Integrated Farming System Practices: Challenges and Opportunities

Conventional agriculture has caused economic problems associated with lower production of crops, increased costs of energy-based inputs and decreased farm incomes. It has also produced ecological problems on crop diversity, animals and poultry as well as soil and water pollution and soil erosion. The adoption of integrated farming systems involving lower external inputs, residue recycling and organic practices can alleviate economic and ecological problems. Alternatives to energy-based inputs, crop rotations, inter-cropping, use of organic matters, integrated crop, fertilizer, pests and weed management practices certainly impose larger dividends to farm income and employment. Besides this high-tech horticulture, pisciculture, dairy, poultry, mushroom culture, apiary and agro-forestry can be made component of Integrated Farming Systems. Post harvest management practices will certainly add flavor and values to young farmers and farm women and bring new dimension to the thought process and check their migration from own village/cities to other states for employment and income. It is essential to integrate the components of agricultural systems fully so that the impacts of other inputs will be visible. Our knowledge and its interaction with secondary inputs must increase to minimize energy-based chemical inputs to produce good yields, increase farm profits and employment generation and decrease environmental problems. There is considerable scope for the development of protocols based on natural resources, ecology, community need in the present climate change scenario. So, interdisciplinary and farmers participatory approach are crucial consideration to achieve sustainable agriculture and development. This book focuses on different practices of Integrated Farming System in eastern-India and for scaling up the technology for community need. It provides a detailed account of principles, challenges and opportunities in simpler yet compact manner for better understanding of the researchers and policy makers.…