Integrated Livestock Farming System: AN APPROACH TO BOOST UP FAMILY INCOME

Integrated Livestock Farming System: AN APPROACH TO BOOST UP FAMILY INCOME

Sustainable Integrated Farming Systems (SIFS) is a system which focuses on increasing farm productivity by increasing diversification, resource integration and creating market linkages.Livestock plays a significant role in rural economic development by supplementing family income and generating gainful employment, especially for landless laborers, smallholders, and marginal farmers, as well as for women. Historically, livestock rearing has been recognized as an integral part of the agricultural sector, and it has been observed that combining livestock with other farming systems such as fisheries, apiculture, horticulture, agro-forestry, etc. can be more productive and sustainable than specialized and intensive systems. This system of combining livestock with different farming systems termed as Integrated livestock farming system (ILFS) which helps in efficient utilization of natural resources and wastes/organic residues and involve recycling of bio resources. For example paddy straw a by-product from rice crop can be used as a valuable input for mushroom cultivation or as a source of dry fodder for dairy animals. Similarly, spent of mushroom cultivation (used straw) can be used as a raw material in compost or vermicompost pits and by-products from dairy unit like dung can be used as fish feed or raw material for vermicompost unit. In this way an integrated approach to farming can becomes more beneficial than monoculture and specialized farming and it can generates employment around the year along with additional income.

Why to adopt Integrated Livestock Farming System?

A system of integrated livestock farming is based on the philosophy that “there is no waste” and “waste is only a misplaced resource that can be transformed into another useful material for another purpose”. It is a way of efficient waste utilization generated under different farming systems and assists the farmers in becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant. At present most of the farmers have small and fragmented land holding (< 1 ha) and area under crop cultivation is also shrinking day by day resulting in decrease in productivity from different crops. In agricultural operations the sowing and harvesting of crops are seasonally dependent and during other times of the year the farmers are free and under this scenario, integration of livestock sector with different farming systems can provides income and employment round the year and can meet the household’s requirements of the farmers with small land holding.

Fish- livestock farming systems are recognized as highly assured technology where predetermined quantum of livestock waste obtained by rearing the live stock in the pond area is applied in pond to raise the fish crop without any other additional supply of nutrients. The main potential linkages between livestock and fish production concern use of nutrients, particularly reuse of livestock manures for fish production. The term nutrients mainly refer to elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) which function as fertilizers to stimulate natural food webs rather than conventional livestock nutrition usage such as feed ingredients. Both production and processing of livestock generate by-products that can be used for aquaculture. 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; and they may be used as fresh inputs or be processed in some way before use.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. A healthy cow excretes over 4,000-5,000 kg dung, 3,500-4,000 lt urine on an annual basis. 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. In addition to 9,000 kg of milk, about 3,000-4,000 kg fish/ha/year can also be harvested with such integration.[1,2] Cowshed should be built close to fishpond to simplify handling of cow manure. A cow requires about 7,000-8,000 kg of green grass annually. Grass carp utilizes the left over grasses, which are about 2,500 kg. 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. Twenty to thirty thousand kg of biogas slurry are recycled in 1 ha water area to get over 4000 kg of fish without feed or any fertilizer application.

 

 Pig-Fish system

 

The waste produced by 30-40 pigs is equivalent to 1 tonne of ammonium sulphate. Exotic breeds like White Yorkshire, Landrace and Hampshire are reared in pig-sty near the fish pond. Depending on the size of the fishponds and their manure requirements, such a system can either be built on the bund dividing two fishponds or on the dry-side of the bund. Pigsties, however, may also be constructed in a nearby place where the urine and dung of pigs are first allowed to the oxidation tanks (digestion chambers) of biogas plants for the production of methane for household use. The liquid manure (slurry) is then discharged into the fishponds through small ditches running through pond bunds. Alternately, the pig manure may be heaped in localized places of fishponds or may be applied in fishponds by dissolving in water.[3,4] Pig dung contains more than 70 percent digestible feed for fish. The undigested solids present in the pig dung also serve as direct food source to tilapia and common carp. A density of 40 pigs has been found to be enough to fertilize a fish pond of one hectare area. The optimum dose of pig manure per hectare has been estimated as five tonnes for a culture period of one year. Fish like grass carp, silver carp and common carp (1:2:1) are suitable for integration with pigs. Pigs attain slaughter maturity size (60-70 kg) with in 6 months and give 6-12 piglets in every litter. Their age at first maturity ranges from 6-8 months. Fish attain marketable size in a year. Final harvesting is done after 12 months of rearing. It is seen that a fish production of 3,000 kg/ha could be achieved under a stocking density of 6,000 fish fingerlings/ha in a culture period of six months.

