Doubling Farmers’ Income through Integrated Dairy Farming Systems
Jessy Bagh
Assistant professor, Dept. of Livestock Production and Management, CVSc & AH, OUAT, Bhubaneswar
Abstract
India’s agriculture though supporting above half the population, but contributes only about 18% to the national GDP emphasizing a remarkable discrepancy for rural households. To address this Government of India, launch a goal of doubling farmer’s income by 2022, as suggested by the Ashok Dalwai Committee (2017). A key strategy to achieve this is the adoption of Integrated Dairy Farming Systems (IDFS), which is the integrated combination of dairy animal husbandry with crop production, fodder cultivation, biogas generation, and organic waste recycling. Advantages of IDFS are many like efficient resource utilization, diverse income, sustainability livelihoods and food security. According to ICAR (2022), farmers adopting IDFS have testimony of 40-100% rise in annual income compared to traditional farming. However, challenges must also be addressed such as high initial investments, lack of awareness and veterinary support and market fluctuations. With proper infrastructure, policy support and training, IDFS can significantly contribute to rural income improvement and sustainable production, making a feasible path towards achieving national goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2025.
Keywords: Integrated Farming System, Dairy, Crop, Livestock
Introduction
India’s agricultural sector supports above 50% of population but only about 18% is contributed towards GDP. So there is a discrepancy between effort and income which kept rural livelihoods vulnerable, leading the Government of India to launch extensive goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, as recommended by the Ashok Dalwai Committee (2017). To achieve the above goal this requires to concentrate beyond production centric policies to income –centric models that signifies diversification, sustainability and risk minimization. Agriculture Ministry has made 7 –strategy points for doubling of farmer’s income i.e increase in production, effective use of input cost, reduction of post- harvest losses, value addition, reforms in agriculture marketing, reduce risk and ensure security by assistance, promote allied sectors.
Among world’s livestock population India holds around 17% in 2% of world’s geographical area, which leads to great pressure on land. Presently India’s livestock population is 535.78 million head, which is expected to grow at the rate of 0.55% in the coming years and to reach 780.7 million by 2050. Most of farmers in India are small and marginal farmers holding less than two acres of land. In general, the above farmers try to produce a continuous, reliable and balanced supply of food to meet basic needs and farm recurring expenses (Rani, 2015). But these farmers face difficulties to achieve their needs with single farm enterprises without turning to Integrated Farming System (IFS). Among IFS acquiring Integrated dairy farming Systems (IDFS) is a sustainable method that combines dairy animal with crop, fodder, generation of biogas and recycling organic waste resulting in regular income, environmental sustainability and nutritional security.
Advantages of IDFS:
- Efficient resource utilization
- According to ICAR (2022) studies, farmers adopting IDFS recorded a 40–100% increase in net annual income over traditional crop-only systems.
- Minimizing nutrient losses and maximizing nutrient efficiency
- Integrated crop and allied enterprises helps to increase economic yield.
- It provides sustainability production through organic supplementation and effective utilization of by-products of linked components.
- It raises the overall profitability of farm households by complementing main allied enterprises with each other, etc.
- Dairy acts as a cash flow stabilizer, providing daily or weekly income through milk sales.
Challenges of IDFS:
- Initially the capital investments of buying animals, constructing sheds setting biogas cost huge.
- Lack of awareness of IDFS in farmer’s level.
- Some places have lack of veterinary support and availability of seasonal green fodder only mostly in hilly area.
- Market fluctuations leads to unstable milk price and lack of maintaining cold chain resulting less economic returns.
Components of IDFS:
- Dairy Animal Husbandry: Core component involves cow and buffalos for milk production, provides dung and urine for manure and biogas promoting daily income generation.
- Fodder Cultivation: Reduction of feed cost occur by cultivating green fodder and ensuring year round feed security. Year round green fodder cultivation reduces feed cost
- Crop integration: Pulses and cereal provides grain for humans and its residues serves as livestock feed. Soil fertility and crop yield is enhanced by organic manure.
- Vermicomposting: High quality compost is produced by processing cattle waste and crop residues.
- Value Addition and Marketing: Processing milk into paneer, curd, ghee, etc., fetches higher returns. Farmers fetches better price by avoiding exploiting themselves by middle man through collective marketing via cooperatives or farmer producer organizations (FPOs).
Conclusion:
Dairying significantly boosts rural income and employment. With well-planned strategies, proper resources, and strong government support, the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2025 is achievable. Dairy farming must grow at 5.3% annually in milk production. Farmers should adopt new technologies, focus on animal health, and consider organic dairy and Integrated Dairy Farming Systems (IDFS) for added benefits. Enhancing milk yield, ensuring better milk prices, and promoting cooperatives are key. Overall, dairy farming holds untapped potential to drive income growth for farmers. Integrated crop–livestock systems (especially with high complementarity and synergy) become increasingly complex due to the diverse practices and coordination needed across crops, grasslands, animals, and among farmers. This complexity demands both doing things better (resource efficiency) and differently (resource innovation), requiring greater knowledge and skills.
Reference
- Martin, G., Moraine, M., Ryschawy, J., Angélina Magne, M., Asai, M., Sarthou, JP., Duru, M., Therond, O. (2016). Crop–livestock integration beyond the farm level: a review. Sustain. Dev. 36: 53
- Regar, J., Misra, A., Rana, J., Ponnusamy, K. and Dixit, A. (2022). Dairy based integrated farming system model for income enhancement of small farmers. The Pharma Innovation Journal. SP-11(2): 782-786.
- Sahu, J., Yadav, A., Dinani, O.P., Kumar, T., Dubey, A., Gadpayle, R. (2019). Role of Dairy Farming to Double the Farmer’s Income by 2025. International Journal of Advances in Agricultural Science and Technology. 6(2): 1-10.
- https://cdn.visionias.in/infographics/Doubling-The-Farmers-Income.pdf
