Integrated Farming System: Enhancing Income Source for Marginal and Small Farmers

Abstract

Integrated farming is defined as a biologically integrated system, which integrates natural resources in a regulated mechanism into farming activities to achieve maximum replacement of off-farm inputs and sustain farm income. The productivity of a diversified cropping system always tends to increase when it is integrated with dairy, poultry or fishery components. An integrated farming system (IFS) helps farmers, especially small and marginal, to achieve maximum returns and income from different integrated components, thereby improving their standard of living. The IFS also acts as a means for providing nutritional security to a farmer’s family as the farmer is able to provide various IFS components such as vegetables, fruits, egg, milk, fish, etc. to his family and get the income from the surplus amount of these components. The higher returns with the farming system were not only due to higher productivity of the system but also due to lower cost of production and recycling of by-products of crop components. There is an increase in the value for labour absorption in IFS farms due to additional components brought into integration within the farm. The IFS is feasible with respect to socio-economic imperatives, but actual adoption rates of integrated farming are limited and unevenly spread among farmers. Thus, in order to develop a nation, farmers should be properly made aware of the use and management of IFS.