 

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 housing, when constructed above the water level using bamboo poles would fertilize fishponds directly.In fish poultry integration, birds housed under intensive system are considered best. Birds are kept in confinement with no access to outside. Deep litter is well suited for this type of farming. About 6-8 cm thick layer prepared from chopped straw, dry leaves, saw dust or groundnut shell is sufficient.[5,6] Poultry dung in the form of fully built up dip 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. So application of extra fertilizer to fish pond for raising fish is not needed. This cuts the cost of fish production by 60%. In one year 25-30 birds can produce 1 tonne dip litter and based on that it is found that 500-600 birds are enough to fertilize 1 ha water spread area for good fish production. Daily at the rate of 50 kg/ha water spread area poultry dung is applied to the fish pond. When phytoplanktonic bloom is seen over the surface water of fish pond then application of poultry dung to the pond should immediately be suspended. Poultry-fish integration also maximizes the use of space; saves labour 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.This has two advantages, there is no loss of energy and fertilization is homogeneous. This integrated farming has been followed in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Tripura and Karnataka. Most commonly used breed for this system in India is the ‘Indian runners’.[7,8] It is highly profitable as it greatly enhances the animal protein production in terms of fish and duck per unit area. Ducks are known as living manuring machines.The duck dropping contain 25 per cent organic and 20 percent inorganic substances with a number of elements such as carbon ,phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, calcium,etc. Hence, it forms a very good source of fertilizer in fish ponds for the production of fish food organisms.Besides manuring, ducks eradicate the unwanted insects,snails and their larvae which may be the vectors of fish pathogenic organisms and water-borne disease-causing organisms infecting human beings. Further, ducks also help in releasing nutrients from the soil of ponds,particularly when they agitate the shore areas of the pond. For duck-fish culture, ducks may be periodically allowed to range freely, or may be put in screened resting places above the water. Floating pens or sheds made of bamboo splits may also be suspended in the pond to allow uniform manuring. The ducks may be stocked in these sheds at the rate of 15 to 20/m2 . It is better if the ducks are left in ponds only until they reach marketable size. Depending on the growth rate of ducks, they may be replaced once in two to three months. About 15-20 days old ducklings are generally selected. The number of ducks may be between 100 and 3,000/ha depending on the duration of fish culture and the manure requirements. For culturing fish with ducks, it is advisable to release fish fingerlings of more than 10 cm size, otherwise the ducks may feed on the fingerlings. The stocking density of fingerlings also depends on the size of pond and number of ducks released in it. As the nitrogen-rich duck manure enhances both phyto and zooplankton production, phytoplankton-feeding silver carp and zooplankton-feeding catla and common carp are ideal for duck-fish culture. The fish rearing period is generally kept as one year and under a stocking density of 20,000/ha, a fish production of 3,000-4,000 kg/ha/year has been obtained in duck-fish culture. In addition to this, eggs and duck-meat are also obtained in good quantity on an annual basis.

 

Different approaches under Integrated Livestock Farming System (ILFS)

There are different approaches farmers can adopt to implement ILFS for better utilization of their landholdings and to establish a source of sustainable income round the year as explained below in brief:

• Crop livestock farming system

Combinations for adoptions can be:

• Horticulture-Agriculture-Cattle/Goat/sheep farming system.
• Fodder-Vegetable-Dairy farming system.

In integrated crop livestock farming system, agriculture crop residues can be used for feeding animals, while livestock manure can increase agricultural productivity by improving soil fertility and fortifying nutrients that reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. A healthy cow excretes over 4,000-5,000 kg dung, 3,500-4,000 L urine on an annual basis which can be applied as manure to the fields as a replacement of chemical fertilizers after proper composting.

