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30 Dec 2015

“We are not late comers”, but Technocrats with latest techniques. We bring in fresh experience and new ideas. Organic and livestock farming is one of the biggest and fast growing market in India. We have on careful study chosen Integrated Farming.

Integrated Farming is a dynamic process that requires, first and foremost, careful and detailed organisation and management.

This means:

• Investment of time in the management of the operation.

• Business planning, including setting realistic targets for economic and environmental

performance.

• Keeping detailed records.

• Identification of what skills are required and provision of appropriate training to ensure

a safe farm operation.

• Commitment from staff to the achievement of the targets and the overall aims of the business.

• Knowledge of where to obtain expert advice.

• Communication and demonstration for other farmers, and the public, of a profitable, yet safe and responsible method of farming.

• Adaptability and acceptance of scientific and technical advances that  are beneficial to the environment, food quality and to economic performance, and which can be integrated into the management of the business as soon as they are perfected and approved.

Sustainable development on our planet cannot be achieved without a major contribution from agriculture. People must be fed, and agriculture is faced with the challenge of producing food for a rapidly growing world population whilst maintaining the world’s fragile resources. Modern farming systems have evolved to meet this need in a way that combines the essential requirements of profitability and productivity.

Sustainable development must encompass food production alongside conservation of finite resources and protection of the natural environment so that the needs of people living today can be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Integrated Farming meets these potentially conflicting challenges at farm level, in a manner that balances food production, profitability, safety, animal welfare, social responsibility and environmental care. Integrated Farming seeks to reinforce the positive influences of agricultural production whilst reducing its negative impacts. It is a means of achieving a sustainable agriculture and an indispensable part (but only a part) of sustainable development.

The Principles

Producing sufficient high quality food, fiber and industrial raw materials

Food production is a fundamental need for society. The primary aim for Integrated Farming is to provide continuously a wide range of food as well as fiber and renewable materials, of the highest quality at affordable prices to the consumer. This requires skill, attention to details and compliance with regulations.

Meeting the demands of society

Consumers are increasingly discriminating about the food they eat and the conditions under which it is produced. Safety to human health, animal welfare, environmental protection and conservation are the principal concerns. Integrated Farming demands an awareness of these concerns and the adoption of economically and socially acceptable production practices on a local, national and international basis.

Maintaining a viable farming business

Farmers must remain in business to produce food and take care of the countryside. Integrated Farming is efficient and profitable whilst ensuring that a balance is achieved between running an economically sound business and meeting the constraints imposed by responsible social and environmental practices.

Caring for the environment

The countryside is a rich and diverse variety of fields, meadows and forests, largely created by centuries of agricultural activity. Every farm operation affects the local environment, sometimes adversely. Integrated Farming enhances the positive aspects and minimises the negative effects so that the biological diversity of the agricultural landscape is maintained and preserved.

Sustaining natural resources

Taking care of natural resources is essential for future generations. Integrated Farming optimizes their use. This is in such a way as to ensure soil fertility, protect water and air quality and encourage biodiversity.

Aimed at revolutionizing the way we farm, the desire to produce perennial food crops is based on the advantageous traits of perennial plants, with their deep roots, efficient water, carbon and nitrogen cycles. Perennial crop production is zero tilling, by nature. Perennial plants are more adaptable to climate variation and far more competitive against weeds. In addition perennial plants offer a more sustainable production system for marginal land which may be quickly depleted by a few years of intensive annual cropping.

INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM – An Introduction

Integrated farming or integrated production is a commonly and broadly used word to explain a more integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production and may sometimes be known as Integrated Biosystems.

     At present, the farmers concentrate mainly on crop production which is subjected to a high degree of uncertainty in income and employment to the farmers. In this contest, it is imperative to evolve suitable strategy for augmenting the income of a farm.

Integration of various agricultural enterprises viz., cropping, animal husbandry, fishery, forestry etc. have great potentialities in the agricultural economy. These enterprises not only supplement the income of the farmers but also help in increasing the family labour employment.

1.      The integrated farming system approach introduces a change in the farming techniques for maximum production in the cropping pattern and takes care of optimal utilization of resources.

2.      The farm wastes are better recycled for productive purposes in the integrated system.

3.      A judicious mix of agricultural enterprises like dairy, poultry, piggery, fishery, sericulture etc. suited to the given agro-climatic conditions and socio-economic status of the farmers would bring prosperity in the farming.

