Farming on the Cusp of Change

Context: Piecemeal revamping of agriculture to give way for Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) opens up avenues for efficient agriculture production and profitability. 

Advantages of Integrated Farming Systems:

• Widening of Choice for Farmers: Traditionally, farmers depended only on cows and buffaloes; Now the choice has been increased to include: 

• poultry, piggery, goat husbandry, fisheries, bee-keeping, sericulture (silk-worm rearing), mushroom growing, floriculture, horticulture, agroforestry, biogas production, and many others.
• Enhances Profitability: as the produce of the allied sectors — be it milk, eggs, meat, fish, or honey — normally has high market value.

• Income Support, Employment and Risk Mitigation:

• For, E.g. If crops fail due to some reason, the income from non-crop components will support the farm household.
• It makes farming a full-time job, rather than a seasonal activity, to keep farmers gainfully occupied most of the time.

• Sustainability Ensured: Some tacit benefits of this form of sustainable and the environment- friendly agriculture include 

• Improvement in soil health and fertility, 
• On-farm recycling of wastes,
• Higher input-use efficiency,
• Better nutrition for farm families.

• High Degree of Satisfaction: among the farmers in the adoption of these systems:

• For. E.g. Around 73% of the farmers who opted to try out the integrated farming systems tend to persist with them

Current Measures: 

• Research & Development (R&D): Various institutions of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) are collaborating in this effort.
• The Modipuram- based Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research (IIFSR) in Uttar Pradesh, 
• The All-India Network Programme on Organic Farming: including numerous agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (agriculture science centres).
• Findings: Investment needed would be Rs 11,500 per hectare on an average but will lead to rise in farm incomes by 2.7 times in 2-3 years.
• Officially Promoted by States: States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have been allocating funds in their Budgets for this purpose since 2017.
• Public Participation: Local farmers have been actively involved to ensure the adaptability of the mooted farming models.
• Sponsored Under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA): 
• The Union Agriculture Ministry has counselled all states to promote the IFS under the action plan for rainfed agriculture and the programmes.

Way Forward: 

• Prudent Selection of Enterprises: taking into account agro-ecological conditions, locally available resources and inputs, and market demand for end-products.

•  Care has to be taken to ensure that the chosen enterprises complement — and not compete with — one another.