestock- fishery

Tehsils of Palampur and Kangra of Kangra

District, Rampur tehsil of Shimla District and parts

of Mandi ,Solan,Kullu,Cham

ba,Sirmaur and Shimla Districts

Zone III

High hills

Temperate1801-2200

Hort. -Livestock-pasture-agriculture- fishery

Shimla district(except Rampur tehsil)and parts

of Kullu,Solan,Chamba,Man

di,Kangra and Sirmaur districts

Zone IV

Very high hills

Dry Temperate - Alpine,>2200

Livestock-silvipasture-agriculture- hort.

Kinnaur,Lahaul and Spiti,and pangi and Bharmour tehsils of

Chamba district

Integrated farming system

• Integrated Farming Systems a component of farming system research introduces a change in farming techniques for maximum production in a cropping pattern and take care of optimal utilization of resources.

• It focused round a few selected, inter-dependent, inter-related and often inter-linking production systems based on few crops, animals and related subsidiary professions.

Field crops

Crop production

Vegetables

Fruit cultivation

Poultry farming

Livestock integration

Duckery

Aquaculture

Agroforestry

Bee- keeping

Mushroom cultivation

Bio-gas plant

Different component of Integrated Farming System

Integrated approach in wetland situation

• Rice based cropping with poultry-cum-fish culture

• Crop-poultry-fishery

• Cropping with dairy

• Cropping with goat rearing

• Cropping with aquaculture

Integrated farming systems for irrigated areasCropping with dairy, biogas and siliviculture

 

Integrated farming system for rainfed areasCropping with goat and silivpasture

 

Integrated farming systems for hill regionsMajority of the farmers in the region are maintaining fruit tree like apple, dairy cattle and the major source of green fodder comes from lopping of the fodder trees and locally available grasses.

Objectives of Integrated farming systems

To identify existing farming systems in specific area and assess their relative viability.

To formulate farming system models involving main and allied enterprises for different farming situations.

To ensure optional utilization and conservation of available resources and effective recycling of farm residues within system.

To maintain sustainable production system without damaging resources base environment.

To raise overall profitability of farm household by complementing main allied enterprises with each other.

Analysis of existing farming systems in terms of resource use efficiency, production and productivity, income, employment and sustainability across different agro-climatic zones.

Evaluation and identification of farming system through participatory approach that ensures threshold level of income for the livelihood security.

Developing appropriate institutional and market linkage including value addition for enhancing sustainability.

Imparting training and capacity building of various stakeholders on IFS.

Goal of Integrated Farming Systems

Maximization of yield of all component enterprises

Provide steady and stable In come

Achieve agro-ecological equilibrium

Advantages of Integrated Farming System

• Increased Productivity

• Profitability

• Sustainability

• Balanced Food

• Environmental safety

• Recycling of resources

• Income round the Year

Adoption of New Technology

Meeting fodder crisis

Solving Fuel and Timber crisis

Employment generation

Improves literacy

Increasing the standard of living of the farmer

Integrated crop-livestock farming system Key aspects

Nutrient cycling

Forages crops

Crop residues

Livestock production

Integrated Crop- Livestock

Farming System

Table 8: Income and employment generation under different farming systems

Farming system Human labour

(MWDs)

Net returns (Rs.)

Additional employment

over agriculture

(MWDs)

Additional net returns over agriculture

(Rs.)

Agriculture + dairy

521 35293 359 27842

Agriculture + poultry

528 26830 366 19379

Agriculture+ sheep rearing

486 14665 324 7214

Agriculture alone 162 7451 - -

Radha et al. ( 2000)MWD: man working dayTelengana

Table 9: System productivity (sorghum grain-equivalent yield), employment generation and economic in integrated farming systems

Farming system Productivityt/ha

EmploymentMan days/ha System

productivityt/ha

Cost of productio

n(103Rs/

ha)

Net returns

(× 103/ha)2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02

FS1 cropping alone

FS2 crop +pigeon+ goat+ agroforestry + farm pond

FS3 crop+pigeon+Buffalo +agroforestry+farm pond

FS4 crop+pigeon+goat+ Buffalo+agroforestry +farm pond

0.69

4.23

11.20

12.18

1.84

5.21

10.79

12.59

28

110

140

160

32

116

142

166

1.27

4.72

10.99

12.39

5.520

18.90

43.65

52.85

1.17

1.49

22.67

21.82

Shekinah and Sankaran (2007)Tamil Nadu

Table 10: Gross and net income from different IFS models

IFS model Gross income(Rs. ha-1)

Net income(Rs. ha-1)

B:C ratio Employment generation (man days

year-1)

