Income analysis of integrated farming system of dairy cow breeding farm, earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus), and citrus sinensis Valencia farm. Case study in Dau District, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia

The integrated farming system between dairy cow breeding, earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus), and citrus (Citrus sinensis valencia) plantations provides regular income for farmers and sustainable farming. This research aims to analyze farmers’ income based on the integrated farming system that has been done on these three commodities. This study utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze data. Data were collected through questionnaires to 15 farmers who are members of Gading Kulon Farmer Group in Dau District, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia followed by in-depth interviews with key respondents. The study showed that dairy cow breeding provided annual income which contributed up to 58% of household income. Meanwhile, earthworm farming provides weekly income and twice a year income for citrus farming. Depending on the land area, Earthworms farming contributed up to 10% of household income, and citrus plantation was 33%, depending on the land area owned by farmers. The average income of Dairy cow breeding was Rp. 163,308,000 per year; the Average Income of earthworms was Rp. 27,058,000 per year, and the average income of citrus plants was 92,480,000 per year. However, integrated farming of these commodities does not work well in the community due to farmers’ lack of land and capital. Moreover, most respondents indicated that they were interested only in citrus farming because it is easier compared to dairy cow breeding and earthworm farming. Good cooperation from various parties is needed to increase the importance of integrated farming with these three commodities for sustainable farming in Indonesia.

Farming system approach to meet the challenges from extreme weather

Location specific and integrated farming system based technological management options reduce the climatic risk and better utilization of available natural resources produce higher agricultural productivity and thereby enhance food and livelihood security of small and marginal farmers of India. The significance of IFS approach is supportive in enhancing productivity to meet the food, feed and fuel for ever increasing human and animal population. It also increases the land productivity, profitability and also generate employment. Since small farms are often vulnerable to natural vagaries like flood, drought and farming remains at risk. Due to industrialization and population growth, the horizontal expansion of agricultural area is not possible. The vertical expansion in small farms is possible by integrating appropriate farming system components requiring less space and time and ensuring periodic income to the farmers. A farming system model was synthesized based on the studies conducted at ICAR-IIFSR located in western plain zone of Uttar Pradesh for a period of six years (2004-2010) revealed that Integrated farming system approach applied on a piece of 1.5 hectare irrigated land, besides fulfilling all the requirement of 7 members household food and fodder demand (animals) inclusive cost of production, could create an additional average annual savings of Rs. 47000/- in four fours of its establishment and more than Rs. 50000/- in subsequent years. the family gets some income round the year and another benefit is if due to any extreme event occurred at any time of the year, the farmer will get some income from any of the enterprises, so that it will cater to the need of the food security. Since each enterprise react differently to extreme weather events; the influence of droughts/floods/ higher temperature will be different to different enterprises and because of the diversification, the farmer will get some income from their enterprises, so that he can sustain under difficult times. This manuscript analyses how farming system approach is different and site specific and also how it will decrease the vulnerability under extreme climatic situations with some examples.

​Performance of Different Farming Practices in Legume based Cropping System under Mid-hills of H.P. Himalayas

Background: Increasing demands of food, depleting land, degrading land resources and changing climate are some of the important factors driving the cropping systems of any agro-ecological zone in the world. Cropping systems have been traditionally structured to maximize crop yields. Now, there is a strong need to design cropping systems which take into consideration the emerging social, economical and ecological or environmental concerns. Legumes can provide opportunities for increased productivity to be sustained because of their adaptability to various cropping patterns and ability to fix nitrogen. Legume-based crop rotation helps to conserve organic matter, maximise soil nitrogen, balance soil nutrients, maintain soil physical properties and break soil-borne disease cycles. Moreover, with increasing fertilizer prices and emphasis of the government for doubling the farmer’s income by reducing cost of cultivation, the current trend is to explore the possibility of supplementing chemical fertilizer with the organic ones, more particularly organic manures and bio-fertilizer of microbial origin. The current study is aimed to increase small and marginal farmer’s income and to reduce cost of cultivation through legume based vegetable cropping systems and to find out best farming practices. Methods: Field experiments were conducted at Organic Farm Holta, Department of Organic Agriculture and Natural farming, CSK HPKV, Palampur (H.P.) during kharif and rabi seasons of 2018-19 and 2019-20 on silty clay loam soil to study the performance of different farming practices in legume based cropping system under mid- hills of H.P. Himalayas. The experiment was laid out under Split plot design with three replications comprising of three sequences in legume vegetable-based cropping systems i.e., “Soybean-Onion”, “Okra-Pea” and “Mash-Garlic” under different farming practices i.e., Organic farming, Natural farming, Inorganic and Integrated farming practices. For comparison of different crops soybean equivalent yield and pea equivalent yields were calculated in kharif and rabi seasons, respectively. Result: In kharif seasons okra crop attained highest soybean equivalent yield followed by soybean and mash crop. In rabi seasons garlic crop attained highest pea grain equivalent yield followed by onion and pea crop. During both kharif seasons organic farming practices attained highest yield and was at par with integrated farming practices. Significantly highest yield was attained from integrated farming practices and was at par with organic farming practices in both rabi seasons. Highest net returns, net returns per rupee attained was in inorganic farming system. Highest cost of cultivation was found in organic farming practices.