Advantages of Integrated Farming System

• Higher food production to equate the demand of the exploding population of our nation
• Increased farm income through proper residue recycling and allied components
• Sustainable soil fertility and productivity through organic waste recycling
• Integration of allied activities will result in the availability of nutritious food enriched with protein, carbohydrate, fat, minerals and vitamins
• Integrated farming will help in environmental protection through effective recycling of waste from animal activities like piggery, poultry and pigeon rearing
• Reduced production cost of components through input recycling from the byproducts of allied enterprises
• Regular stable income through the products like egg, milk, mushroom, vegetables, honey and silkworm cocoons from the linked activities in integrated farming
• Inclusion of biogas & agro forestry in integrated farming system will solve the prognosticated energy crisis
• Cultivation of fodder crops as intercropping and as border cropping will result in the availability of adequate nutritious fodder for animal components like milch cow, goat / sheep, pig and rabbit
• Firewood and construction wood requirements could be met from the agroforestry system without affecting the natural forest
• Avoidance of soil loss through erosion by agro-forestry and proper cultivation of each part of land by integrated farming
• Generation of regular employment for the farm family members of small and marginal farmers.

COMPONENTS OF INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM

1.      Crops, livestock, birds and trees are the major components of any IFS.

2.      Crop may have subsystem like monocrop, mixed/intercrop, multi-tier crops of cereals, legumes (pulses), oilseeds, forage etc.

3.      Livestock components may be milch cow, goat, sheep, poultry, bees.

4.      Tree components may include timer, fuel, fodder and fruit trees.

Factors to be considered
The following factors have to be considered while selecting IFS in rainfed areas.
Soil types, rainfall and its distribution and length of growing season are the major factors that decide the selection of suitable annual crops, trees and livestock components. The needs and resource base of the farmers also decides the selection of IFS components in any farm.

1. Suitable grain crops: According to soil type we can select suitable crops.

Black soil: 
Cereals:           Maize
Millets:            Sorghum, bajra
Pulses:             Greengram, blackgram, redgram, chickpea, soybean, horse gram
Oilseeds:         Sunflower, safflower
Fiber:              Cotton
Other crops:    Coriander, chillies,

Red soil
Millets:            Sorghum
Minor Millets: ragi, tenai, samai, pani varagu, varagu
Pulses:             Lab- lab, greengram, red gram, soybean, horse gram, cowpea
Oilseeds:         Groundnut, castor, sesame

2. Suitable forage crops

Black soils
Fodder sorghum, fodder bajra, fodder cowpea, desmanthus, Rhodes grass, Mayil kondai pul, Elusine sp., Thomson grass

Red soils
Fodder cholam, fodder bajra, Neelakolukattai (Blue Buffel Grass), fodder ragi, Sanku pushpam (Conch flower creeper), fodder cowpea, Muyal Masal (Stylo), siratro, marvel grasses, spear grass, vettiver

3. Suitable tree species

Tamarind, Simarouba,Vagai (Ladies tongue), Arappu, Kodai vel, A.tortilis, Maan Kathu vel, A.mellifera, Neem, Hardwickia binata, Ber, Indian Gooseberry, Casuarina, Silk cotton etc. are suitable for red gravelly/sandy red loam soils.
Karu vel, A.tortilis, A.albida, Neem, Vagai,   Holoptelia integrifolia, Manja neythi, Hibiscus tilifolia, Gmelina arborea, Casuarina, Subabuland Adina cordifolia are suitable for black soils.

4. Suitable livestock and birds

Goat, sheep, white cattle, black cattle, pigeon, rabbit, quail and poultry

Agronomic approaches for increasing overall productivity and sustainability of IFS
The various agronomic approaches for increasing the overall productivity and
sustainability of IFS:
i) Adoption of improved cropping system according to the rainfall and soil moisture availability
ii) Selection of suitable grain crop species, tree species that supply pods/leaves for a longer period or throughout the year
iii) The surplus fodder leaves, crop residues etc. during the rainy season should be
preserved as silage/hay for lean season (summer).

Wetland
     In wetland situation poultry, fish culture and mushroom cultivation were integrated with crop cultivation. Cropping was undertaken in 0.36 ha and 0.04 ha was allotted for fish pond, the poultry shed was placed above the pond. The poultry unit comprised of 20 bapkok chick and fisheries comprised of 300 polyculture fingerlings. The results were compared with that of the conventional system. The gross income from the integrated farming system was Rs.70,619/ha-1 yr-1 and that of the control was Rs.33,446/- ha-1 yr-1. Of the income from Integrated Farming System 59.3 per cent was from cropping, 8.7per cent from poultry, 7.4 per cent from fish culture and 24.6 per cent from mushroom. The additional net income realized from the integrated farming system was Rs.18,360 ha-1 yr-1.

Fish + poultry

Gardenland
     Under gardenland situation, dairy and bio-gas were integrated in 1.00 hectare area. The dairy unit comprised of 3 graded jersy cross breed milch animals with two calves. For effective recycling of farm and animal waste, a bio-gas unit of 2 cubic metre capacity was installed. The results of the study revealed that the entire system produced a net income of Rs.20, 702 per hectare per year.

Dryland
A study was taken up integrating crop and goat rearing under dryland in one hectare, considering small and marginal farmers of Tamilnadu. The goat unit comprised of Tellicherry goats of twenty eves and one buck. The results of integrated farming, system were compared with the control. The gross income from the farming system was Rs. 12,400/- and that of control Rs. 3,697/-. Of the income from the integrated farming system, 57.4 per cent was from goat rearing. The additional net income realized from integrated farming system was Rs. 3,400/- as compared to cropping alone. 

