Unit 3: Types and Components of Farming-Based Livelihood Systems

1. Types of Farming Systems

Farming systems are decision-making units comprising a farm household, cropping and livestock systems, that transform land, capital, and labor into products for consumption and sale. These systems are categorized based on technology, management, and resource utilization.

A. Traditional Farming Systems

Traditional farming relies on indigenous knowledge passed down through generations. It is typically characterized by low external inputs and high labor intensity.

• Shifting Cultivation (Slash and Burn/Jhum):
  • Mechanism: A patch of forest land is cleared and burned; crops are grown for a few years until fertility declines, then the land is abandoned for regeneration.
  • Livelihood Aspect: Purely subsistence; supports tribal communities but is becoming unsustainable due to shortening fallow cycles.
• Subsistence Farming:
  • Mechanism: Farming focused on growing enough food to feed the farmer and their family.
  • Characteristics: Small landholdings, mixed cropping to minimize risk, minimal use of fertilizers/pesticides, and reliance on rain.
• Nomadic Herding:
  • Mechanism: Herders move with animals from place to place in search of fodder and water.
  • Animals: Sheep, camel, yak, goats.
  • Regions: Arid and semi-arid regions.
• Traditional Mixed Farming:
  • Integration of crops and livestock where animals are fed crop residues, and animal manure is used for soil fertility. This is a closed-loop sustainable system.

B. Modern Farming Systems

Modern farming utilizes scientific methods, mechanization, and high inputs to maximize yield and profit.

• Commercial Farming:
  • Focus: Crops and livestock are raised specifically for sale in markets.
  • Characteristics: Large land holdings, heavy machinery, monoculture (specialization), and high capital investment.
• Plantation Agriculture:
  • Mechanism: A single crop is grown on a large scale (e.g., Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Coconut).
  • Livelihood: It operates like an industry, requiring significant capital, managerial ability, and technical know-how.
• Precision Farming:
  • Mechanism: Uses IT, satellite imagery, and sensors to observe and manage intra-field variability in crops.
  • Goal: To optimize returns on inputs while preserving resources (site-specific management).
• Organic Farming:
  • A modern adaptation of traditional principles that strictly excludes synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, relying on crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control.

2. Components of Farming Systems: Crops and Cropping Systems

Crops serve as the primary producers in the farming system ecosystem, converting solar energy into biomass.

A. Classification of Crops (Livelihood Perspective)

• Food Crops: Grains (Rice, Wheat, Maize) essential for food security.
• Cash Crops: Grown for market sale (Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane, Tobacco).
• Fodder Crops: Grown specifically to feed livestock (Berseem, Sorghum, Napier grass).

B. Cropping Systems

The cropping system refers to the crop production activity on a farm, comprising all cropping patterns grown on the farm and their interaction with farm resources.

• Monocropping: Growing the same crop on the same land year after year.
  • Pros: Specialization, easier mechanization.
  • Cons: Soil nutrient depletion, high pest incidence, economic risk.
• Multiple Cropping: Growing two or more crops on the same piece of land in one agricultural year.
  • Sequential Cropping: Growing two or more crops in sequence on the same field in a year (e.g., Rice followed by Wheat).
  • Intercropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously in distinct row arrangements (e.g., Maize + Soybean).
• Mixed Cropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously with no distinct row arrangement (seeds are mixed). This insures against total crop failure.
• Relay Cropping: Planting a succeeding crop before the harvesting of the preceding crop (e.g., sowing pulses in a standing rice crop).

3. Livestock-Based Enterprises

Livestock acts as a "living bank" for farmers, providing a continuous flow of income and acting as insurance against crop failure.

A. Dairy Farming

• Animals: Cattle (Cows) and Buffaloes.
• Output: Milk, manure (FYM), draft power, biogas.
• Livelihood Role: Provides daily cash income through milk sales. Dairy is labor-intensive, creating employment for family members, especially women. It integrates well with crop farming by utilizing crop residues (straw) as feed.

B. Piggery

• Animals: Pigs (Swine).
• Output: Meat (Pork), bristles, manure.
• Characteristics:
  • High Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR): Pigs convert feed to meat very efficiently.
  • Prolific Breeders: High reproduction rate (large litter size).
  • Feed Scavengers: They can consume kitchen waste, agricultural by-products, and grains.
• Livelihood Role: Important for farmers with low capital; quick returns compared to cattle.

