Farming System Concept and Scope

“Farming System is a complex inter-related matrix of soil, plants, animals,

implements, power, labour, capital and other inputs controlled in parts by farming families
and influenced to varying degrees by political, economic, institutional and social forces that
operate at many levels”.
The term "farming system" refers to a particular arrangement of farming enterprises
that are managed in response to physical, biological and socio-economic environment and in
accordance with farmer’s goals, preferences and resources (Shaner et. al 1982). “The
household, its resources and the resource flows and interactions at the individual farm levels
are together referred to as a farm system” (FAO, 2001)
The Specific Objectives are:
1. To identify existing farming systems in specific areas and access their relative viability.
2. To formulate farming system. Model involving main and allied enterprises for different
farming situations.
3. To ensure optional utilization and conservation of available resources and effective
recycling of farm residues within system and 
4. To maintain sustainable production system without damaging resources/environment.
5. To rise over all profitability of farmhouse hold by complementing main/allied enterprises
with other.
Scope of Farming System:
Farming enterprises include crop, livestock, poultry, fish, free, sericulture etc. A
combination of one or more enterprises with cropping when carefully chosen planned and
executed gives greater dividends than a single enterprise, especially for small and marginal
farmers. Farm as a unit is to be considered and planned for effective integration of the
enterprises to be combined with crop production activity.
Integration of Farm Enterprises Depends on Any Factors Such as:
1. Soil and climatic features of the selected area.
2. Availability of the resources, land, labor & Capital.
3. Present level of utilization of resources.
4. Economics of proposed integrated farming system.
5. Managerial skill of farmer.
Classification of Farming Systems
Many farms have a general similarity in size, products sold and methods followed is called a
type of farming or when farms are quite similar in kind and production of the crops and live
stock that are produced and methods and practices used in production, the group is called as
type of farming.
On the basis of the share of gross income received from different sources and comparative
advantage, the farming systems may be classified as follows:
Classification of Farming Systems:
A) According to the Size of the Farm:
a) Collective farming.
b) cultivation farming: i) small scale farming ii) large scale farming.
B) According to the Proportion of Land, Labour and Capital Investment:
a) Intensive cultivation.
b) Extensive cultivation.
C) According to the Value of Products or Income or on the basis of Comparative
Advantages:
i) Specialized farming. iv) Ranching.
ii) Diversified farming. v) Dry farming .
iii) Mixed farming.
D) According to the Water Supply:
i) Rained farming.
ii) Irrigated farming.
E) According to:
I) Type of Rotation:
a) lay system:i)) unregulated lay farming b) Field system.
ii)) regulated lay system. c) Perennial crop system.
II) Intensity of the Rotation:
a) Shifting cultivation. c) Permanent cultivation.
b) Lay or fallow farming. d) Multiple cropping.
I) Classification According to Implements Used for Cultivation:
a) Spade farming.

b) Hoe farming.

c) Mechanized or tractor farming.

