Abstract
Adoption of an integrated farming system (IFS) is essential to achieve food and nutritional security in small and marginal holdings. Assessment of IFS to know the resource availability and socio-economic condition of the farm household, farm typology plays a critical role. In this regard, a sample survey of 200 marginal households practicing mixed crop-livestock agriculture was conducted during 2018–2019 at Southern Coastal Plains, which occupies 19,344 ha in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India. Farming system typology using multivariate statistical techniques of principal component analysis and cluster analysis characterized the diverse farm households coexisting within distinct homogenous farm types. Farming system typology identified four distinct farm types viz. resource constrained type-1 households with small land owned, high abundance of poultry, very low on-farm income, constituted 46.5%; resource endowed type-2 households oriented around fruit and vegetable, plantation crop, with a moderate abundance of large ruminant and poultry, high on-farm income, constituted 12.5%; resource endowed type-3 household oriented around food grain, extensive use of farm machinery, with a moderate abundance of large ruminant, low on-farm income, constituted 21.5%; and resource endowed type-4 household oriented around fodder, with high abundance of large ruminant, medium on-farm income, constituted 19.5% of sampled households. Constraint analysis using constraint severity index assessed the severity of constraints in food grain, horticulture, livestock, complementary and supplementary enterprises in each farm type, which allowed targeted farming systems interventions to be envisaged to overcome soil health problems, crops and animal production constraints. Farming system typology together with constraint analysis are therefore suggested as a practical framework capable of identifying type-specific farm households for targeted farming systems interventions.
Highlights
IntroductionIntroduction of high yielding varietyLiming and rational use of fertilizersPseudomonas fluorescens for blast, sheath blight and sheath rotStale seed bed for weed managementLiming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seeds in summer rice fallowsPlanting healthy sucker, removal of outer layer of rhizome and sun drying after smearing with cow dung slurry and ash Liming and rational use of fertilizers; incorporating green manure cowpea with 75 percent recommended dose of fertilizer for banana Mulching banana basin with banana residue for soil moisture conservationSeed treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens; drenching and spraying with carbendazimLiming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seedsRational use of fertilizersIntercropping cassava with cowpea; Liming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seedsMetarrhizium anisopliae application to breeding site; neem cake and sand application to leaf axil; naphthalene balls and sand application to leaf axilRecycling of coconut palm residues by depositing them in small trenches 0.3 to 0.5 m deep at a distance of 2 to 2.5 m away from base of trunk
It can be concluded that farming system typology identified four distinct farm types in marginal households at southern coastal plains of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India
The coexistence of diverse farm households within relatively homogenous farm types was characterized through farming system typology
Summary
Introduction of high yielding varietyLiming and rational use of fertilizersPseudomonas fluorescens for blast, sheath blight and sheath rotStale seed bed for weed managementLiming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seeds in summer rice fallowsPlanting healthy sucker, removal of outer layer of rhizome and sun drying after smearing with cow dung slurry and ash Liming and rational use of fertilizers; incorporating green manure cowpea with 75 percent recommended dose of fertilizer for banana Mulching banana basin with banana residue for soil moisture conservationSeed treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens; drenching and spraying with carbendazimLiming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seedsRational use of fertilizersIntercropping cassava with cowpea; Liming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seedsMetarrhizium anisopliae application to breeding site; neem cake and sand application to leaf axil; naphthalene balls and sand application to leaf axilRecycling of coconut palm residues by depositing them in small trenches 0.3 to 0.5 m deep at a distance of 2 to 2.5 m away from base of trunk. Liming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seeds in summer rice fallows. Removal of outer layer of rhizome and sun drying after smearing with cow dung slurry and ash Liming and rational use of fertilizers; incorporating green manure cowpea with 75 percent recommended dose of fertilizer for banana Mulching banana basin with banana residue for soil moisture conservation. Intercropping cassava with cowpea; Liming and Rhizobium inoculated cowpea seeds. Establishment of nutritional kitchen garden with brinjal /bhindi–cabbage/cauliflower /cowpea–amaranth /snakegourd /bittergourd crop sequence in growbags Introduction of high yielding papaya in vacant spaces in backyard Earthworms for vermicomposting crop residues that are usually burnt for clean cultivation Shade regulation through lopping of branches of perennial trees.
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