An Overview of Agriculture in Mysore District P roposal of a n Agriculture Hub in Mysore City

To cater to the demands of the increasing population and support the economy which has been projected to grow, agriculture in India will have to focus more on measures such as optimum usage of land and other limited resources, appropriate implementation of machinery and manpower, increased productivity, production of high-quality products and exploring and adopting integrated farming systems and controlled-environment agriculture (CEA). Other significant domains include agricultural education, training, research and development. This article aims to study the state of agriculture in Karnataka’s Mysore district, identify trends and issues and propose a district-level agriculture hub in Mysore city, that aims to equip the user with knowledge and skill to incorporate the above mentioned measures.

Development of Integrated Farming Businesses Based on Zero Waste Agriculture in Parigi Moutong Regency

Zero waste agriculture is an agricultural concept oriented around the decomposition cycle of organic materials which integrates agricultural and livestock systems to reprocess waste material. Agricultural waste is used as animal feed while livestock waste/excrement is reprocessed into organic fertilizers. The Regional Partnership Service Program (PKW) aims to assist farmers in developing integrated farming businesses based around zero waste agriculture. PKW was held between May and July 2021 in Tindaki Village, South Parigi District, Parigi Moutong Regency. The implementation of this regional partnership program was carried out through a Participatory Action Programs approach, where partners are directly involved in the adoption and application of the various skills that had been developed. The procedure for activity implementation was carried out through several stages, namely: (a) counseling on zero waste agriculture, (b) training in and application of zero waste agriculture technology in the form of demonstration plots for the application of technological products, (c) coaching and mentoring, and (d) the utilization stage of technology product. The findings from the implementation concluded that the agricultural development training based on zero waste agriculture was a success, and the technology had been adopted by the community, marked by the ability to make and develop compost and liquid organic bio-urine fertilizers. Both types of organic fertilizers had been applied in the demonstration plots to assess their effectiveness in reducing the use of inorganic fertilizers. Rice production is equivalent to 5.6 tons/ha and 6 tons/ha in conventional land. These results show potential benefits for farmers, particularly regarding lower production costs compared to the usage of conventional land. Zero waste agriculture is a method of farming and livestock raising that utilizes their waste products for energy production.

Economic Analysis of Integrated Farming Systems in Uttar Kannada District of Karnataka

Background: The present study was conducted in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka as a project on integrated farming systems was implemented in this district by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during the year 2013-15. It was considered for study in master’s research. Methods: Under the study three taluks viz., Sirsi, Mundagod and Bhatkala were selected with an overall objective of identifying and analyzing and the economics of integrated farming systems. The relevant data collected from primary sources through personal interview method were analyzed by tabular and production function techniques. Four main integrated farming systems followed by majority of the farmers in the study area are selected for study, viz., Integrated Farming System-I,II,III,IV. Result: The study revealed that the total cost under Integrated Farming Systems-III was highest with Rs. 129023, while it was Rs. 115388, Rs.115266 and Rs. 97434 respectively in Integrated Farming Systems-I,II and IV. net farm returns was highest under Integrated Farming Systems-I which was Rs. 86351. In all the different integrated farming systems, the labour and seed cost had significant influence on gross returns. The seed and feed were underutilized, fertilizer, FYM and land were over utilized.

Impact of Integrated Farming System on the Socio-Economic Status of Farmers under ‘Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav (MGMG)’Programme in Bishnupur District of Manipur, India

As India is facing the challenge of continuous rise in demand of agricultural production with the fixed size of land holding, it became imperative to come up with strategic approaches to meet the growing concern. Therefore, in order to achieve rural development and to alleviate the gap between demand and supply, Integrated Farming System was implemented as one of the vital tool under MGMG programme in potential areas. Keeping in view the scopes, the present study was conducted in Bishnupur District, Manipur. An Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. From the three villages of Bishnupur district, a total of 120 respondents were drawn following purposive and simple random sampling method. The objective of the study was to study the socio-personal profile of MGMG farmers and impact of Integrated Farming System on their socio-economic status. The data collected by using the structured interview schedule were encrypted, tabularized and analysed statistically. An analysis of the selected characteristics of the MGMG farmers revealed that majority of the farmers were middle aged small farmer educated upto high school having medium; organizational participation, farming experience, innovation proneness, risk orientation, mass media exposure, extension contact, annual income and economic motivation and they preferred radio over DAO, Bishnupur as the regularly used source of information.

KRIFS Quartet Model Improving Livelihoods and Fueling Tourism in Kitagwenda District,Western Uganda

Kyabwanswa Rural Integrated Farming Systems (KRIFS) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) with its Head Office in Kitagwenda Town Council. KRIFS quartet model involves emphasis of integrating four agricultural activities namely: Apiculture, agro-forestry, coffee and at least one type of livestock. The paper utilizes data obtained from January 2017 surveys, interviews, focus group discussions and observations by the authors. The authors observe that the four activities are symbiotic income generating enterprises. The quartet model has greatly contributed in reducing poverty, increasing agricultural productivity, facilitating value addition, conserving the environment, halting biodiversity loss and mitigating climate change. The model is strongly hinged on training of farmers in organized groups more especially the youth and the women.The involvement of KRIFS in integrated farming that involves introducing new innovations to improve production and productivity in agriculture through improved breeds of livestock and crops as well as environmental conservation being pivotal in its operations, has culminated to agro-tourism in the district. The authors recommend that the model be implemented in the whole of Uganda. Apiculture should be included in the priority commodity list for the parish model. Agro-tourism is yet another economi cactivity that should be exploited to reduce unemployment, conserve the environment and reduce effects of climate change.