Abstract
The study was conducted to identify the present status of integrated farming and its impacts on farmers livelihood in comparison to mixed farming. Following two stages sampling procedure, a total of 420 farmers (210 for integrated farming and 210 for mixed farming) were selected from seven study areas of six districts on the basis of having intervention from different NARS institutes and without having any intervention from any organization. Descriptive statistics like sum, average, percentage, etc. were derived and calculated for analyzing the socioeconomic data. Propensity score matching (PSM) were applied with Kernel matching and Radius matching methods to evaluate the impact of integrated farming on farmers employment creation and income generation. The highest employment duration for male was 152.5 man-days/year for the farming system C-L-P-F-H under integrated farms and for mixed farms, it was 104.5 man-days/year. The average total income of the integrated farms was Tk. 124839 and for mixed farms, it was Tk. 99641. Average calorie intake of food secure households was 2927.83 kcal and 2839.14 kcal for integrated farming and mixed farming which is higher than the national average calorie intake (i.e., 2122 kcal). To assess the livelihood pattern through asset pentagon approach, noteworthy improvement was found based on different capitals of farm households practicing integrated farming in comparison to mixed farming. Finally, based on different problems, a constraint facing index was calculated in order to suggest policy recommendations.SAARC J. Agri., 13(2): 61-79 (2015)
Highlights
It is often argued that the future development of Bangladesh depends on the agriculture sector which is the mainstay of the economy and considered as the prominent source of employment for the incremental labour force
Fourteen types of farming systems were found in the research sites among which five farming systems were common in both integrated farming and mixed farming (Table 1)
From the table 1, it is found that crop–livestock–poultry– homestead farming system was the most popular in both integrated farming and mixed farming systems and their percentage were 37.1 and 27.6, respectively
Summary
It is often argued that the future development of Bangladesh depends on the agriculture sector which is the mainstay of the economy and considered as the prominent source of employment for the incremental labour force. Farmers’ are engaged in producing field crops and homestead farming like vegetables and fruit production, fish culture, livestock and poultry rearing along with some other non-farm activities. These activities are interlinked and together they constitute integrated farming. The adoption of integrated farming is being encouraged in Bangladesh under various development programmes. Since there is no scope to increase the area under cultivated land, the only way to increase employment, farm production and income and thereby to improve livelihood of the farming community is to increase the productivity of land through integrated farming. It is a way to supply necessary commodities to the households and to maximize farm income as well as to maintain environment friendly farming
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