FARMING SYSTEMS –

DEFINITION,
CONCEPT,
IMPORTANCE
IMPORTANCE:
• India’s population as on date is about 1003 million
and is expected to reach 1370 and 1600 million in
2030 and 2050 AD, respectively.
• Food grain production in India reached 284 mt an all
time high record during 2015-16 and about 349 mt
are needed to meet the demand of the projected
population in 2050.
• The current net cultivable area of 143 m.ha is likely
to dwindle further by virtue of diversion of some of
the cultivable area to domestic and industrial
purposes. It is anticipated that the land area
available for cultivation in 2050 would be 137 m.ha.
• Food grain production has to be doubled and it
could be made possible by putting the land,
both irrigated and rainfed under intensive
cultivation.
• There is no scope for increasing the farm size,
because of steady increase in population with
shrinkage of cultivated land as a result of
industrialization and urbanization.
• Only vertical expansion is possible by
integrating appropriate farming components
requiring lesser space and time ensuring
periodic income to the farmer.
• Under the gradual shrinking of land holding, it is
necessary to integrate land based enterprises
like fishery, poultry, duckery, apiary, field and
horticultural crops within the bio physical and
socio economic environment of the farmers to
make farming more profitable and dependable.
• No single farm enterprise is likely to be able to
sustain the generation of adequate income and
gainful employment year round.
• Therefore, Farming system approach is a
valuable approach to address problems of
sustainable economic growth for farming
communities in India.
To meet the multiple objectives of poverty
reduction, food and nutrition security,
competitiveness and sustainability, several
researchers have recommended the farming
system approach.
A farming system is the result of complex
interactions among a number of
interdependent enterprises / components,
where an individual farmer allocates certain
quantities and qualities of four factors of
production, - land, labour, capital and
management to which he has access.
• Farming system approach is a powerful tool for
natural and human resource management in
developing countries such as India.
• The approach aims at increasing employment
and income from small holdings by integrating
various farm enterprises and recycling crop
residues and by products within the farm itself.
• In view of the decline in per capita availability
of land, it is imperative to develop strategies
and agricultural technologies that enable
adequate employment and income generation,
especially for small and marginal farmers who
constitutes >80% of the farming community.
Definitions:
• Farming system is defined as a population of
individual farm systems that have broadly
similar resource bases, enterprise patterns,
household livelihoods and constrains, and for
which similar development strategies and
interventions would be appropriate (FAO).
• Farming system is a resource management
strategy to achieve economic and sustained
agricultural production to meet diverse
requirements of farm livelihood while preserving
resource base and maintaining a high level of
environment quality (Lal and Miller 1990).
Farming system is a set of agro economic activities
that are interrelated and interact with
themselves in a particular agrarian setting. It is a
mix of farm enterprises to which farm families
allocate its resources in order to efficiently
utilize the existing enterprises for increasing
the productivity and profitability of the farm.
These farm enterprises are crop, livestock,
aquaculture, agro forestry and agri-horticulture
(Sharma et al 1991).
PRINCIPLES OF FARMING SYSTEM
• Minimization of risk
• Recycling of wastes and residues
• Integration of two or more enterprises
• Optimum utilization of all resources
• Maximum productivity and profitability
• Ecological balance
• Generation of employment potential Scope of
farming system
• Increased input use efficiency
• Use of end products from one enterprise as
input in other enterprise
Objectives of farming system
1.Productivity- Farming system provides an opportunity to increase
economic yield per unit area per unit time by virtue of intensification
of crop and allied enterprises.
Time concept by crop intensification and space concept by building up
of vertical dimension through crops and allied enterprises.

2. Profitability - The system as a whole provides an opportunity to

make use of produce/waste material of one enterprise as an input in
another enterprise at low/no cost. Thus by reducing the cost of
production the profitability and benefit cost ratio works out to be
High.
3. Potentiality – Soil health, a key factor for sustainability,

is getting deteriorated and polluted due to faulty

agricultural management practices viz.,
 excessive use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticides,
herbicides, high intensity irrigation etc.
 In farming system, organic supplementation through
effective use of manures and waste recycling is done,
thus providing an opportunity to sustain potentiality of
production base for much longer time.
4. Balanced food- In farming system, diverse enterprises are
involved and they produce different sources of nutrition namely
proteins, carbohydrates, fats & minerals etc form the same unit land,
which helps in solving the malnutrition problem prevalent among the
marginal and sub-marginal farming households.

