Integrated farming. This is one of the most popular topics we are discussing related to small scale agriculture. This can identify as one of the best methods to practice in your small-scale farms. This bundled with so many advantages and you will be able to have diversification in your farm products can have a considerable profit also. This is an area with wide scope to explore and understand. So, my friends let’s have a brief review on this nice topic integrated farming. Here we go!!
Table of Contents
What is this integrated farming means?
If I say simply Integrated Farming can identify as a special method of managing your whole Modern farming. Where the crops and the animal are in the same land together. Not only these two components, there is a unit for energy production like bio gas production at most of the time.
In here monoculture practice cannot be seen. Instead, there are two or more components inside the farm. If you like you can integrate crops and livestock, livestock and fishery, crop, livestock and fishery and many more.
One of the most important or a noticeable character you can see here is that output or wastes from one component or system becomes inputs for the other components. This definitely leads to have a higher productivity and production efficiency in your farm. If you also plan or starting a farm then it’s better to start an integrated farm in order to have more benefits.
What are the components of integrated farming system?
Here are some of the components you can have in your farm integrate with each other. Crops, livestock, poultry, ducks, horticulture, apiculture, sericulture, mushroom culture, agro-forestry, biogas plants and so on.
Examples for some integrated systems
Here are some of the integrated systems you can have in your farm.
- Crop -livestock
- Crop-livestock-fishery
- Crop-livestock- poultry-fishery
- Crop-livestock-fishery-mushroom
- Crop-fishery-poultry
- Crop-livestock-fishery-vermicomposting
- Crop-livestock-forestry
- Agriculture-silviculture- horticulture
- Agriculture -horticulture-silviculture-pastoral
You can carry on any of the system from above according to your resources and etc.
What are the goals of integrated farming?
In here the main goal or the objective is to take the maximum use from a unit land by consuming its resources maximally. There by we can have a high return from the farm. Using the waste of one component on the production of another component is also another goal we can achieve through this. So, the cost for the inputs can increase here. Maintaining the sustainability and the fertility of the soil can also identify as goals in here.
Here are some of the goals we can achieve by following Integrated Farming:
- Reduce the environmental pollution.
- Diversifying the farm products.
- Thereby you can have year-round income too.
- Generation of the employments.
- Ultimately this helps to enhance the living status of the farming community.
When you are going to set up an integrated farm there are some factors you have to consider. Including:
Availability of the resources like land, labor and capital. As well as soil and the climatic features of the area. If you are willing to start a small-scale farm then better to give a though to this ice and the profitable concept as well.