Sustainable farm: A case study of a small farm from Pali, India

Abstract

The small-farm model is the surest route to broad-based economic development as they are multiple functionaries and provide immense benefits for society and for the biosphere. In food production, small farms are more productive and more efficient. With regard to cost and return, a small-farm economy offers a clear solution. Thus, a small farmer can intensify biodiversity and the greater the biodiversity, the higher the productivity and stability and sustainability of agriculture. Small family farms are the backbone of a community, of a nation and of a society as a whole. Small biodiverse farms based on internal inputs are in fact the only promise for increasing agricultural productivity, whether productivity is defined in terms of biological productivity or in terms of financial returns, or in terms of energy. This chapter presents a precise review on the benefits of multi-utility of small farms with the case study of Mr. Madan Lal Deora, a progressive farmer of Pali, district of Rajasthan in India who had established himself as a successful farmer adopting diversified farming system. He had adopted multiple cropping and farming system on his farm which is 1 ha in area by growing cereals, oilseeds, pulses, medicinal plants and forest plants with horticultural crops including fruits and vegetables. Along with agriculture, the farmer is having livestock which yields milk and the dung is converted into valuable vermicompost. Thus, this model of multifunctional small farm which integrate crops, horticulture, livestock and natural vegetation is key to sustainable development in countries dominated by small farms.