Integrated Livestock Farming System

Integrated Livestock Farming System in India for augmenting socio-economic status of smallholder farmers

May 6, 2023

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Integrated Livestock Farming System in India for augmenting socio-economic status of smallholder farmers

Livestock has traditionally been an integral part of farmers’ household, as it plays an important role not only in the farm production but also in augmenting rural economy and in recycling of farm wastes. It is a major source of supplementing family incomes and generating gainful employment in the rural sector, particularly among the landless labourers, small and marginal farmers and farm women.

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.

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.

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:

Soil and climatic features of the selected area.
Availability of resources, land, labour and capital.
Present level of utilization of resources.
Economics of proposed integrated farming system.
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

Productivity: IFS provides an opportunity to increase economic yield per unit area per unit time by virtue of intensification of allied enterprises with livestock.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Recycling: Effective recycling of waste material (crop residues and livestock wastes) with less reliance to outside inputs – fertilizers, agrochemicals, feeds, energy, etc.
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.
Saving Energy: Utilization of biogas as fossil for cooking, electricity and engine fuel for pumping water helps in conserving energy.
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.
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.
Increasing Input Efficiency: ILFS provide good scope to use inputs in different component greater efficiency and benefit cost ratio.

Limitations

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.
Crop residues have the primary role of regenerating soil, however they are neglected too often or misapplied.
Intensive recycling can cause nutrient losses.
If manure fertilizer use efficiency cannot be improved, production and transportation costs will rise, as well as the surpluses lost to the environment.
Chemical fertilizers are preferred over manures for their quicker and easier uses.
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

Intensification of agriculture which is currently occurring in most farming systems favours livestock based integration.
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.
Farmers can grow crop in the wet season and engage in livestock enterprises in the dry season.
Livestock enterprises are more lucrative than crop farming so it is advantageous to integrate livestock into farm activities.
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

Livestock based farming systems Livestock+Crop based farming system:
Livestock + crop farming system is a predominant farming system prevalent in most of the parts of India. Integrating crops with livestock on the same farms helps smallholder farmers to diversify the sources of income and employment generation. Crop and livestock complement one another through mutual benefit. In livestock + crop system, the animal component is often raised on agricultural waste products while the animal is used to cultivate the land and provide manure to be used as fertilizer and fuel (Jayanthi et al, 2000).

The animals play important role in enriching the soil gradually and increasing soil organic matter to support the crop. The draft power of animals is used for farm operations, while crop residues provide fodder for livestock and grain provides supplementary feed for productive animals. Animals also provide manure and other types of animal waste. Alam et al, (2000) reported that the manure availability was 12 tonnes from a pair of draught cattle integrated with crop. Cow dung helps in the overall sustainability of the farming system. Dung contains macro and micro nutrients required for improving the soil fertility and crop growth. Cow dung is used for the production of biogas.

Biogas is a source of renewable, alternative and sustainable energy (Godi et al, 2013). Per ton manure contains 8 kg of nitrogen, 4kg of phosphorus and 16 kg of potassium. Application of manure improves the soil fertility and water holding capacity. The cost of weed control is reduced where the livestock graze under plantations. Venkatadri et al, (2008) reported that 98 per cent of the farmers opined that livestock rearing reduces vulnerability in drought years, 97 per cent of the sample respondents indicated that farmers suicides were less in dairy developed areas and commercial agriculture increased suicidal rate in Andhra Pradesh (96.%). Integrated farming system with six buffaloes generated 904 of man days of employment against 400 man days in crop alone (Pandey and Bhogal, 1980).

Livestock + Crop + Fish based farming system:
Livestock+Crop+Fish farming systems can be followed by integrating fish with Livestock +Crop farming system, raise the fish without any additional feed, rearing fish in the fish pond with the help of available dung from livestock. Integrated Livestock + Crop + fish farming can be carried out for increasing returns from a limited land area and reducing risk by diversifying crops (Korikantimath et al, 2008). There should be ample supply of fresh and clean water available throughout the year to maintain water level for fish management purposes.

The nutrients content in cow dung will help in growth of phytoplankton and zooplankton in fish pond. The by-products of livestock can be used for aquaculture. Direct application of wastes of livestock is common practice. The by-products of livestock are manure, urine and spilled feed. The adult cattle produce about 4,000-5,000 kg dung, 3,500-4,000 liter urine annually. For a pond size of 1 ha of 5-6 adult cattle can provide adequate manure. In addition to 9,000 kg of milk, about 3,000-4,000 kg fish/ha/year can be produced in this system. This system will save labor for lifting the cow dung. The requirement of green and dry fodder for an adult cattle is 9-10 and 2-2.2 ton respectively and will be met from crop component. The manure will be used for improving the fertility of soil.

Mahajan et al, (2012) reported that inclusion of dairy and poultry components in IFS, the net income have been increased to Rs 37,343/- per year as against Rs 26,511/- from field crops only.