Components of Farming Systems

In the integrated farming system, it is always emphasized to combine cropping with other
enterprises/ activities, many enterprises are available and these includes cattle maintenance
sheep or goat rearing, poultry, piggery, rabbit rearing, bee keeping [Link] one or more can
be combined with the cropping.
Cattle Maintenance:
1) Draft breeds,  3) Dual purpose,
2) Dairy breeds, 4) Exotic breeds.
1. Buffaloes: Important dairy breeds of buffalo are murrah, mehsana, zefarabadi, Godavari. 
Feeding: Cattle feed generally contains fibrous coarse low nutrient straw material. Roughage
is basic for cattle ration and includes legumes non- legume hays, straw and silage of legume
and grasses. Per day requirement @ 1 kg concentrate per 2 lit of milk, green fodder (20- 30
kg), straw 5-7 kg & water – 32 lit.
2. Sheep Rearing: Sheep are well adapted to many areas. They are excellent gleaners and
make use of much of waste feed. Consume roughage, converting a relative cheap food into a
good cash product. Housing not expensive.
Feeding: 1-2 kg of leguminous hay per day. Protein supplied through concentrate as
groundnut cake.
3. Goat Rearing: In India, activity of goat rearing under different environments. The activity
is also associated with different systems such as crop or animal based, single animal or mixed
herd small or large scale. Goat is mainly reared foe meat, milk hide and skin meat preferred
in India, A goat on hoof fetches a better price than a sheep on hoof.
Feeding: per head nutrients requirement to goat is low. Hence they are suitable for resources
poor small farmers with marginal grazing lands they eat plants and leaves of tree, which any
other animals not touch. Goat eats 4- 5 times that of body weight concentrate of maize,
groundnut cake etc. and clean and fresh water.
4. Poultry: Poultry is one of the fatest growing food industries in the world. Poultry meat
accounts for about 27% off total meat consumed world wide poultry industry in India is
relatively a new agricultural industry. Egg production may reach up to 5000 crores and
broiler meat production 330 thousand tones (by 2000) the average global consumption is 120
eggs per person/ year and in India it is only 32- 33 eggs per capita/ year. To meet the
nutritional requirement the per capita consumption estimated at 180 eggs 9 kg meat/ year.
Feed: The feed conservation efficiency of the bird is superior to other animals. About 60 – 70
% of the total expenditure on poultry farming is spent on the poultry feed. Hence, use of
cheap and efficient ration will give maximum profit cereals- maize, barley, oats, wheat, rice –
broken mineral/ salt – limestone, salt manganese.
5. Duck rearing: Ducks account for about 7 % of the poultry population in India. They are
popular in cereal and logged states like west Bengal. Orissa, A.P, T. Nadu, they have
production potential of about 130- 140 eggs/ bird/ year. These can rear in marshy riverside
Westland. Duck farming can be a better alternative.
Feeding: Eating fallen grains in harvested paddy fields, small fishes and other aquatic
materials. A variety of crop residues and insects in the farm.
6. Turkey rearing: Turkey is a robust bird and can be reared in humid tropics. It actively
feed on a variety of crop residues and insects in the farm.
7. Piggery: pigs are maintained for production of pork.
8. Rabbit Rearing: In India is of recent origin though hunting of wild rabbits for meat is not
uncommon. Rabbit can be easily reared with relatively less concentrate feed with high
production rate.
9. Bee Keeping: Bee keeping is one of the most important agro- based industries which do
not required any raw material like other industries. Nectar and pollen from flower are the raw
material, which available in plenty in nature. Bee keeping can be started with a single
colony. 
Honey collection: Honey should have good quality. Qualities such as aroma, color,
consistency and floral sources are important. Honey is an excellent energy food with an
average of about 3500 calories per kg. it is directly absorbed into the human blood stream
requiring no digestion. 
10. Aquaculture: Ponds serve as domestic requirement of water, supplementary irrigation to
crop and pisciculture with the traditional management, farmer obtain hardly 300 – 400 of
wild and culture fish/ ha/ year. However, polyfish culture with the stocking density of 7500
fingerlings and supplementary feeding will boost the total biomass production. 
Species: cattle, Rohu, common carp, silver carp, and grass carp (feed on aquatic plants).
Management: Pond depth – 1.5- 2.0 m, water should be slightly alkaline, PH- 7.5- 8.5. If the
PH is less than 6.5, it can be adjusted with addition of lime, higher PH (> 8.5) can be reduced
with addition of Gypsum. Application of fresh dung may also reduce high PH in the water.
The fish are to be nourished with supplementary feeding with rice bran and oilseed cakes.
This will enable faster growth and better yield. Each variety of crops stocked to 500
fingerlings with the total of 5000- 8000/ ha. This gives 2000 to 5000 kg/ha of fish annually.
11. Sericulture: Definition: the keeping of silk moths and their larvae for the production of
silk or Seri culture is defined as a practice of combining mulberry cultivation; silkworm
rearing and silk reeling. Sericulture is a recognized practice in India. The total area under
mulberry is 240 thousand ha in the country. It plays an important role in in socio- economic
development of rural poor in some areas. Climate condition is favorable for mulberry and
rearing of silk worms throughout the year. Karnataka is the major silk producing state in
India (temp 21 to 30 o C), in Kashmir climate suit from May to October.
Moriculture: Cultivation of mulberry plants is called as Moriculture. The crop yield is good
for 12 years. Yield of mulberry leaves is 30- 40 t/ ha/ year.
Rearing: eggs are allowed to be laid over a cardboard. In Bamboo tray rice husk is spread.
Tender chopped mulberry leaves are added to the tray. The hatched out larvae are transferred
to the leaves it is important to change the leaves every 2 – 3 hours during the first 2 – 3 days.
The cocoon constructed with silk. The cocoons required for further rearing are kept
separately and moths are allowed to emerge from them.
12. Mushroom Cultivation: Mushroom is an edible fungi great diversity in shape, size and
colour. Essentially mushroom is a vegetable that is a cultivated that is cultivated in protected
farms in a highly sanitized atmosphere; mushroom contains 90 % moisture with in quality
protein, fairly good source of vitamin C and B complex. It is rich source of mineral like ca, P,
K & Cu. They contain less of fat and CHO and are considered good for diabetic and blood
pressure patients.
Varieties: 1) Oyster mushroom 2)n Paddy straw mushroom- volvarilla volvacea 3) White
button mushroom- Agaricus gisporus ( var, A-11, Horst V3).
13. Biogas Plant: Biogas is a clean, unpolluted and cheap source of energy, which can be
obtained by a simple mechanism and little investment. The gas is generated from the cow
dung during anaerobic decomposition. Biogas generation is a complex bio- chemical process,
celluloytic material are broken down in methane and Co2 by different group of micro-
organism. IT can be used for cooking purpose, buring lamps, etc. Biogas near to kitchen &
cattle shed to reduce cost of gas transfer and cow dung transport, sunlight is important for
temperature. 
 Biogas slurry: slurry is obtained after the production of biogas. It is enriched manure;
another positive aspect of this manure is that even after weeks of exposure to the atmosphere
the slurry does not attract fleas and worms. Dry slurry contains about 1.8 % N, 1.10 %P&
1.50% K.