The Integrated Farming System (IFS)
Monika Rani
PhD Scholar,
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology,
Mumbai Veterinary College, Parel- 400012
9588369668; monikajangra3535@gmail.com
Abstract
The Integrated Farming System (IFS) is a holistic approach to agriculture that aims to optimize resource utilization, enhance sustainability, and increase farm productivity. It involves merging diverse agricultural activities like crop cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture, and agro forestry into a unified farming framework. This abstract explores the principles, components, benefits, and challenges associated with implementing an Integrated Farming System. It involves the efficient utilization of resources, expansion of income sources, preservation of ecological equilibrium, and resilience to climate change. Potential of Integrated Farming Systems to address food security, improve livelihoods, and promote environmental conservation.
Keywords: Integrated Farming System, advantages
Introduction
In the pursuit of sustainable agricultural practices, the Integrated Farming System (IFS) has emerged as a holistic and innovative approach. Unlike conventional farming methods that often lead to resource depletion and environmental degradation, IFS integrates various agricultural enterprises within a single system to optimize productivity, minimize waste, and promote ecological balance. The aim of IFS is to create resilient farming ecosystems that enhance both productivity and sustainability. At its core, IFS promotes the integration of crops, livestock, and aquaculture, creating a closed-loop system where each component supports the others.
Principle
The basic principles of the farming system are productive recycling of farm wastes. Different subsystems work together in integrated farming system resulting in a greater total productivity than the sum of their individual production.
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/integrated-farming-system-pdf–636133516103595566/
How it works?
Agro forestry: Trees are integral to IFS, providing multiple benefits such as shade, windbreaks, erosion control, and additional income through timber and fruit production. Integrating trees with crops and livestock enhances biodiversity and improves soil fertility. Aquaculture Integration: Adding fish farming to the mix further diversifies the system. Fish waste can be used to fertilize crops, while crops provide shade and nutrients for aquaculture ponds. This symbiotic relationship boosts overall productivity while conserving resources.
- Waste Utilization: IFS emphasizes the efficient use of resources, including waste. Organic waste from crops and livestock can be composted to produce nutrient-rich fertilizer, closing the nutrient loop and reducing the reliance on chemical inputs.
- Biodiversity Conservation: By incorporating diverse crops, livestock breeds, and native plants, IFS promotes biodiversity both above and below the ground. This diversity not only enhances ecosystem resilience but also reduces the risk of pests and diseases.
- Water Management: Efficient water use is crucial in IFS, especially in regions prone to drought. Techniques such as rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, and water recycling help conserve this precious resource while maintaining optimal growing conditions. The benefits of IFS extend beyond the farm gate.
Livestock Based Integrated Farming System
Livestock based integrated farming system is one of the rising agriculture systems. Fish-Livestock along with Livestock-Crop farming is the major concept in Livestock based integrated farming system.
Fish – livestock farming systems
Predetermined quantum of livestock waste obtained by rearing the livestock is applied in pond to raise the fish crop without any other additional supply of nutrients. Direct use of livestock production wastes is the most widespread and conventionally recognized type of integrated farming. Production wastes include manure, urine and spilled feed. Based on the type of livestock used for integration there are many combinations in livestock-fish systems. Some of the combination are listed and discussed below:
Cattle-Fish Culture
Manuring of fish pond by using cow dung is one of the common practices all-over the world. Manuring with cow dung, which is rich in nutrients results in increase of natural food organism and bacteria in fishpond. A unit of 5-6 cows can provide adequate manure for 1 ha of pond. Fish also utilize the fine feed which consists of grains wasted by cows. In place of raw cow dung, biogas slurry could be used with equally good production.
Pig-Fish system
The waste produced by 30-40 pigs is equivalent to 1 ton of ammonium sulphate. Urine and dung of pigs can be applied directly or inform of slurry in fishpond. Pig dung contains more than 70 percent digestible feed for fish. A density of 40 pigs has been found to be enough to fertilize a fish pond of one hectare area. Fish like grass carp, silver carp and common carp (1:2:1) are suitable for integration with pigs.
Poultry-Fish Culture
Poultry raising for meat (broilers) or eggs (layers) can be integrated with fish culture to reduce costs on fertilizers and feeds in fish culture and maximize benefits. Poultry can be raised over or adjacent to the ponds and the poultry excreta recycled to fertilize the fishponds.
