INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM APPROACH TO COPE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLANGES
Mamta, Rajneesh Sirohi, Deep Narayan Singh, Ajay Kumar and Yajuvendra Singh
College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, DUVASU, Mathura.
INTRODUCTION-
The Indian economy is based on agriculture, which provides a direct source of income for almost 60% of the country’s citizens. With only 44% of the country’s total arable land, small and marginal farmers (86%) account for of all agricultural production. With its vested limitations, Intensive agriculture systems fall short of achieving food, environmental, and energy security at the farm level and are unable to sustainably provide revenue and regular employment. Therefore, farmers that depend on a single farming venture, like a normal monocropping system, are unable to support themselves. Future sustainability, food security, and profitability of Indian agriculture are all seriously threatened by the fragmentation of land resources (Siddeswaran et al., 2012). In the majority of the world, agricultural systems are susceptible to a wide variety of dangers and uncertainties like widespread droughts, floods, migration, famines, and poverty which have long been caused by climatic hazards, and future increases in climatic risks will further exacerbate these issues. With an increase in the average global temperature and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, which are changing ecosystems all over the world and endangering both plants and animals, the planet earth is having difficulty keeping up. Greenhouse gases have been considered as the major culprits for such situation for which the energy industry is the largest emitter. Transportation, business, particularly the mining and construction industries, and agriculture are further substantial contributors of greenhouse gases. In terms of CO2 equivalent, the cattle industry produces 18% more greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation industry (FAO, 2006). Methane makes up 16% of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and is 23 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (EPA, 2010). IFS might be a more effective strategy to deal with these issues.
IFS have gained a lot of popularity since it aims to maximise productivity while minimising environmental damage. Lower GHG emissions and atmospheric carbon sequestration are just two of the significant benefits that integrated farming can offer to the environment (Lemaire, et al., 2014). There is a lot of diversity throughout the nation, suggesting the need for the applicability of the IFS concept to varied ecoregions and production goals. Using varied combinations, IFS is a method to mix forestry, livestock, and crop activities in one region. The combination of components for IFS is determined by a number of variables, including the economy, regional geography, farming infrastructure, farmer skill, production methods, and cultural considerations. In addition to the biophysical synergistic impact, IFS in rural areas may lead to more resilience against biophysical and economic pressures than specialised farming due to better utilisation of machinery, higher farmer income, and regular employment opportunities. Large dairy, poultry, piggery, and animal feed preparation industries, as well as intensive livestock enterprises in general, depend on external inputs like feed, which externalises pollution (for the production of inputs) and creates local pollution hazards due to improper handling, storage, and disposal (Parajuli et al., 2018).
IFS AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE
In the face of climate change, IFS offers a promising method to increase the effectiveness and adaptability of crop and livestock production systems. According to Bell et al., (2014), Perennial forages and cropping techniques like agroforestry, alley cropping, and intercropping, provides several choices for minimising the effects of climate change by enhancing carbon sequestration and nutrient availability. According to Salton et al., (2014), IFS had lower net GHG emissions than conventional systems due to better soil carbon sequestration, which balanced out N2O emissions. According to Liu et al., (2007) and Schönbach et al., (2012), the IFS technique has the ability to decrease CH4 absorption. According to Chen et al., (2011), the IFS under temperate plains absorbed 30% lesser CH4. IFS is promoted as a viable approach to boost agricultural output and restore deteriorated pastures while reducing GHG emissions (Gil et al., 2015). According to Sunderland (2011), the addition of multipurpose trees to the farming system gives small and marginal holders access to food and revenue, serves as a source of livelihood, and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere.
IFS FOR CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY
When a farm or agricultural community introduces new species, breeds, or plant kinds, this is known as agricultural diversification. The IFS encourages growing many crops simultaneously as intercrops, mixed crops, sequential crops, etc. (it may also include annual, perennial, and tree crops), which enhances the ecosystem services provided by agriculture. The monoculture, such as the extensive use of rice-wheat, rice-rice, and rice-maize systems in India’s irrigated agroecosystem, affects soil biology, causes genetic erosion, reduces groundwater availability, and consequently causes a number of environmental issues. Farmers must pick crop diversity while taking into account a variety of considerations, such as improved nutrition, market diversification, and risk reduction. IFS is a multi-enterprise strategy that has the ability to improve ecological function by restoring biodiversity while also increasing whole-system economic and agronomic production.
USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IFS
Generally speaking, energy from renewable sources is less expensive than that derived from large-scale fossil fuels. Due to their availability and topological advantages, solar and wind energy are now the two most competitive renewable energy sources in the world. There is a large overall decrease in the quantity of conventional energy consumption when renewable energy is utilised in the form of solar-wind systems. IFS offer a lot of room for use of these renewable energies and for production of biogas, which reduces the pollution risk posed by manure and other livestock waste while providing green fuel.
Solar energy
In many regions of the nation, the greenhouse cultivation method is expanding. Greenhouse cultivation offers an alternative and extra methods to meet the worldwide demand for food. The primary energy requirements for food production in greenhouses are for the heating and cooling processes. The common methods of heating include either using electric heaters, which use even more primary energy, or burning fossil fuels including coal, diesel, fuel oil, wood fuel, liquefied petroleum, and liquefied natural gas, which result in higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Finding improved heating-cooling technologies that also provide a lower use of energy and/or the use of renewable energy sources are crucial (Chai L, et al., 2012). The most abundant and cleanest renewable energy source that is also broadly accessible is solar energy. The sun is the planet’s most plentiful energy source. The quantity of energy the sun provides in a single day is sufficient to meet the world’s energy needs for more than 20 years. Photovoltaic (PV) technology might be used to turn this solar energy into electrical energy. The electrical energy produced could be used for greenhouse environmental control equipment and could also be the ideal answer for agriculture necessity like water pumping for livestock or crops in remote areas. A solar powered integrated farming system consists of some basic components including PV panels, pumps and pump controllers, motors and motor controllers, and additional lighting and cooling system equipment. An integrated farming system that uses solar electricity might be a sustainable way to use solar energy all year round.
Wind energy
Wind energy is related to the movement of air masses. With velocities proportional to the pressure gradient, wind energy is the flow of air masses from high atmospheric pressure regions to nearby low pressure regions. When compared to nearby air masses over land areas, the air masses over oceans, seas, and lakes remain cool during the day. A dependable and well-established technology, wind power can provide electricity at a price that is comparable with coal and other forms of alternative energy like nuclear energy. Although the usage of wind energy has long been advantageous to civilization, it is currently economically negligible in many regions of the world. Grid integration, wind availability predictions, public perceptions, and responses to the visual impact of wind turbines are the present barriers to wind power popularity. It is challenging for power produced by wind energy to completely replace other electrical sources due to the wind’s erratic nature. Cost-cutting is a key issue for advancing offshore wind generation because it is typically more expensive. This is expected to be the biggest barrier to the widespread use of renewable energy sources because the initial investments are high and carries a high financial risk for individuals involved in these projects.
Biogas
Biogas, commonly referred to as renewable natural gas, is “renewable” in the sense that people and animals will continue to produce waste. Regarding the significance of low-cost energy sources being a crucial component of the biocycle, a biogas production unit may turn agricultural wastes, particularly livestock wastes in the form of manure, into a usable type of sustainable fuel. As a “greener” fuel, biogas has grown in popularity in recent years. Nitrogen pollution and discharge into water resources are prevented by removing the environment’s large supply of animal manure and food waste. Additionally, methane emissions from landfills and manure lagoons that would have otherwise leaked are reduced by the use of biogas. Using this methane as a fuel dramatically reduces its climate impact by converting it into CO2. With the right processing, biogas can be upgraded to replace mined natural gas for use as a fuel for electricity production, ground transportation, and commercial and residential buildings.
CONCLUSION
The changing climate is an existential problem for humanity. An economy based on renewable resources might be developed with new technology and management techniques, which is quite likely with the adoption of IFS. IFS-enhanced agronomic management leads to more robust, fruitful, and sustainable systems and can help minimise environmental pollution. Promoting the use of renewable energy sources is necessary for sustainable agriculture.
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