• Crop livestock fishery farming system

Under this different crop, livestock and fisheries components can be combined as:

• Crop-Goat/Cow-fish farming system
  • Crop-Azolla-cattle-fish farming system
  • Crop-Fish-Pig farming system

In this crop residue i.e. paddy straw after rice crop harvesting can be fed to livestock. The manure from livestock can be applied in agriculture fields to improve soil fertility by increasing the availability of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. On the other hand fish production can be associated in rice fields where rice fields can provide better planktonic, periphytic and benthic food to fishes. In Livestock plus crop farming system the fishes are reared without any additional feed, with the help of available dung from livestock which is used to initiate zooplankton and phytoplankton growth. Fishes like rohu, catla, mrigal, grass carp, common carp and silver carp are well adopted in integrated system.

The fish stocking rates may vary from 8000 to 8500 fingerlings per hectare. A species ratio of 40% surface feeder (Silver carp and catla), 20% column feeder (rohu), 20 to 30% bottom feeder (common carp and mrigal) and 10 to 20% macro vegetation feeder (grass carp) are preferred for higher fish yields under integrated farming sysems.

• Crop livestock backyard poultry farming system

Integration of livestock with crop and backyard poultry farming can improve the food security as well as farmers’ incomes. Backyard livestock comprising of sheep, goats, pigs and poultry provide emergency sources of income for family. Bird scavenges on the undigested grains in dung as well as on the threshing wastes in the fields. Backyard poultry also predates the insect and pests which are responsible for incidence of diseases in the crops.

• Crop livestock poultry fishery farming system
• Horticulture/Agriculture-Pig-Poultry-Fisheries farming system.
• Horticulture/Agriculture -Goat/Sheep-Duck-Fish-Poultry farming system

Duck/Pig/Poultry plus fish farming system can be integrated to reduce the cost of fertilizers and feeds in fish farming. Poultry can be reared near or over the fish ponds in which the poultry excreta will directly drop into fish pond and get recycled. In two tier housing system in integrated farming the upper floor can be used for rearing poultry and lower for pig over a fish pond. Excreta from poultry utilized by pig and pig excreta by fish and further it helps in better growth of zooplankton and phytoplankton which are eaten by fish and in this way the resources get recycled.

• Crop livestock fishery biogas/vermicomposting system
• Agriculture-Dairy- biogas-fisheries farming system.
• Horticulture/Agriculture-Goat/sheep-vermicomposting farming system.

Dung from livestock used for biogas production which can be utilized in cooking and electricity production etc. and slurry produced used as a fertilizer for crop production. Vermicompost can be produced from the cow dung which has better quality as a fertilizer for field crops in terms of high fertility and productivity.

• Small ruminants-Silvipastoral farming system

In this system, a combination of improved pasture species or a mix of grasses is grown on one piece of land along with perennial trees. The animals graze on tree leaves and loop the leaves as fodder. During the lean period, this system reduces the cost of concentrate feed for animals by solving the problem of green fodder.Livestock species mainly include cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pigs. Neither fisheries nor poultry are considered livestock, even as they have been studied together, and forestry, sericulture, and apiculture are not included but have been integrated into livestock farming.

Scope of ILFS

A system of integrated farming is meant to mimic the natural principle of producing food throughout the year by using animals, plants, birds, fishes and other aquatic organisms. Farming enterprises include crop, livestock, poultry, fish, tree crops, plantation crops, etc. A combination of one or more enterprises with cropping, when carefullychosen, planned and executed, gives greater dividends than a single enterprise, especially for small and marginal farmers. Farm as a unit is to be considered and planned for effective integration of the enterprises to be combined with crop production activity. Integration of farm enterprises should be done based on many factors such as:

1. Soil and climatic features of the selected area.
2. Availability of resources, land, labour and capital.
3. Present level of utilization of resources.
4. Economics of proposed integrated farming system.
5. Managerial skill of the farmer.

In the context of India, there are a number of situations and conditions that can be alleviated by an ILFS. The situations ideal for the introduction of ILFS where farmer wishes to improve the soil quality, earn more profits, reduce waste disposal and use of chemical fertilizers.

