Integrated-farming systems

for different agro-ecosystems

LECTURE 9

SS RANA
SR SCIENTIST
 Major categories of farming system
2

The delineation of the major farming systems provides a

useful framework within which appropriate agricultural
development strategies and interventions can be
determined. The decision to adopt very broad farming
systems inevitably results in a considerable degree of
heterogeneity within any single system. However, the
alternative of identifying numerous, discrete, micro-level
farming systems in each developing country - which
could result in hundreds or even thousands of systems
worldwide - would complicate the interpretation of
appropriate regional and global strategic responses and
detract from the overall impact of the analysis.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 Criteria for classification of the farming
systems
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available natural resource base, including water, land,

grazing areas and forest; climate, of which altitude is one
important determinant; landscape, including slope; farm
size, tenure and organization; and

dominant pattern of farm activities and household
livelihoods, including field crops, livestock, trees,
aquaculture, hunting and gathering, processing and off-
farm activities; and taking into account the main
technologies used, which determine the intensity of
production and integration of crops, livestock and other
activities.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 eight broad categories of farming system
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Irrigated farming systems, embracing a broad range

of food and cash crop production;

Wetland rice based farming systems, dependent
upon monsoon rains supplemented by irrigation;

Rainfed farming systems in humid areas of high
resource potential, characterized by a crop activity
(notably root crops, cereals, industrial tree crops -
both small scale and plantation - and commercial
horticulture) or mixed crop-livestock systems;

Rainfed farming systems in steep and highland
areas, which are often mixed crop-livestock systems;

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 5

Rainfed farming systems in dry or cold low potential

areas, with mixed crop-livestock and pastoral systems
merging into sparse and often dispersed systems with
very low current productivity or potential because of
extreme aridity or cold;

Dualistic (mixed large commercial and small holder)
farming systems, across a variety of ecologies and with
diverse production patterns;

Coastal artisanal fishing, often mixed farming systems;
and

Urban based farming systems, typically focused on
horticultural and livestock production.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

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CLASSIFICATION OF
FARMING SYSTEMS

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 A) According to the Size of the Farm:
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a) Collective farming.
b) Cultivation farming: i) small scale farming ii)
large scale farming.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 B) According to the Proportion of Land,
Labour and Capital Investment:
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a) Intensive cultivation.
b) Extensive cultivation.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 C) According to the Value of Products or Income or
on the basis of Comparative Advantages:
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i) Specialized farming
ii) Diversified farming
iii) Mixed farming
iv) Ranching
v) Dry farming

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 D) According to the Water Supply:
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i) Rained farming.
ii) Irrigated farming.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 E) According to:
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I) Type of Rotation:

a) lay system: i) unregulated lay farming ii) regulated
lay system.
b) Field system.
c) Perennial crop system.

II) Intensity of the Rotation:

a) Shifting cultivation.
b) Lay or fallow farming.
c) Permanent cultivation.
d) Multiple cropping.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 F) Classification According to Degree of
Commercialization
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a) Commercialized farming.
b) Partly commercialized farming.
c) Subsistence farming.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 G) Classification According to Degree of
Nomadic:
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a) Total nomadic.
b) Semi nomadic.
c) Partial nomadic.
d) Transhumant.
e) Stationary animal husbandry.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 H) Classification According to Cropping
and Animal Activities:
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Rice based

Livestock based

Vegetable based

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 I) Classification According to Implements
Used for Cultivation:
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a) Spade farming.
b) Hoe farming.
c) Mechanized or tractor farming.

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 IFS for Irrigated low and uplands
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Crop- Livestock- Fish Farming (Wetland)

Mulberry Dyke-Pond Systems

Cropping + poultry/pigeon/goat + fishery
(Tamilnadu): IFS – Tamil Nadu – Cauvery delta Zone
(Crop – poultry- fish system)

Rice- fish – poultry- mushroom (Tamilnadu)

Crop + dairy + biogas + silviculture (Irrigated
upland, Tamilnadu)

Crop + dairy + biogas + mushroom for Irrigated
Situations (Garden lands, Tamilnadu)

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 Rainfed and dryland
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Cropping + Telicherry goat (Tamilnadu)

Bio-diverse Multi-tier System (Rainfed land)

Crop + goat (Tamilnadu)

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 Hill regions
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Eastern Himalayas

Himachal Pradesh

Agroforestry-based Land Management
Systems of Indian Himalayas

Farming on Sloping Lands of Asia

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 Island
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1.Coconut – cum – fodder- cum – milch cattle

Coconut – cum fish culture in salt affected
lands

Fruits- fodder- milch cattle

Cocunut-cum-fodder-cum-fish or prawn culture

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems

 20

IFSs for different agro-ecosystems