70(1) Special Issue of IJA Sustaining productivity and livelihood of livestock farmers of Bundelkhand region through integrated farming system

Authors

  • Gaurendra Gupta Scientist

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v70i.6128

Abstract

The upsurge in high input-led mono-cropping or specialized production systems post-green revolution phase has evolved Indian agriculture significantly by uplifting production remarkably. However, this evolution also generated offshoot repercussions including degradation of natural resources, agro-waste management issues, fragile agro-ecosystem health, and unstable livelihood. With this background, a livestock-based integrated farming system (LIFS) model having food + vegetables + fruits + fodder + livestock + allied components was developed and assessed for its productivity, profitability, employment generation, and energy dynamics in on-farm trial mode in the Jhansi region of Uttar Pradesh, India. The LIFS produced 35.91 t/ha/yr of wheat equivalent yield, net returns of Rs. 352400.0 in a B: C of 1.84, and generated 633 man-days/ha/yr employment. LIFS was assessed as 278.0% more productive, 226.6% more profitable, and 336.6% more employment generative compared to the region's traditional groundnut-wheat cropping system owing to the diversification-integration of farm resources. Besides, LIFS found with production of 222766 MJ of net energy gain which was 12.9% higher than the traditional cropping system of GWCS. LIFS adoption concludes the advantages of improved production sustainability and livelihood stability of the marginal farmer in semi-arid region of Central India.  

References

Ahlawat, I.P.S. and Sharma, R.P. 1996. Agronomic Terminology. Indian Society of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Babu, S., Das, A., Singh, R., Mohapatra, K.P., Kumar, S., Rathore, S.S., Yadav, S.K., Yadav, P., Ansari, M.A., Panwar, A.S. and Wani, O.A. 2023. Designing an energy efficient, economically feasible, and environmentally robust integrated farming system model for sustainable food production in the Indian Himalayas. Sustainable Food Technology 1(1): 126–142.

Chaudhary, V.P., Gangwar, B. and Pandey, D.K. 2006. Auditing of energy use and output of different cropping systems in India. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal 8: 1–13.

Coley, D.A., Goodliffe, E. and Macdiarmid, J. 1998. The embodied energy of food: the role of diet. Energy policy 26(6): 455–460.

Devasenapathy, P., Senthilkumar, G. and Shanmugam, P.M. 2009. Energy management in crop production. Indian Journal of Agronomy 54(1): 80–90.

Fatima, A., Singh, V.K., Babu, S., Singh, R.K., Upadhyay, P.K., Rathore, S.S., Kumar, B., Hasanain, M. and Parween, H. 2023. Food production potential and environmental sustainability of different integrated farming system models in northwest India. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7: p.959464.

Frorip, J., Kokin, E., Praks, J., Poikalainen, V., Ruus, A., Veermäe, I., Lepasalu, L., Schäfer, W., Mikkola, H. and Ahokas, J. 2012. Energy consumption in animal production-case farm study. Agronomy Research Biosystems Engineering Special 1: 39–48.

Garg, M.R., Sherasia, P.L., Phondba, B.T. and Makkar, H.P. 2016. Greenhouse gas emission intensity based on lifetime milk production of dairy animals, as affected by ration-balancing program. Animal Production Science 58(6): 1027–1042.

Gupta, G., Dhar, S., Kumar, A., Choudhary, A.K., Dass, A., Sharma, V.K., Shukla, L., Upadhyay, P.K., Das, A., Jinger, D. and Rajpoot, S.K. 2022. Microbes-mediated integrated nutrient management for improved rhizo-modulation, pigeonpea productivity, and soil bio-fertility in a semi-arid agro-ecology. Frontiers in microbiology 13: p.924407.

Khosruzzaman, S., Asgar, M.A., Karim, N. and Akbar, S. 2010. Energy intensity and productivity in relation to agriculture-Bangladesh perspective. Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences 34: 59–70.

Kumar, S., Gupta, G., Handa, A.K. and Ghosh, P.K. 2021. Structural Reforms for Inclusive Agricultural Growth and Self-Reliance of Bundelkhand Region. In: Innovations in Agriculture for a Self-Reliant India. (Ghosh, P.K., Kumar, P., Chakraborty, D., Mandal, D., Sivalingam, P.N. Eds.). pp.465–492, CRC Press.

Mittal, J.P. and Dhawan, K.C. 1988. Research manual on energy requirements in agricultural sector, pp.20–23, ICAR, New Delhi.

