Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Khushbu and Dr. Kanta Sabharwal

Abstract:
India is an agricultural country and majority of farmers in India are small and marginal farmers which possess less than two hectares of land. Achieving livelihood security and sustainability with a single enterprise is quite difficult for these farmers. The average size of agriculture landholding in India has reduced to 1.08 hectare in 2015-16 and there is no further scope for horizontal expansion of land for agriculture. So, vertical integration of various enterprises is need of the hour. In this connection Integrated Farming System (IFS) is a whole farm management system that aims to provide more sustainable agriculture. It indicates to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production. The crop residues serve as food to the fish and livestock, and the wastes from the fish and livestock serve as fertilizer to the crops. Livestock, birds, trees and crops are the major components of IFS. The study was conducted in two Western and Eastern agro-climatic zones of Haryana state, covering two districts of each zone and three villages from each district with random sample techniques with 120 respondents. It was found that in Western zone and Eastern zone majority of respondents agree to the statements that availability of inputs and amount required to be assessed prior to selection of IFS (75.0%) one should plan in advance about the IFS components to be taken during the coming year (68.3%), timely utilization of available resources (65.0%) and ensure proper utilization of available resources undertaken (68.3%), input cost must be as per resources available (65.0%), one can enhance production by applying indigenous technical knowledge (73.3%), grading, value addition and packaging of agriculture produce is necessary to enhance income (70.0%)and(78.3%). Results further revealed that in Western and Eastern zone majority of respondents had medium scores on planning for IFS(63.3% and 66.7%), utilization of resources (61.7% and 53.3%), production of grains in IFS (56.7% and 68.3%) and marketing of produce (48.4% and 56.6%).