Integrated farming system for rainfed black cotton soils

     Unlike irrigated agriculture, rainfed farming is with full of uncertainties to the extent that getting a normal crop itself is uncertain. To offset the innate difficulty of uncertainties such as uncertain rainfall, heavy downpour and consequent damage of crops and uncertain yield and income, exclusive concentration on cropping technologies may not give a practical solution to the farmers. The solution lies in changing the agricultural system itself integrating cropping with maintenance of other enterprises. Keeping this objective in view, a well designed farming system has been developed for the benefit of rainfed black cotton soil farmers.

     Integration of cropping, livestock (goat) and orchard crops is profitable. In an area of four acres, including livestock (1-5 Tellicherry goats) along with cropping 3 acres and orchard crops (one acre of ber or guava or any marketable drought tolerant fruit tree), the additional income obtained over cropping alone was on an average, Rs.3300/-. Depending upon the extent of holding, the size of the components may be altered. Such integration is not only for higher income in favourable years but also to safeguard the farmers from getting disaster income in poor rainfall years.

INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM FOR VARIOUS AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONES OF TAMILNADU

Integrated farming system models will vary widely in each agro-climatic zones with very high location specific natural resource availability like rainfall, and other climatic factors, soil types and market demand. Based on the agro-ecological condition and successful cropping systems adopted in each zone specific faming system models proposed based on the research carried out and could be recommended with slight modification for each agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu.

I.  WESTERN ZONE

Wetland
Possible components

1.      Cropping (0.90 ha) + fishery (0.10 ha) + poultry (50 layers) + 5 kg oyster mushroom production /day.

2.      Rice-Gingelly-Maize and Rice-Soybean-Sunflower in 0.90 ha + polyculture fish rearing (0.10 ha), Pigeon (100 pairs) and 5kg mushroom production per day

3.      Goat (20 female + one male) + fish (400 numbers of polyculture) + improved cropping system for wetlands

Integration of cropping in 0.90 ha with fishery in 0.10 ha, 50 layers of poultry and 5 kg oyster mushroom production per day will result in higher net return of Rs.35,000/ha/ year

 (or) Integration of Rice-Gingelly-Maize and Rice-Soybean-Sunflower in 0.90 ha with 0.10 ha polyculture fish rearing, 100 pairs of pigeon and 5kg mushroom production per day could result in higher return of Rs.88, 700 in one ha farming with additional employment of 300 man days/year.

The highest net return of Rs.1, 31,118 could be possible by integration of goat (20 female + one male), fish (400 numbers of polyculture), along with improved cropping system for wetlands.

Irrigated upland

Integration of six crossbred milch animal with 2 m3 biogas production, 2 kg mushroom production and 20 bottles of mushroom spawn with farm forestry and homestead garden results in higher net return of Rs.34, 580 with 1250 man days employment in one hectare farming under irrigated upland condition.

Biogas plant

Rainfed land

Integration of grain crop cultivation + fodder production + silvipastoral trees involving trees like subabul, acacia sp., and thorn less prosophis interplanted with cenchrus grasses and rearing of 20 female + one male of Tellicherry goat results in additional income of Rs. 5970/ ha in rainfed farming.

 II.  NORTH WESTERN ZONE

1.      Crop cultivation in rainfed lands can be integrated with 3 milch cows, 6 layers of poultry in 0.80 ha land area will fetch additional income (or)

2.      Integration of cropping with 2 milch animal, 6 goats in 1.25 ha rainfed land, out of which 0.25 ha with mulberry cultivation for sericulture results in the net return of Rs. 28, 580/year.

III. HILLY ZONE

To obtain higher income and regular employment in hilly zone, crop cultivation can be integrated with 2 milch cows, 6 poultry layers and 9 broilers.

IV. CAUVERY DELTA ZONE

1.      Integration of rice based cropping with 2 milch cows resulted in a net return of Rs. 19, 900 (or)

2.      Crop cultivation along with goat rearing (6 Nos.) fetched Rs. 25,400 (or)

3.      Cropping with duck and fish rearing resulted in a net return of Rs. 24,110. When the above system is integrated with mushroom cultivation has resulted in a net return of Rs. 25,000 per year.

V. SOUTHERN ZONE

Rice based cropping + fish rearing + poultry in one ha land area fetched an additional income of Rs. 9530 in Periyar - Vaigai Command Area.

o        Milch cow + fish rearing + rice based cropping system in wetlands of Tirunelveli district will fetch revenue of Rs. 25,210 as net income. 

o        In rainfed black clay soil, cropping + fruit tree cultivation + goat rearing resulted in better returns.

PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC RETURNS OF DIFFERENT COMPONENTS IN IFS  -- as of *******

1.      Pigeon rearing in IFS

2.      Edible mushroom production in IFS

3.      Dairy Farming in IFS

4.      Biogas Production in IFS