Advantages of ILFS

1. Productivity: IFS provides an opportunity to increase economic yield per unit area per unit time by virtue of intensification of allied enterprises with livestock.
2. Profitability:  Reduction in cost of production and linkage of utilization of waste material and elimination of middleman interference in most inputs used. No extra cost is involved for fertilizer which can be generated inside farm. Cost benefit ratio is increased thereby, improving purchasing power of farmers.
3. Sustainability: Organic supplementation through effective utilization of by-products of linked component is done thus providing an opportunity to sustain the potentiality of production base for much longer periods.
4.  Balanced Food: All nutrient requirement of farmer’s family can be meet by consuming different sources of nutrition like vegetables/pulses, fruits, eggs, milk and meat products.
5. Environmental Safety: Waste materials are effectively recycled by linking appropriate components, thus minimize environment pollution. Dung>Biogas + slurry utilize in different process of cooking, lighting, engine fuel and slurry as fertilizer.
6. Recycling: Effective recycling of waste material (crop residues and livestock wastes) with less reliance to outside inputs – fertilizers, agrochemicals, feeds, energy, etc.
7. Income Rounds the year: Due to interaction of enterprises with crops, eggs, milk, mushroom, honey, cocoons silkworm, it provides flow of money to the farmer round the year. There is higher net return to land and labour resources of the farming family.
8. Saving Energy: Utilization of biogas as fossil for cooking, electricity and engine fuel for pumping water helps in conserving energy.
9. Meeting Fodder crisis: Plantation of perennial legume fodder trees on field borders and also fixing the atmospheric nitrogen. By-product and waste material of crops are effectively used as fodder and product like grains can be used as feed for poultry and pig.
10.  Employment Generation: Combing crop with livestock enterprises would increase the labour requirement significantly and would help in reducing the problems of under employment to a great extent. ILFS provide enough scope to employ family labour round the year.
11. Increasing Input Efficiency: ILFS provide good scope to use inputs in different component greater efficiency and benefit cost ratio.

Limitations

1. A lower digestibility and protein content of crop residues leads to lower nutritional benefits. It is technically possible to increase the structure and functionality of crop residues by physical or chemical treatment, but it is not feasible for small, poor farmers because it requires machinery and chemicals that are expensive or not readily available.
2. Crop residues have the primary role of regenerating soil, however they are neglected too often or misapplied.
3. Intensive recycling can cause nutrient losses.
4. If manure fertilizer use efficiency cannot be improved, production and transportation costs will rise, as well as the surpluses lost to the environment.
5. Chemical fertilizers are preferred over manures for their quicker and easier uses.
6. Manure transportation is an important factor in manure use because mixed farms tend to use more manure in comparison to crop farms. Investments are required to improve the intake and digestion of crop residues.

Opportunities

1. Intensification of agriculture which is currently occurring in most farming systems favours livestock based integration.
2. Poor soil fertility, unavailability or increases in prices of fertilizers, and labour shortages, have forced farmers to rely on alternatives such as manure and traction.
3. Farmers can grow crop in the wet season and engage in livestock enterprises in the dry season.
4. Livestock enterprises are more lucrative than crop farming so it is advantageous to integrate livestock into farm activities.
5. Many indigenous, emerging and developed technologies are available to support sustainable crop–livestock integration.

Sustainability through ILFS  

A sustainable livestock development must encompass an integrated farming system that includes efficient soil, water, crop, and pest management practices, which are cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The system allows for self-sustainability since the system is self-sustaining and reduces dependency on external inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, etc. The system provides balanced and rich nutrition to the farming family as well as reduces the money spent on cultivation and increasing profit margins on the same piece of land, which is a part of maintaining sustainability. On any farm, four natural ecosystem processes like energy flow, water cycle, mineral cycle and ecosystem dynamics work. By balancing food production, profitability, safety, animal welfare, social responsibility, and environmental care, the principles of ILFS are meant to be reconciled with those of sustainable development.

