Different eco friendly farming systems?

Question

Different eco friendly farming systems?

Answer 1

Precision agriculture

Answer 2

CATTLE-BASED integrated farming system (IFS) is ideal for small and medium scale farmers. It is not only eco-friendly, but also more economical for farmers to raise animals in an integrated farm, according to Mr. R. Ranganathan, President, `Poison- free-food' association at Kelambakkam village in Tamil Nadu.

The association consists of about 300 farmers who grow their crops organically as members from all over the country.

"The main emphasis for our members is to grow crops organically and farmers are encouraged to rear cattle and goats or sheep as it becomes an easy source for them to procure organic manure," he said.

The waste obtained from the animals not only provides organically rich manure but also helps in manufacturing biogas, he said.

Cheap alternative

Biogas technology provides an alternative and cheap source of energy that meets the basic need for cooking fuel in rural areas. Using locally available resources such as cattle waste and other organic wastes, both manure and gas are derived.

Preparation of cow-dung and cow-urine-based plant growth promoters such as panchagavya has been proved to be profitable and environmentally sound according to experts.

Mr. E. Lakshmanan of Hanumanthapuram village, near Chengalpattu district in Tamil Nadu, a beneficiary, has adopted the technique of cattle-based intensive farming.

He has about 2 hectares of land and is engaged in a variety of intercropping with paddy as the main crop and has also set up a biogas unit.

Mr. Lakshmanan has about 10 crossbred cows of which three are milking and a stud bull maintained under stall fed conditions.

"I make my own concentrate feed for my cattle by mixing rice bran, ragi , powdered pearl millet (known as Kumbu in Tamil) and groundnut oil cake to meet the energy needs of the animals," he explained.

Feed cost

The cost of the feed works out to about Rs.12 per kg, and each milking animal is fed about two kg of fresh grass in addition to liberal quantities of rice straw.

"The straw and the ingredients of the concentrate feed are grown in my farm and the cattle relish it," he said.

All the animals are regularly vaccinated and maintained in good health by providing regular veterinary care. "We lay particular emphasis on the efficient collection of dung and urine by our farmers. Urine and dung are mixed together for feeding the biogas plant.

The slurry taken from the biogas plant is used for making panchagavya and vermicompost which are essential commodities for organic farming," said Mr. Ranganathan.

"A 3-cubic metre biogas plant, which provides a steady supply of fuel to my kitchen, has been constructed with technical assistance from the association.

"The animals, on an average, yield about 10 litres of milk a day, and I sell the milk locally at the rate of about Rs.11 per litre," explained Mr. Lakshmanan. The dairy farm is the central focus of organic farming enterprise as the animals help in efficient recycling of the organic crop residues from the field.

"Good quality, poison-free straw is obtained for my animals and in return the cows provide the much-needed energy for my kitchen and key inputs for making enriched organic manure," said Mr. Lakshmanan.

Healthy animals

"By feeding my animals with organically grown paddy straw and other crops grown in my field, I am able to keep them healthy and they in turn yield good milk without any toxic residues," he said.

Readers can contact Mr. Ranganathan, President, Poison-free-food, No16-Vanigar street, Thirupporur, Tamil Nadu-603 110, phone :[phone], mobile: [phone], email: [e-mail] and Mr. E. Lakshmanan can be reached at Hanumanthapuram village, via Sembakkam, Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu- 603 108.

The growing awareness of the adverse impact of indiscriminate pesticide use in agriculture has led to a shift towards eco-friendly practices in Pest Management.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies have been evolved which focus on an appropriate mix of practices, which not only regulate pest population but are also sustainable and non-polluting. The focus of this issue of the Digest is IPM strategies, experiences in India and other countries with IPM and how joint efforts among farmers, non-governmental organization and governmental organizations are helping replace chemical intensive farming with eco-friendly practices, around the globe.

More and more public and private Organizations,non-governmental organizations(NGOs),Universities and farmers groups are engaging in joint efforts to move towards sustainable agriculture.

Partnerships between research institutions ,extension agencies,non-governmental organizations and farmers have proved to be a viable alternative to the down approach for developing sustainable agriculture.Partnerships give the comparative advantage of all partner's and help in dealing with heterogeneity,finding solutions to location specific problems,and in synergy.

Some of the earlier issues of the Extension Digest have also focused on Partnerships under various themes.The current issue has focus on issues surrounding partnerships and documents experiences where different actors have found ways to forge partnerships leading to sustainable practices.

The Farming Systems Approach evolved because of increased awareness on the part of the researchers that farmers had a right to be involved in the process of technology development as they stood to gain or lose most from technology adoption.Moreover ,it was recognized that farmers could productively contribute to development of appropriate technology As they were aware of the complexity,diversity and variability of their farming systems.

The farm family functions with its limitations of capability and resources of which the scientist is not fully aware often leading the recommendations which are not appropriate to farmers needs.

This issue of the Extension Digest focuses on the farming systems approach to research,extension and development,documents some successes and ways of monitoring and ensuring sustainability of farming systems.





Abstract

Farmers often depend on natural resources beyond the farm,like,grazing land,forests,wasteland,waterbodies,river... and banks.These Common Property Resources(CPR) comprise a sustainable part of the resource base of the economy and play a crucial role in providing goods and services to the rural population.Currently these natural resources are becoming scarce and degraded and it is necessary that these are managed properly and their productivity maintained sat a high level,Privatization and nationalization of CPRs,have been resorted to as solutions to arrest degradation.However,according to evidence,these have helped preserve the environment nor helped the poor gain control over their resources.Collective Management is now advocated as an appropriate strategy for managing CPRS,the argument being that effective arrangements can be developed only if they grow out of indigenous resource management practices and involve communities who depend on these resources.

This issue shows how rural communities organize the use of natural resources to ensure that they can continue to live off their land.

Answer 3

organic, biodynamic to name two.