Concept of sustainability of Integrated farming system

Introduction

Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, we also need social and economic resources. Sustainability is not just environmentalism. Find concerns for social equity and economic development.

Sustainable agriculture

The successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the Natural resource- base and avoiding environmental degradation (TAC-CGIAR, 1988).

The key principles for sustainability

Integrate biological and ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, soil regeneration, competition, predation and parasitism into food production processes.
Minimize the use of those non-renewable inputs that cause harm to the environment or to the health of farmers and consumers,
Make productive use of the knowledge and skills of farmers, thus improving their self-reliance and substituting human capital for costly external inputs.
Make productive use of people's collective capacities to work together to solve common agricultural and natural resource problems, such as for pest, watershed, irrigation, forest and credit management.

Components

1. Crop Production

(I) Sequential Cropping Systems:

(i) Rice-based cropping system

(ii) Sorghum-based cropping system

(II) Multi-tier Cropping:

2. Dairy Farming

(a) Cattle Rearing:

(b) Buffaloes:

3. Goat and Sheep Rearing

(i) Goat Rearing:

(ii) Sheep Rearing:

4. Piggery-Large White Yorkshire and Landrace

5. Poultry-fastest growing food industries in the world

6. Duck Rearing - Indian breeds are Sylhet Mete and Nageswari.

7. Apiculture-

8. Fishery-Catla (Catla catla), Rohu (Labeo rohita), Silver carp and Grass carp

9. Sericulture

10. Mushroom Cultivation-Paddy straw mushroom and White bottom mushroom

11. Agroforestry

Agri-silvicultural Systems:

Agri-horti-silviculture:

Silvi-Pastoral system:

12. Biogas

Sustainability in Integrated Farming System

The IFS is part of the strategy to ensure sustainable use of the natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations (Preston 1995).

1) Productivity:

IFS provides an opportunity to increase economic yield per unit area per unit time

2) Profitability: Thus reduction of cost of production and utilization of waste material and elimination of the middleman

3) Potentiality or Sustainability:

Organic supplementation through effective utilization of by-products

4) Balanced Food:

Components of varied nature are linked to produce different sources of nutrition.

5) Environmental Safety:

In IFS waste materials are effectively recycled by linking appropriate components, thus minimise environmental pollution.

6) Recycling:

Effective recycling of waste material (crop residues and livestock wastes) in IFS. Therefore, there is less reliance to outside inputs – fertilizers, agrochemicals, feeds, energy.

7) 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.

8) Adoption of New Technology:

9) Saving Energy:

To identify an alternative source to reduce our dependence on fossil energy source within short time.

10) Meeting Fodder crisis:

Every piece of land area is effectively utilized. Plantation of perennial legume fodder trees on field borders and also fixing the atmospheric nitrogen.

11) Solving Fuel and Timber Crisis:

Linking agroforestry appropriately the production level of fuel and industrial wood.

12) Employment Generation:

Combing crop with livestock enterprises would increase the labour requirement significantly and IFS provide enough scope to employ family labour round the year.

13) Agro-industries:

One of produce linked in IFS are increased to commercial level there is surplus value adoption leading to development of allied agro-industries.

14) Increasing Input Efficiency:

IFS provides good scope to use inputs in different component greater efficiency and benefit-cost ratio.

Conclusion

There are many benefits of sustainable agriculture practice, in many ways and in many directions of every allied science dealing with agriculture. Sustainable agriculture has become a great need of present society which is inevitable. Sustainable agriculture will lead to overall development of human society which is the key success for everyone.