Economic importance

A livestock-based integrated farming system improves the economic viability of small and marginal farmers by increasing the yield per unit area per unit time. In integrated farming system, since more than one component is involved, yields and net returns assessment of this system becomes important. ILFS generate incomes to other families as labour requirement generally increase and labour will be busy round the year than traditional farming. Based upon economic returns, desired models can be promoted among the farmers. Table no. 1 and 2 shows economic viability of ILFS models developed in different states of the India in terms of high net returns in comparison to prevailing systems.

Table no.1 Economic viability of ILFS models developed in different states of the India having equal or greater than one hectare.

States	Prevailing system	Net return	Suggested ILFS Model	Net Returns	References
Kerala	Rice + Fishery	181725 .58	Coconut+ Banana + Poultry + Goat + Cow	1964503 .57	Sabu et al., 2020
Telangana	Rice-Maize	1,38,373	Crop-dairy-hen-sheep-rabbit-quail-manure	6,09,160	Goverdhan et al., 2018
Karnataka	Sole crop red gram, paddy and cotton	43632.69/ha	Crop – Dairy – Vermicomposting	151414.3	Rashtrarakshak et al., 2016
Crop – Dairy (2 cows, 1 buffalo) – Goat rearing	159071.3
Crop – Dairy – 3 Sheep – 3 Goat rearing	183221*
Bihar	Cropping alone (Rice-Wheat)	53000	Crop-Fish-Goat	19900.3	Kumar et al., 2017
Crop-Fish-Cattle	14000.4
Crop-Fish-Duck-Goat	21500.9*
Telangana			Paddy-Brinjal-Cotton-Goat	36918.4	Srinika et al,. 2017
Paddy-Okra-Cotton-Dairy-Poultry	49307.8
Paddy-Tomato-Cotton-Goat-Poultry	42434.8*
Karnataka	Crop (Maize, cotton, Bengal gram, vegetables)	58,488/ha	Crop-Dairy-Poultry-Vermicompost -Fishery	1,50,170/ha	Desai, 2015
Rajasthan	Crops-Dairy (Cow and buffalo)	33385 /ha	Crop-livestock-horticulture (Fruit, Vegetable and flowers)	52161	Singh et al., 2013

*System had higher benefit cost ratio

*System had higher benefit cost ratio

Table no.2 Economic viability of ILFS models developed in different states of the India having equal or less than one acre.

States	Prevailing system	Net returns	Suggested ILFS Model	Net Returns	References
Mizoram	Fish only (Rohu, Silver carp and Grass carp) (0.06 acre pond)	15545.2	Fish-pig	48023.19*	Sahoo & Singh, 2015
Fish-poultry	33664.06
Punjab	Cropping (Rice + Wheat)	32,328 per acre	Crop-Dairy-Fish farming	53,030	Singh et al., 2020
Nagaland			Agriculture-Horticulture-Fishery-Piggery (5 pigs)	24394 per acre*	Kumar et al., 2018
Agriculture-horticulture-fishery-poultry (50 bird), mushroom unit and Azolla (15 m2)	32040 per acre
Agriculture-Horticulture-Fishery with a duckery unit at the bank of pond.	11720 per acre
Horticulture-Fishery-Piggery (3 pigs)	14840 per acre
Bihar	Rice – Wheat	46122 /2 acre	Rice-Wheat-Vegetable-Dairy-Fishery	150865	Kumar et al., 2012
Rice-Vegetable-Fruits-Poultry-Goat-Beekeeping	128693
Chhattisgarh	Crop + 2 bullocks + 1 cow	14184	Crop-2 Bullocks-1 Cow-1buffalo -10 Goats- 10 Poultry -10 Ducks	33076	Ramarao et al., 2006

*System had higher benefit cost ratio

*System had higher benefit cost ratio

Conclusions

Integrated livestock farming system is an economically viable avenue for marginal and small farmers for livelihood security and sustainability. Conventional cropping system cannot fulfil household requirements of farmers and they need to switch to integrated farming system now. ILFS not only ensuring economic returns but also generating employment for families, maintain ecological balance through nutrient recycling and environment protection. Adoption of ILFS will double farmer income and provide nutritional security without adverse effect on environment and natural resources.

References : on request