Agriculture is a constantly growing sector that meets the food requirement of a country and also contributes to the nation's economy. We can not imagine our life without basic needs like food, cloth and shelter which are fulfilled by agri products. It’s now challenging to meet those basic needs of a rapidly growing population and constantly decreasing land area. To meet the nation's food grain requirements , countries like India started the green revolution in the mid 19th century focusing more production. It causes over utilisation of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the agri sector which results a negative impact on the environment and also lowers farmers income due to spending more on those agri inputs.

So, let us start to know more about integrated farming system (IFS).

What is an Integrated Farming System(IFS) ?

• Integrated farming system is a systematic approach to combine different farm enterprises in a sustainable manner so that more income can be generated per unit area utilisation. 

• It is the integration of farm enterprises like cropping, dairy, poultry, fishery, agroforestry, nutrient recycling etc.

• According to the agro-climatic condition of the area, land availability, availability of farm resources and socio-economic status of farmers, different IFS models are there.

Advantages of Integrated Farming System(IFS)

1. More income per unit area utilization.

2. Recycling of farm organic waste.

3. Continuous supply of different farm produce to market at the right price.

4. Management of farm soil fertility in an organic manner.

5. Reduction of input cost by recycling of farm byproducts of different farm enterprises as mentioned above.

6. Continuous and stable income by marketing the farm produce like milk, egg, mushroom, honey, vegetables, fish etc. 

7. By the inclusion of biogas plant it will supplement farm household energy requirements.

8.  Due to agroforestry soil erosion can be managed and also supplemented for farm wood requirements.

9. BY cultivating fodder crops we can manage nutrient requirements for farm animals like cows, sheep, goats etc.

10. We can generate farm employment by this IFS.

Components of Integrated Farming System(IFS)

Main components of an integrated farming system are crops, farm animals and  trees. Which we should choose and arrange in a systematic manner that will supplement each other for their input requirements in growth and production. You should choose IFS components, which will suit local agro-climatic conditions like rainfall, temperature, soil type etc.

1. Crops- Crops can be chosen and cultivated in different sub-system like monocropping, mixed/intercropping, multi-tier cropping.

2. Animal components- Animal components can be taken as cow, goat, sheep, rabbit, honey bee, poultry, fish etc.

3. Trees- Tree components may be taken as timber plants, fruit trees etc.

According to two major soil types of our country we can choose different crops are as follows:

Food Crops

1. For Black Soil - Sorghum, Bajra, Maize, Greengram, Blackgram, Redgram, Soybean, Chickpea, Cotton, Sunflower, Safflower, Chillies, Coriander, Vegetable crops etc.

2. For Red Soil - Ragi, Sorghum, Greengram, Blackgram Cowpea, Sesame, Groundnut, Castor, Vegetable crops etc.

Fodder Crops

1. For Black Soil - Fodder millets like Sorghum and Bajra, Cowpea etc.

2. For Red Soil - Ragi, Bajra, Cowpea, Marvel grass, Spear grass etc.

Tree species 

1. For Black Soil - Neem, Casuarina, Acacia and fruit trees like Mango, Jackfruit etc.

2. For Red Soil - Neem, Casuarina, Tamarind, Simarouba, Amla, Anjan and different fruit trees etc.

Farm Animals and Birds

Cattle, Goat, Sheep, Rabbit, Poultry, Fish etc. 

From these farm animals you may select different breeds for more production.

Requirements for Integrated Farming System(IFS)

1. A good fertile soil

2. Abundant space and sunlight for different crops.

3. Water for irrigation and aquaculture.

4. Fertiliser ( You may install different types of compost pit inside your farm for organic fertiliser supply)

5. Good quality crop varieties and animal breeds for higher production.

6. Some farm machinery and tools. But make sure that fewer use these farm machinery in crop fields as this hampers soil fertility status.

7. A small farmhouse to store all farm equipment.

8. You may purchase a Laptop/Smartphone to use to calculate farm income/expenditure, know weather data, Agri news and contact with local vendors. 

Disadvantages of Integrated Farming System(IFS)

It's no doubt that IFS has lots of advantages for more farm income from unit land utilisation, but it also has some disadvantages which you should know before you proceed for IFS.

1. Number of activities are involved in IFS, proper monitoring and maintenance is required.

2. By not selecting a compatible IFS model it will affect farm income generation. 

3. Maintaining an IFS requires enough knowledge about cropping, animal husbandry and farm management.

Integrated Farming System Models

Different IFS models are there according to resource availability, agro climatic condition, socio-economic status of farmers and land availability. Farmers may choose a suitable IFS model accordingly.

Here are some examples of integrated farming system models (IFS Models)

1. Integrated Fish farming-cum vegetable farming

•  It supplements the household requirement of vegetables and fish and also for local market sale. 

• Vegetable crops that may be taken around the pond are Brinjal, Tomato, Lady’s finger, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Peas, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Palak, Beans etc.

• Fish should be taken as 30% bottom feeders (Ex- Mrigal, Murrail), 30% column feeders (Ex-Silver Carp, Rohu) and  40% surface feeders (Ex- Catla).

• Liming is required @200-300kg/ha/year for ponds depending upon soil and water condition.

• Trail netting should be done once in a month in the pond to check the size of fish and also any disease of fish. It also helps in oxygen mixing into water.

• Partial harvesting of fish should be done after they get a suitable size. The same quantity of fingerlings again should be supplied to the pond. Final harvesting to be done once in a year.

2. Integrated Fish farming-cum Duck Farming

• Ducks are good compatible with fish farming. Near about 100-150 ducks are enough for 1 hectare pond.

• Ducks keep the pond clean and also loosen the pond bottom soil and help in releasing essential nutrients from that soil which will increase pond productivity.

• Ducks aerated the pond water by their swimming. 

• Ducks manage most of their feeds from ponds by eating pond weeds, insects, worms, kitchen wastes etc.

3. Integrated Fish-cum Cattle Farming

• Cattle shed waste like cattle dung and urine having a good nutritional value for the pond.

• Construct the cattle shed near the pond so that the wastewater directly drains out to the pond

• You may take 5-7 Cattle for 1ha pond.

Like This other Integrated Farming System (IFS) models are as follows:

Integrated fish-cum-Chicken farming

Integrated Horticultural crops-fish-Poultry

Integrated Sericulture-Fish farming

Integrated Agricultural crops-Fish- Mushroom cultivation.

Conclusion

Hope this article may give a brief idea about integrated farming system (IFS) and some of its models. Thank you.