Crop Alone

Crop + Goat+ Poultry

Crop + Goat+ Poultry + Dairy

Crop +Goat+ Poultry + Sheep

Crop +Goat+ Poultry +Sheep +Dairy

Mean

Sd±

CV%

28,196

51,771

1,02,083

67,776

1,22,921

74,549

38,116

51.1

6,171

24,821

42,625

21,796

52,794

29,641

18,305

61.8

1.28

1.92

1.72

1.47

1.75

1.63

0.25

15.5

185

297

343

343

389

311

78

25

U.Solaiappan et al. 2007Kovilpatti

Table 11: Productivity, profitability and employment generation in integrated farming system

System Gross income

(Rs ha-1)

Expenditure (Rs ha-1)

Net returns(Rs ha-1)

Employment generated

(man days)

Crops + Cattle + Poultry + Fish

5,75,214 1,34,049 4,41,165 346

Crop Cultivation Alone

4,53,819 96,053 3,57,766 225

Additional Benefit1,21,395 - 83,399 121

Ravisankar et al. (2007)Andaman and Nicobar

treatment Fodder ( dry weight, kg/ha)

Fuel-wood (dry weight, kg/ha)

Crude protein (kg/ha)

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02 1999-2000

2000-01 2001-02 1999-2000

2000-01 2001-02

Agroforestry

Albizia Lebbeck + chickpea 21 159 158 17 213 324 5.0 30.0 28.2

Azadirachta indica + chickpea 32 299 310 47 361 428 5.4 39.5 52.0

Dalbergia sisso + chickpea 242 358 446 377 743 1104 41.6 54.8 69.0

Acacia nilotica + chickpea 241 302 423 1044 1361 1724 35.9 39.9 70.3

SOLE TREES

Albizia lebbeck 31 203 249 47 109 487 7.1 40.6 44.8

Azadirachta indica 46 198 185 104 255 298 7.4 25.7 31.0

Dalbergia sisso 191 191 455 559 313 942 1112 33.6 68.3

Acacia nilotica 139 390 494 676 1761 1894 20.3 50.7 80.6

CD (p = 0.05) 74 171 244 207 410 516 13.1 26.2 36.3

Table 12: Fodder, fuel-wood and protein yields of tree species in sole and agroforestry system during different years

Prasad et al. 2008Uttar Pradesh

Treatment At 12 % discount rate At 18 % discount rate

NPV(x 103 Rs)

B:Cratio

PBP(years)

NPV(x 103 Rs)

B:Cratio

PBP(years)

Agroforestry

Albizia lebbeck 27.24 1.42 1 20.34 1.40 1

Azadirachta indica

26.46 1.40 1 19.48 1.38 1

Dalbergia sisso 35.40 1.55 1 25.86 1.50 1

Acacia nilotica 37.34 1.58 1 28.38 1.55 1

Sole crop 48.68 1.99 36.88 1.95

SOLE TREES

Albizia lebbeck 4.62 1.46 7 1.68 1.20 10

Azadirachta indica

4.53 1.38 8 1.27 1.12 10

Dalbergia sisso 15.62 2.31 6 9.28 1.92 6

Acacia nilotica 23.43 3.17 5 15.17 2.81 5

Table 13: Benefit : cost ratio, net present worth (NPW) and pay back period (PBP) of various systems

Prasad et al. 2008Uttar Pradesh

Constraints and Opportunities

1.• Lack of appropriate

technology

2.• Lack of farmers participatory

research

3. • Inadequate Training

4. • Lack of rural infrastructure

5. • Policy implication

6.• Inadvertent avoidance of

farm women

7. • Socio-economic constraints

8.• Inadequate institutional

support

Future research thrust

Need to study the sustainability of the identified systems under different topographical situations in the long run including high value crops.

Need to study the nutrient dynamics of soil with continuous cropping and recycling of manurial resources with different systems over time.

Modeling of the identified farming system options to suit a given agro-climatic and socio-economic situation.

Need to identify the constraints in adoption of identified farming systems by the farmers for further refinement.

Conclusion

Efficient utilization of scarce and costly resources is the need of the hour to make crop production a viable proposition in the present day competitive scenario.

Following the concept of Integrated farming systems through supplementation of allied agro-enterprises by recycling the waste of one enterprise in another is a right step in this direction.

It provides alternate and sustainable avocation to marginal and sub-marginal farmers. Fruit, mushroom, apiary, animal production and poultry have been more viable with them.

The crop residues and biomass available in plenty in the crop production system need to be properly managed to harness full benefits.

Improving the integrated approach not only enhances farm income but also overcomes environmental pollution.

A better planning and utilization of the available resources will usher in bright prospects for the farm economy as a whole.