What is Integrated Farming System? Know how to do farming in a natural way using Integrated Farming System

Integrated Farming System: India is the second largest agricultural land country in the world where farming is done in about 159.7 million hectares of land, out of which about 8.26 million hectares of land is irrigated crop. To increase the income of farmers, new techniques are also coming in farming day by day, with the help of which farmers can increase their income, one of them is Integrated Farming System or Integrated Farming System (IFS) model.

What is Integrated Farming System

Integrated Farming System is a sustainable farming system that integrates livestock, crop production, fish, poultry, woody trees, fruit trees and other systems and benefits each other.

By adopting this technique, farmers can earn income throughout the year. This agricultural system is also called Integrated Farming System or IFS model in English.

This is how fields are divided for farming with Integrated Farming System

With this agricultural system, farmers can produce more than one crop simultaneously in less land and at less cost. If any farmer wants to do farming in one hectare of land using Integrated Farming System, then he can divide his agricultural land in such a way as-

-6000 square meters for food crops

-1500 square meters for vegetables

-1000 square meters for fodder for animals throughout the year and woody trees

-500 square meters for fruit trees

-100 square meters for animal husbandry

-300-400 square meters for fish farming

-200 square meters for subsidiary enterprise

Adopt crop rotation in Integrated Farming System

Along with advanced seeds and crop care in farming, the fertility of the land and crop production also depend on whether the farmer is adopting crop rotation or not.

In Integrated Farming System, farmers can adopt crop rotation by sowing crops like maize-mustard-dhaincha, jowar-gram or groundnut-wheat. In one season, they can choose crops with deep roots and in the other season, they can choose crops with shallow roots. By doing this, the fertility of the soil remains the same.

How to do farming with Integrated Farming System

The best advantage of farming with this technique is that the residue of one crop acts as input or food for the other. And we do not need to put much input from outside. Poultry or pig farming can be done along the banks of the pond built for fish in the farm. The droppings of pigs or chickens become food for the fish.

In this way, food grains are produced from crops and its residue is used as fodder or food for animals. Vermicompost is made from the dung of cows, buffaloes and goats and used as fertilizer in the production of crops. While farming with this system, the farmer can also plant woody trees around his field.

These are the benefits of integrated farming system

In this farming system, chemical fertilizers and medicines are used very little or not at all.

In this, the farmer keeps getting income throughout the year such as from the production of crops, fish farming, vermicompost, or animal husbandry or poultry farming.

With this system, the farmer grows different types of crops in an agricultural field, due to which he does not have to buy many things from outside even for his own consumption.

In this agricultural system, by adopting other activities along with farming, the demand for wages increases, due to which the family members get work throughout the year. And they do not have to sit idle. Such as poultry farming, earthworm compost, animal husbandry etc.

By adopting this system, the farmer can conserve rainwater and use it for fish farming or irrigation of animals or crops.