Integrated Farming System: The Barrier for Farmer Suicide


Integrated Farming System: The Barrier for Farmer Suicide



India is an agricultural country whose 70 percent of the population is based on agriculture. Still, the condition of the farmers of our country is very pathetic, every day thousands of farmers are committing suicide. The reason for this is the sudden calamities that occur in nature, because a small farmer in India has 1-2 hectares of land, from which he can earn his living and also runs the household expenses. But in the year when the standing crop of the farmer gets ruined due to sudden natural calamities like hail, excessive rain, drought, flood etc., then naturally the farmer has no option but to commit suicide. The farmer, who cultivates, also buy fertilizers, and, seeds from the loan money. In such a situation, if the crop itself is ruined, then what is the way left for the farmer? For this reason, the farmer has to choose the path of suicide. And he embraces death without thinking anything.

The reason for farmer's suicide is that farmers lack different types of information about agriculture, lack of knowledge of different types of farming methods and even if they are aware, then they do not have complete information. There are many types of methods of doing agriculture from which the farmer can earn maximum profit. One of those methods is the Integrated Farming System - it is such a method of doing agriculture in which the farmers in addition to the crop in one unit area of their land, other business such as crop production, animal husbandry, poultry, fisheries, horticulture, forestry, By establishing vermi-compost units etc. types of businesses together at the same time and in the same field, one can get profit from all types of enterprises. That without polluting any environment nor exploiting any natural resources. This is such a system of doing agriculture, in which the farmer will definitely get profit from some business, if our crop is destroyed due to reason, and then the farmer can get profit from other business. By adopting this system, Farmer will not need to commit suicide. Because the farmer will continue to get profit from all the businesses. Many people say that farming is a loss-making deal, in this the cost and hard work is high but the profits are decreasing. But some farmers are earning profit of lakhs from this farming. In the midst of efforts to double the income, many farmers have adopted the techniques of profitable farming i.e. Integrated Farming System farming, leaving traditional farming, from which they are earning, profits of lakhs of rupees in a year.

Components of Integrated Farming System:

In integrated farming system, farmers can get benefit from all types of enterprises by establishing the following types of enterprises at one place at a time. Crop production, animal husbandry, fish farming, horticulture, duck farming, forestry, pigeon farming, apiculture, mushroom farming, sericulture, dairy, kitchen gardening, poultry, fodder production, goat farming, nursery, sheep farming, Enterprises like rearing, seed production, pig-rearing, vermi-culture, rabbit-rearing, value addition, etc. can be established. But if we talk about a small and marginal farmer, then he can get partial benefit by setting up few enterprises.

Importance of Integrated Farming System:

    Integrated farming system is such a system of agriculture in which economic yield can be given to farmers per unit area per unit time depending on the intensity of cropping and intensive enterprises.

    In the integrated farming system, the farmer has to give a lot of work to any amount of input in the field, because the businesses involved in it are related to each other, which work as a complement to each other.

    Year-round income limit to the farmer from the integrated farming system: Provides flow of money to the farmer throughout the year through enterprises such as crops, eggs, milk, mushrooms, honey, cocoons, silkworms, etc.

    This type of farming system can be established in any season and climate.

    If the farmer's crop is destroyed due to any reason, then he can earn profit from other enterprises, so he will not need to commit suicide.

    With the integrated farming system, it is possible for humans to get balanced food from different components because we get production from different sources.

    Through this type of farming system, the sustainability of the farm is maintained for a long time, because the linked components in it promote organic supplementation through effective use of the products, thereby maintaining the efficiency of production for a long time. 

    In the integrated farming system the waste material is effectively recycled by combining it with the appropriate components, which does not pollute the environment and also keeps our environment clean.

    Integrated farming system energy saving is possible because in this, the use of new technology is also done in this integrated farming system to generate biogas because in this the resource farmers fully utilize the technology.

    Employment generation is also possible through integrated farming system as cropping with livestock enterprises will significantly increase labour requirement and will help in reducing employment problems to a great extent.

 

Mr. Anand Rao Azad
Assistant Professor, School of Agriculture, 
SAGE University, Bhopal (M.P.)

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