C. Goatry

• Animals: Goats.
• Output: Meat (Chevon), Milk, Skin, Fiber (Pashmina/Mohair).
• Nickname: "The Poor Man’s Cow."
• Characteristics:
  • Hardy animals adapted to harsh climates.
  • Browsers (eat leaves/shrubs), meaning they do not compete directly with cattle for grass.
• Livelihood Role: Very low initial investment. Often used as an ATM—sold instantly when cash is needed.

D. Poultry

• Animals: Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus).
• Types:
  • Layers: Raised for egg production.
  • Broilers: Raised for meat production.
  • Backyard Poultry: Low-input indigenous breeds scavenge for food; provides nutritional security for the household.
• Livelihood Role: Requires small space and capital. Short production cycle (Broilers are ready in 6–7 weeks).

E. Duckry (Duck Farming)

• Output: Eggs and Meat.
• Advantages over Poultry:
  • Ducks lay eggs for a longer period.
  • Eggs are heavier.
  • More resistant to common avian diseases.
  • Can forage in water bodies, reducing feed costs.
• Habitat: Requires access to water (ponds/canals), making it ideal for coastal or high-rainfall areas.

4. Horticultural Crops

Horticulture involves the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, flowers, tubers, ornamental plants, and spices.

• Pomology (Fruits): Mango, Banana, Citrus, Apple. Perennial trees provide long-term income and stabilize soil.
• Olericulture (Vegetables): Tomato, Potato, Brinjal, Leafy greens. Short duration crops that provide quick cash flow between major cereal crops.
• Floriculture (Flowers): Marigold, Rose, Orchids. High-value crops for decorative and religious purposes.
• Plantation/Spices: Coconut, Arecanut, Pepper, Cardamom.
• Livelihood Importance:
  • High Value: Higher income per unit area compared to field crops.
  • Nutritional Security: Provides vitamins and minerals ("protective foods").
  • Processing Potential: Value addition (jams, pickles) creates secondary income.

5. Agroforestry Systems

Agroforestry is a land-use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland.

Types of Agroforestry

1. Agri-silviculture: Crops (Agriculture) + Trees (Silviculture).
   • Example: Growing wheat or pulses between rows of Poplar or Eucalyptus trees.
2. Silvi-pasture: Trees + Pasture/Animals.
   • Example: Growing grasses for grazing under fodder trees (like Subabul) for livestock.
3. Agri-silvi-pasture: Crops + Trees + Animals.
   • A complex mix of all three components.
4. Home Gardens: A multi-tier system near the homestead containing trees, crops, and animals.

Benefits

• Ecological: Reduces soil erosion, improves water retention, fixes nitrogen (if leguminous trees are used), and sequesters carbon.
• Economic: Diversifies income (timber, fruit, firewood) and reduces risk of total failure.

6. Aquaculture and Integrated Farming Systems (IFS)

Aquaculture is the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. When integrated with other farming components, it creates a symbiotic relationship known as Integrated Farming Systems (IFS). The core principle is "Waste of one component is wealth for another."

A. Duck/Poultry cum Fish Farming

• Setup: Poultry/Duck housing is constructed over or adjacent to the fish pond.
• Mechanism:
  • Bird droppings fall directly into the pond.
  • Droppings act as organic fertilizer, promoting the growth of phytoplankton and zooplankton (natural fish food).
  • Ducks swim in the water, aerating it (increasing oxygen) and eating aquatic weeds/insects.
• Benefits: Saves cost on fish feed and fertilizer; maximizes land use.

B. Dairy cum Fish Farming

• Setup: Cattle sheds are located near ponds.
• Mechanism:
  • Washings from the cattle shed (urine and dung) are channeled into the fish pond.
  • Alternatively, dung is fed into a Biogas plant, and the slurry (digested biosolid) is used in the pond.
  • Cow dung promotes rapid growth of zooplankton.
• Benefits: Eliminates waste disposal issues for the dairy; provides free organic feed for fish.

C. Piggery cum Fish Farming

• Setup: Pig sties are built on the pond embankment or over the water.
• Mechanism:
  • Pig excreta is extremely rich in nutrients.
  • It serves as direct feed for certain fish species and indirect feed by fertilizing the pond.
  • Requires careful management to prevent oxygen depletion in the pond (due to excessive organic load).
• Benefits: Highly productive. Pig manure allows for high stocking density of fish without supplementary feeding.
• Typical Ratio: 30–40 pigs can fertilize a 1-hectare fish pond.

Summary of Component Interactions in IFS