DOUBLING OF FARMER’S INCOME THROUGH LIVESTOCK BASED INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM (IFS) DURING COVID19 ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN IN INDIA
Dr. Devendra Singh Mertia,
PhD scholar & TA,
Dept. of Vet. Anatomy,
RAJUVAS
Our PM’s commitment to Doubling real income of farmers till 2022-23 over the base year of 2015-16, requires annual growth of 10.41 per cent in farmers income. This implies that the on-going and previously achieved rate of growth in farm income has to be sharply accelerated.Even after 6 month of COVID19 in which the GDP of our country has plunged to negative ,the only sector showing positive trend is livestock sector, growing @more than 7%.Now our Govt.has realized the importance of livestock sector in solving the problem of unemployment & economic growth.This is the reason why PM Modi jee is giving great attention to this sector. Therefore, strong measures will be needed to harness all possible sources of growth in farmers’ income within as well as outside agriculture including livestock sector.Although, the livestock sectors are going with annual growth rate of more than 12% ,It is possible to achieve the goal set by our PM,even during & Post COVID19 , provided we follow certain strategy.The huge displaced immigrant labourer can get better livelihood by adopting the livestock activities at their native place.So Modi Govt.is launching such livestock related schemes in view to provide employment to the rural youth via Atmnirbhar Bharat mission.
Strategy for Improving Farmers’ Income
The sources of growth in output and income can be put in four categories.
1. Development initiatives including infrastructure
2. Technology
3. Policies and
4. Institutional mechanisms
Roadmap and Action Plan
The quantitative framework for doubling livestock farmers income has identified seven sources of growth. These are:
1. Increase in production of livestock
2. Improvement in efficiency of input use (cost saving)
3. Increase in livestock produce intensity
4. Diversification towards high value livestock produce
5. Improved price realization by farmers
6. Shift of livestock farmers to non-farm jobs
7. Adoption of IFS model of farming.
IFS MODEL OF FARMING IN INDIA
In recent years, food security, livelihood security,water security as well as natural resources conservation and environment protection have emerged as major issues worldwide, Developing countries struggling to deal with these issues and also have to contend with the dual burden of climate change and globalization. It has been accepted by everyone across the globe that sustainable development is the only way to promote rational utilization of resources and environmental protection without hampering economic growth. Developing countries around the world are promoting sustainable development through sustainable agricultural practices which will help them in addressing socioeconomic as well as environmental issues simultaneously. 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. Integrated farming is an integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production. Moreover, the 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.
Livestock based integrated farming system is one of the rising agriculture systems in India. The practice of this type of farming system has been continued in our country in a traditional way from time immemorial. 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. Fish-Livestock along with Livestock-Crop farming is the major concept in Livestock based integrated farming 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.
Animals play key and multiple roles in the functioning of the farm, and not only because they provide livestock products (meat, milk, eggs, wool, and hides) or can be converted into prompt cash in times of need.
Animals transform plant energy into useful work:
animal power is used for ploughing, transport and in activities such as milling, logging, road construction,marketing, and water lifting for irrigation. Animals also provide manure and other types of animal waste. Animal excreta have two crucial roles in the overall sustainability of the system:
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• Improving nutrient cycling: Excreta contain several nutrients (including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and organic matter, which are important for maintaining soil structure and fertility. Through its use, production is increased while the risk of soil degradation is reduced.
• Providing energy: Excreta are the basis for the production of biogas and energy for household use (e.g. cooking, lighting) or for rural industries (e.g.powering mills and water pumps). Fuel in the form of biogas or dung cakes can replace charcoal and wood.
One key advantage of crop-livestock production systems is that livestock can be fed on crop residues and other products that would otherwise pose a major waste disposal problem. For example, livestock can be fed on straw, damaged fruits, grains and household wastes. Integration of livestock and crop allows nutrients to be recycled more effectively on the farm. Manure itself is a valuable fertilizer containing 8 kg of nitrogen, 4kg of phosphorus and 16 kg of potassium per tonne. Adding manure to the soil not only fertilizes it but also improves its structures and water retention capacity. It is also opined that where livestock are used to graze, the vegetation under plantations of coconut, oil palm and rubber, as in Malaysia, the cost of weed control can be dramatically reduced, sometimes by as much as 40 percent. In Colombia sheep are sometimes used to control weeds in sugarcane. Draught animal power is widely used for cultivation, transportation, water lifting and powering food processing equipment.
Over all Advantages of Integrated Farming System—–
1. Productivity: IFS provides an opportunity to increase economic yield per unit area per unit time by virtue of intensification of crop and allied enterprises especially for small and marginal farmers.
2. Profitability: Cost of feed for livestock is about 65-75% of total cost of production; however use of waste material and their 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 no extra fertilizer is required to purchase from out side farm as a result the benefit cost ratio increases and purchasing power of farmers improves thereby.
3. Sustainability:In IFS, subsystem of one waste material or byproduct works as an input for the other subsystem and their byproduct or inputs are organic in nature thus providing an opportunity to sustain the potentiality of production base for much longer periods as compare to monoculture farming system.
4.Balanced Food: All the nutrient requirements of human are not exclusively found in single food,to meet such requirement different food staffs have to be consumed by farmers. Such requirement can be fulfilled by adopting IFS at farmer level, enabling different sources of nutrition.
5.Environmental Safety:In IFS waste materials are effectively recycled by linking appropriate components, thus minimize environment pollution.
6. 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.
7.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.
8.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.
9.Meeting Fodder crisis: Byproduct and waste material of crop are effectively utilized as a fodder for livestock (Ruminants) and product like grain,maize are used as feed for monogastric animal (pig and poultry).
10.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 IFS provide enough scope to employ family labour round the year.
Our farmers can adopt the following IFS model which are viable n profitable.
1. Livestock Based Integrated Farming System
2. Fish – livestock farming systems
i. Cattle-Fish Culture
ii. Pig-Fish system
iii. Poultry-Fish Culture
iv. Duck-Fish Culture
Reference-On request