Ozkan, B., Kurklu, A. and Akcaoz, H. 2004. An input–output energy analysis in greenhouse vegetable production: A case study for Antalya region of Turkey. Biomass and Bioenergy 26(1): 89–95.

Palsaniya, D.R., Kumar, S., Das, M.M., Kumar, T.K., Chaudhary, M., Chand, K., Rai, S.K., Ahmed, A., Kumar, S. and Sahay, C.S. 2022. Ecosystem services from smallholder dairy based integrated farming system vis-a-vis double cropping. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 46: 1456–1481.

Paramesh, V., Arunachalam, V. and Nath, A.J. 2019. Enhancing ecosystem services and energy use efficiency under organic and conventional nutrient management system to a sustainable arecanut based cropping system. Energy 187: p.115902.

Paramesh, V., Ravisankar, N., Behera, U.K., Arunachalam, V., Kumar, P., Rajkumar, R.S., Misra, S.D., Kumar, R.M., Prusty, A.K., Jacob, D., Panwar, A.S., Mayenkar, T., Reddy, V.K. and Rajkumar, S. 2022. Integrated farming system approaches to achieve food and nutritional security for enhancing profitability, employment, and climate resilience in India. Food and Energy Security 11, e321.

Patel, R.K., Srivastava, K., Pandey, S.D., Kumar, A., Purbey, S.K. and Nath, V. 2020. Productivity improvement of low lying area with litchi (Litchi chinensis) based integrated system. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 90(4): 762–766.

Pathak, S.V., Bagde, C.S., Shahare, P.U., Kadam, G.G. and Biradar, S.S. 2022. Energy requirement in different farm operation. The Pharma Innovation Journal, SP-11(7): 4355–4362.

Komleh, P., Keyhani, A., Rafiee, S.H. and Sefeedpary, P. 2011. Energy use and economic analysis of corn silage production under three cultivated area levels in Tehran province of Iran. Energy 36(5): 3335–3341.

Rathod, P. and Dixit, S. 2020. Dairying in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh: Constraints to realizing the potential. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 90(1): 3–11.

Roy, A.K., Agrawal, R.K., Bhardwaj, N.R., Mishra, A.K., Mahanta, S.K. 2019. Revisiting national forage demand and availability scenario. In: Indian Fodder Scenario: Redefining State Wise Status. (Roy, A.K., Agrawal, R.K., Bhardwaj, N.R. Eds.). pp.1–21. ICAR- AICRP on Forage Crops and Utilization.

Salehi, M., Ebrahimi, R., Maleki, A. and Mobtaker, H.G. 2014. An assessment of energy modeling and input costs for greenhouse button mushroom production in Iran. Journal of Cleaner Production 64: 377–383.

Shanmugam, P.M., Sangeetha, S.P., Prabu, P.C., Varshini, S.V., Renukadevi, A., Ravisankar, N., Parasuraman, P., Parthipan, T., Satheeshkumar, N., Natarajan, S.K. and Gopi, M. 2024. Crop–livestock-integrated farming system: A strategy to achieve synergy between agricultural production, nutritional security, and environmental sustainability. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 8: p.1338299.

Sharma, P., Choudhary, B.B., Singh, P., Kumar, S., Gupta, G. and Dev, I. 2021. Can forage technologies transform Indian livestock sector?: evidences from smallholder dairy farmers in Bundelkhand region of central India. Agricultural Economics Research Review 34(conf): 73–82.

Singh, S.S. and Mittal, J.P. 1992. Energy in production agriculture. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications; 1992.

Soni, P., Taewichit, C. and Salokhe, V.M. 2013. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions in rain-fed agricultural production systems of Northeast Thailand. Agricultural Systems 116: 25–36.

Strapatsa, A. V., Nanos, G. D. and Tsatsarelis, C. A. 2006. Energy flow for integrated apple production in Greece. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 116: 176–180.

Taki, M., Ajabshirchi, Y., Mobtaker, H.G. and Abdi, R. 2012. Energy consumption, input-output relationship and cost analysis for greenhouse productions in Esfahan Province of Iran. American Journal of Experimental Agriculture 2(3): 485–501.

Veermae, I., Frorip, J., Kokin, E., Praks, J., Poikalainen, V., Ruus, A. and Lepasalu, L. 2012. Energy consumption in animal production. Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.

Published

2026-04-15

How to Cite

Gupta, G. (2026). 70(1) Special Issue of IJA Sustaining productivity and livelihood of livestock farmers of Bundelkhand region through integrated farming system. Indian Journal of Agronomy, 70. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v70i.6128