Poultry + Fish based farming system:
Poultry+ 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 pond and the poultry excreta will directly drop into fish pond and get recycled. In this system poultry is reared under deep litter system. Poultry droppings in the form of litter contains: 3% nitrogen, 2% phosphate and 2% potash. Poultry droppings acts as a good source of fertilizer which helps in producing fish feed i.e. phytoplankton and zooplankton in fish pond. Njoku and Ejiogu (1999) reported that 1000 chicken can be integrated with one hectare fish pond provided the optimal water quality for fish
survival and growth and also reported that the excreta load was 3600 kg ha–1month–1(dry matter); water pH 8.6; total alkalinity 65.0 mg L–1; dissolved oxygen 8.0 mg L–1; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) 2.0 mg L–1; ammonia 0.02 mg L–1and total phosphates 10.0 mg L–1. Fish yield range from 4000-5000 Kg/ha/yr. Poultry-fish integration increases the resource use efficiency and proper utilization of space and eco-friendly. Gangwar et al, (2013) reported that the integrated poultry-fish farming provided additional income of Rs. 4000-5000 per annum and generated 45-50 man days of employment. Sahoo and Singh (2015) reported that, the fish-poultry farming system could generate maximum profit of Rs. 33664.06 per 0.025 ha yr-1with B: C ratio of 1.09. Bezbaruah (2012) reported that integrating, Poultry + Fish + Horticulture farmer earned Rs. 40,000 from poultry, Rs. 25,000 from fish and Rs. 6000 from vegetable growing on the bunds of pond. Kalita et al, (2016) reported that Fish+Poultry integration produced 4500 to 5000 kg fish, 70,000 eggs and 1000 kg (live weight) of chicken meat from 1.0 ha fish pond annually without any supplementary feed.

Livestock +Crop+ Backyard poultry
Backyard poultry plays a significant role in rural people’s life for generating income and nutritional security of the family (Mandal et al, 2006). Integration of livestock+ crop farming with backyard poultry farming will improve the nutritional security as well as increase the income of farmers. Backyard livestock comprising of sheep, goats, pigs and poultry provide emergency sources of income for family as reported by Devendra and Pezo (2002). Bird scavenges on the undigested grains in dung as well as the threshing wastes in the fields. Backyard poultry also predates the insect and pests which are responsible for incidence of diseases in the crops. Separate inputs are not required for additional feeding of the birds. Eggs and chicken are good source of protein available to the farm family as well as provide income on regular basis. Nirmala et al, (2012) reported that improved backyard poultry as a scientific intervention improved household income.

Pig cum fish farming system:

Integrated livestock-fish farming is a practice which links together two normally separate farming systems, whereby the livestock and fish become sub-systems of a whole farming system.

The higher fish production is attainable through intensive management inputs, involving high stocking densities of complementary-feeding fish species, addition of energy-rich supplementary feed to a significant component of natural feed, and aeration of fish pond water. The rising cost of high protein fish feed and inorganic fertilizer, as well as the general concern for energy conservation, have brought about increased interest in the utilization of animal manures in aquaculture and in the traditional systems which integrate animal husbandry with aquaculture (Chen F Y 1989, Edwards 1986). The integration of livestock with fisheries aquaculture has received considerable attention lately with emphasis on the incorporation of animal manures as fertilizer and nutrient for promotion of natural feed in fish ponds Delmendo M N (1980), Wohlfarth, G.W. and Schroeder G L (1979). The rationale behind integrating fish with livestock is the large amount of nutrients (N-P-K) present in the animal feed being recovered in the manure, with possible proportions of 72–79% nitrogen, 61–87% phosphorus, and 82–92% potassium. These act as fertilisers in fish ponds to produce plankton which comprise high-protein natural food for certain species of fish. Recent experiments have demonstrated that considerable fish production can be obtained when animal manures are properly applied to fish polyculture systems Shoko, et al (2011). Sahoo and Singh (2015) reported that who evaluated f fish production and income generation with integration of pig and poultry reported that fish productivity was better in ponds integrated with pigs than with poultry. A stocking density of 10000 number of fingerlings/ha water body within six months gave rise to 9840 kg ha-1 yr-1 in fish-pig system while the fish-poultry system could produce only 8240 kg ha-1 yr-1. The economic analysis and benefit-cost ratio of practicing integrated fish-livestock farming revealed that integrated fish-pig farming could generate maximum profit of Rs. 48023.19 per 0.025 ha yr-1 with B:C value of 2.04 which was higher than integrated fish-poultry farming system (Rs. 33664.06 per 0.025 ha yr-1 with B:C value of 1.09)

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

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

Conclusions

Livestock based integrated farming system provides an opportunity of increasing economic yield per unit area per unit time in small and marginal farmers. In this system waste materials are effectively recycled by linking appropriate components. Thus, minimize the environment pollution. Recycling of product, byproducts and waste material in integrated farming system are the factors responsible for the sustainability of farming system. Due to integration of different livestock components with crops, production of eggs, meat and milk provide nutritional security and income generation round the year to the farmers. Combining crop with livestock enterprises would increase the labour requirement significantly and helps in reducing the problems of under employment to a great extent. IFS provide enough scope to employ family labour round the year. The nutritional security, natural resource management and environment protection are the major concern for sustainable agriculture. Integration of livestock is the way forward to promote proper utilization of available resources and environment protection for economic growth. Integrated farming system diversifies farm production, increase the income, improve nutritional security and promote nutrient recycling.

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.

GUIDELINE FOR PROMOTION OF INTEGRATED FARMING CLUSTERS (IFC) UNDER DAYNRLM