Poultry dung in the form of fully built up litter contains: 3% nitrogen, 2% phosphate and 2% potash, therefore it acts as a good fertilizer which helps in producing fish feed i.e. phytoplankton and zooplankton in fish pond. Poultry-fish integration also maximizes the use of space; saves labor in transporting manure to the ponds and the poultry house is more hygienic and water needed for poultry husbandry practice can get from fish pond.
Duck-Fish Culture
A fish-pond being a semi-closed biological system with several aquatic animals and plants provides excellent disease-free environment for ducks. In return ducks consume juvenile frogs, tadpoles and dragonfly, thus making a safe environment for fish. Duck dropping goes directly in pond, which in turn provides essential nutrients to stimulate growth of natural food. Most commonly used breed for this system in India is the ‘Indian runners’.
Livestock-crop production system
An “integrated crop-livestock system” is a form of mixed production that utilizes crops and livestock in a way that they can complement one another through space and time. The backbone of an integrated system is the herd of ruminants (animals like sheep, goats or cattle), which graze a pasture to build up the soil. Eventually, sufficient soil organic matter builds up to the point where crops can be supported. Animal can also be used for farm operations and transport. While crop residues provide fodder for livestock and grain provides supplementary feed for productive animals.
Animal excreta have two crucial roles in the overall sustainability of the system:
Improving nutrient cycling: Excreta contain several nutrients (including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and organic matter, which are important for maintaining soil structure and fertility.
Providing energy: Excreta are the basis for the production of biogas and energy for household use.
Draught animal power is widely used for cultivation, transportation, water lifting and powering food processing equipment.
Source:https://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/best-practices/sustainable-agriculture/integrated-farming system/integrated-farming-system-for-sustainable-agriculture
Advantages of Integrated Farming System
- Productivity: IFS provides an opportunity to increase economic yield per unit area per unit time.
- Profitability: Cost of feed for livestock is about 65-75% of total cost of production; however use of waste material and crop byproduct reduces the cost of production, conversely it is same for the crop production as fertilizer requirement for crop is made available from animal excreta
- Sustainability: In IFS, subsystem of one waste material or byproduct works as an input for the other subsystem thus providing an opportunity to sustain the potentiality of production base for much longer periods.
- Environmental Safety: In IFS waste materials are effectively recycled by linking appropriate components, thus minimize environment pollution.
- Recycling: Effective recycling of product, byproducts and waste material in IFS is the corner stone behind the sustainability of farming system under resource poor condition in rural area.
- Income Rounds the year: Due to interaction of enterprises with crops, eggs, meat and milk, provides flow of money round the year amongst farming community.
- Saving Energy: Cattle are used as a medium of transportation in rural area more over cow dung is used as such a burning material for cooking purpose or utilized to generate biogas thereby reducing the dependency on petrol/diesel and fossil fuel respectively, taping the available source within the farming system, to conserve energy.
- Meeting Fodder crisis: Byproduct and waste material of crop are effectively utilized as a fodder for livestock (Ruminants) and products like grain, maize are used as feed for monogastric animal (pig and poultry).
- Employment Generation: Combining crop with livestock enterprises would increase the labour requirement significantly and would help in reducing the problems of under employment to a great extent.
Challenges in Implementing Integrated Farming Systems:
- One major hurdle is the need for significant knowledge and skill diversification among farmers to effectively manage multiple enterprises within a single farming system. This requires training and capacity-building initiatives to equip farmers with the necessary expertise in crop cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture, and agro forestry.
- Financial constraints can pose challenges to the adoption of IFS, as it may require initial investments in infrastructure, technology, and diversified inputs. Access to capital and support for small-scale farmers, in particular, is crucial for overcoming these financial barriers.
- Competition among different enterprises within the integrated system. Balancing the needs and interactions of crops, livestock, and other components while maintaining ecological harmony requires careful planning and management.
- Socio-cultural factors and farmer perceptions can also influence the adoption of Integrated Farming Systems.
Conclusion
Integrated Farming System (IFS) represents a promising approach to sustainable agriculture that offers numerous benefits for farmers, communities, and the environment. Within the broad concept of sustainable agriculture “Integrated Farming Systems” hold special position as in this system nothing is wasted, the byproduct of one system becomes the input for other. By integrating diverse agricultural enterprises, IFS promotes resource efficiency, income diversification, and environmental sustainability. Integrated farming is an integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. This system help poor small farmers, who have very small land holding for crop production and a few heads of livestock to diversify farm production, increase cash income, improve quality and quantity of food produced and exploitation of unutilized resources.
