22 Mar

Special Agriculture Practices & Advantage

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Contents

• Crop Diversification
• Integrated Farming System
• Precision Agriculture
• Multilayered Farming

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1) CROP DIVERSIFICATION

• Introduction
  • Crops diversification refers to shift in cropping pattern from one or a few crops to other crops which are more profitable, sustainable or less resource intensive.
• Advantages:
  • Risk Mitigation: Farmers growing multiple crops are less vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, pests, diseases, or market fluctuations affecting a particular crop.
  • Sustainability:
    • Improved Soil Health
    • Reduce use of water and chemical fertilizers.
    • Planting diverse crops disrupts pest, weed and disease cycle.
      • For e.g. Certain crops have allelopathic properties or growth habits that suppress weeds. By including such crops in a diversified cropping system, weed growth can be effectively controlled without heavy reliance on herbicide.
    • Improves the availability of fodder for livestock animals.
    • Fighting the challenges of Monoculture:
    • Supports biodiversity: By providing habitats for beneficial insects, birds, and pollinators.
    • Resilience to climate change as different crops will have varying level of tolerance to changing climatic conditions.
  • Food Security and Nutrition – Crop diversification will promote healthier diets and reduce risk of nutritional deficiency.
  • Increased income for farmers – By diversifying to high value horticulture crops.
• Steps taken to promote diversification.
  • Crops Diversification Program (a sub scheme under RKVY) is being implemented by government in original green revolution states viz. Punjab, Haryana, and in Western Uttar Pradesh to diversify paddy areas towards less water requiring crops like oil seeds, pulses, coarse cereals, agro-forestry, and shifting of tobacco farmers to alternative cropping system in tobacco growing states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, TN, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal wef from 2015-16.
    • Under CDP, assistance if provided to states for conducting cluster demonstration on alternate crops, promotion of water saving technologies, distribution of farm machineries, setting up of value addition facilities, awareness through training etc.
  • Crop Diversification through Price Policy -> Increasing MSP for crops which need to be promoted.
• Status in India
  • India has tremendous potential for crop diversification and to make farming a sustainable and profitable economic activity.
  • The Index of Crop Diversification (used by ESI 2017-18) analysis shows:
    i. Declining inter-temporal behaviour in crop diversification for the states like Chattisgarh, Haryana, MP, Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The decline has been sharp in Odisha (from 0.74 in 1994-1995 to 0.34 in 2014-15).
    ii. Two states – Himachal and Jharkhand have seen increasing crop diversification.
    iii. For India as a whole the crop diversification scenario appears to be stable throughout the period.
• Factors behind decreasing crop diversification in some states
  • Minimum Support Price
  • Lack of awareness among farmers.
  • Limited Input Availability:
  • Risk Perception and Market Volatility

2) INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM

• Introduction
  » Integrated Farming System (IFS) is a comprehensive farming approach that combines multiple agricultural activities and components within farming system to optimize resource utilization, increase productivity, and improve sustainability. It involves the integration of crops, livestock, fisheries, agroforestry, and other allied enterprises (renewable energy – biogas generation) in a synergistic manner.
• IFS is helpful in sustaining agricultural production in the following ways:
  1. Resource Optimization and Enhanced Productivity: Integration of various components like crops and livestocks can make efficient use of resources and minimize waste.
     • For example, crop residues and agricultural by-products can be utilized as livestock feed, while animal waste can be recycled as organic fertilizer for crops.
  2. Nutrient Cycling and Soil health:
     • Livestock manure and crop residues serve as organic fertilizers, improving soil fertility and nutrient availability.
     • The integration of leguminous crops in crop rotations adds nitrogen to the soil through biological nitrogen fixation.
     • Soil Conservation Practices like contour ploughing and agroforestry, help prevent erosion and maintain soil health.
  3. Pest and Disease management:
     i. Diversity of crops and livestock reduces the risk of pest and disease outbreaks.
     ii. Crop rotation, inter-cropping, and mixed cropping help disrupt pest life cycles and reduce pest pressure.
  4. Climate Resilience:
     • The integration of trees and agro-forestry practices help mitigate climate risks by providing shade, reducing wind speed, improving water filtration, and sequestering carbon.
     • Diverse Crop pattern is also more adaptable to climate variability.
  5. Economic security through income diversification: IFS offers multiple income stream (crops, livestock, etc.) which reduces income risk associated with single crop.
  6. Environmental Sustainability:
     • Reduced Pollution and land degradation: IFS reduces the need for synthetic
       fertilizers, mitigates nutrient runoff and pollution, and enhances soil health and long-term sustainability.
     • Biodiversity Protection: The integration of diverse components helps conserve biodiversity, protect natural habitats, and provide ecological niche for beneficial organisms.

3) PRECISION AGRICULTURE

• About Precision Agriculture
  » Precision Agriculture is a technique of agriculture which uses technology to determine the exact amount of input (water, fertilizers, pesticides etc.) required to ensure crops and soil receive exactly what they need for optimum health and productivity.
  » This kind of agriculture is highly dependent on technology – Specialized equipment, software and IT.
  • It requires accessing real time data about the conditions of crops, soil and ambient air. It also needs hyper local weather predictions, labor costs, and equipment availability.
  • Sensors in the field measure the moisture content and temperature of the soil and
    surrounding air.
  • Satellites and Robotic drones provide real time images of individual farmers.
• Advantages
  • Economic Benefits
    • Increase agri-productivity.
    • Improve the quality and reduce the cost of production
    • Improved socio-economic condition of farmers
  • Improve Sustainability of Agriculture
    • Prevent Soil Degradation
    • Reduce Chemical application.
    • Efficient resource use (water, fertilizers etc.)
• E.g. Drip Irrigation used with PA technology can reduce the amount of water used in crops.
  • PA enables Climate-Smart Agriculture

4) MULTILAYERED FARMING

• It comprises of growing compatible plants of different heights on the same field at the same time. It is mostly practiced in orchards and plantation crops for maximum use of solar energy even under high planting density.
• Advantages
  • Efficient Land Use
  • Diversification and Risk Reduction
    • By growing variety of crops, farmers can diversify their produce, accessing different markets, and reducing price risks.
    • Better Income: The sale of high value crops, such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices can generate higher returns compared to traditional mono-croppng.
  • Resource Efficiency:
    • For e.g. different layers of crops create micro-climates that reduce water evaporation and help retain soil moisture.
    • The crops complement each other – for e.g. by providing shade canopy, litter, increasing moisture holding capacity of soil while nurturing microflora.
  • Nutrient Cycling and Soil Health: it promotes the recycling of nutrients within the system, enhancing soil fertility and reducing the need of synthetic fertilizers
  • Biodiversity Conservation: MLF creates diverse and complex habitats, supporting a range of beneficial organisms, including pollinators, beneficial insects and natural predators. Multiple crops and flowering plants provide food and shelter for a variety of beneficial organisms.
  • Income generation and livelihood improvement:
• E.g.
  • Coconut based multilayered farming (Coconut, pepper, nutmeg, banana, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger) is more remunerative than traditional systems.
• Steps being taken in India to promote Multi-Layered Farming
  » The Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, is undertaking research (on-station) and technology validation through farmer’s participatory research (on-farm research) on Integrated Farming Systems and Cropping systems in 24 states.
  » Multi-layer Farming Models on high-value vegetable cultivation under a three-tier system was introduced in the backward districts of Bihar by ICAR and farmers were able to grow three different vegetables on the same piece of land at a time.