5. Environmental safety- byproduct/waste product of one

component as input in another component and use of bio-control
measures for pest & disease control.
These eco-friendly practices bring down the application of huge
quantities of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which pollute the
soil water and environment to an alarming level.
Whereas IFS will greatly reduces environmental pollution.
6. Income/cash flow round the year- Unlike conventional
single enterprise crop activity where the income is expected only
at the time of disposal of economic produce after several months
depending upon the duration of the crop, the IFS enables cash
flow round the year by way of sale of products from different
enterprises viz., eggs from poultry, milk from dairy, fish from
fisheries, silkworm cocoons from sericulture, honey from
apiculture etc.
This not only enhances the purchasing power of the farmer but
also provides an opportunity to invest in improved technologies
for enhanced production.
7. Saving energy-
Availability of fossil fuel has been declining at a rapid rate
leading to a situation wherein the whole world may suffer for want
of fossil fuel by 2030 AD.
In farming system, effective recycling of organic wastes to generate
energy from biogas plants can mitigate to certain extent this energy
crisis.

8. Meeting fodder crisis- Alley cropping or growing fodder legume

along the border or water courses, intensification of cropping
including fodder legumes in cropping systems helps to produce the
required
fodder and greatly relieve the problem of non availability of fodder to
9. Solving timber and fuel crisis- The current production level

of 20 million m3 of fuel wood and 11 million m3 of timber

wood is no match for the demand estimated or 360 m3 of
fuel and 64,4 million m3 of timber wood in 2000 AD.
Hence the current production needs to be stepped up
several-fold.
Afforestation programmes besides introduction of agro-
forestry component in farming system without detrimental
effect on crop yield will greatly reduce deforestation,
preserving our natural ecosystem.
10.Employment generation- Various farm enterprises viz., crop
+livestock or any other allied enterprise in the farming system would
increase labour requirement significantly and would help solve the
problem of under employment.
An IFS provides enough scope to employ family labour round the
year.

11. Scope for establishment of agro- industries- When once

the produce from different components in IFS is increased to a
commercial level there will be surplus for value addition in the
region leading to the establishment of agro-industries.
12.Enhancement in input use efficiency –
An IFS provides good scope for resource utilization in
different components leading to greater input use
efficiency and benefit- cost ratio
SCOPE OF FARMING SYSTEM
 Farming enterprises include crop,
livestock, poultry, fish, sericulture etc. A
combination of one or more enterprises with
cropping when carefully chosen, 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.
Farming system approach is necessary:
• To develop farm-house hold system and rural
communities on a sustainable basis.
• To improve efficiency in farm production.
• To raise farm and family income.
• To increase welfare of farm families and satisfy
basic needs.
Farming system addresses two issues:
 Reduction in risk with monoculture activities and
promoting enterprise diversification, value addition
and development of alternate income sources with
efficient utilization of farm resources.
 It brings about enterprise diversification for
sustainability and additional benefits, better
management of important farm resources like land,
labour, capital etc.
 The FS provides an opportunity for effective
recycling of the products and by-products.
 It helps to generate flow of cash to the farmers
round the year by way of disposal of milk, fuel,
manure etc, beside other agricultural output.
FARMING SYSTEM STRATEGY
In view of serious limitations on horizontal
expansion of land and agriculture , only alternative
left is vertical expansion through various farm
enterprises requiring less space and time but giving
,high productivity and ensuring periodic income,
specially, for small and marginal farmers located in
rainfed areas, drylands, arid zone, hilly areas, tribal
belts and problem soils.
The following farm enterprises can be combined
Agriculture alone with different crop combinations.
Agriculture + livestock
Agriculture + livestock + poultry
• Agriculture + horticulture + sericulture.
• Agro-forestry + silvipastoral.
• Agriculture (rice) + fish culture.
• Agriculture (rice) + fish + mushroom cultivation.
• Floriculture + apiary (beekeeping).
• Fishery + duckery + poultry etc.
• For meaningful execution of integrated
farm enterprises, the following activities should
be undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of
extension professionals with farmer's
participation and involvement at all stages.
THANK YOU