INTEGRATED FARMING

INTEGRATED FARMING9/23/20141Integrated farming or integrated production is a commonly and broadly used word to explain a more integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production and may sometimes be known as integrated Bio-systems.

INTRODUCTION1

While not often considered as part of the permaculture movement, Integrated Farming is a similar "whole systems approach" to agriculture. Agro-ecology (which was developed at University of California Santa Cruz) and Bio-dynamic farming also describe similar integrated approaches. The most impressive aspect of Chinese aquaculture that the study group observed was the integration of fish farming with livestock production and farming of agricultural crops, including vegetable farming. Integrated farming is a traditional Chinese practice and, has in recent years been further supported by the concept of an all-round 'development of agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and other sideline occupations. Although integrated farming is economically and environmentally sound, the motivation for integration would appear to be the national policy of diversification of production9/23/20142AGRICULTURAL CULTIVATION9/23/20143

In agriculture , multiple cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same space during a single growing season. It is a form of poly culture. It can take the form of double-cropping, in which a second crop is planted after the first has been harvested, or relay cropping, in which thesecond crop is started amidst the first crop before it has been harvested. A related practice, companion planting, is sometimes used in gardening and intensive cultivation of vegetables and fruits. One example of multi-cropping is tomatoes + onions + marigold; the marigolds repel some tomato pests.ANIMAL HUSBANDARY9/23/20144Animal husbandry is the management and care of farm animals by humans for profit, in which genetic qualities and behaviour, considered to be advantageous to humans, are further developed. The term can refer to the practice of selectively breeding and raising livestock to promote desirable traits in animals for utility, sport, pleasure, or research

AQUA CULTURE OR PISCI CULTURE9/23/20145

The breeding, rearing, and transplantation of fish by artificial means is called pisciculture, in other words, fish farming. It is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food.API CULTURE9/23/2014

Beekeeping or apiculture, from Latin Apis means bee, is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces (including beeswax, propolis, pollen and royal jelly, to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard".6

SERI CULTURE9/23/20147

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm. China and India are the two main producers, together manufacturing more than 60% of the world production each year.CONCLUSION9/23/20148Integrated Farming System approach not only fulfils the household needs but enrich diet of human being and animals both and simultaneously keep the people away from the hazards of residual toxicity of the chemicals being used in agriculture on a large scale. Further, diversified nature of the model provides huge employment opportunity for unemployed rural youths. The IFS model developed at Project Directorate for Farming Systems Research, Modipuram will serve as a basket of options and farmers can choose appropriate combinations of enterprises as per their resources and family needs. The farmers having sufficient land and other farm resources can prefer for integration of horticultural crops viz; fruits, vegetables and floriculture as an additional enterprise along with prevailing ones

END9/23/20149