Integrated farming system
Also called: IFS · Topic: Rural Development: Diversification, Allied Sectors and Organic Farming · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An integrated farming system (IFS) runs crops, livestock, fisheries, horticulture and other activities together on one farm. The waste or by-product of one activity becomes an input for another. This cuts costs, reduces waste and spreads risk, because the farm does not depend on a single crop. It links India's traditional mixed farming to modern sustainable farming. ICAR-IIFSR does research on these systems.
Example
A farmer keeps cows, a fish pond and fields. Cow dung is made into vermicompost (compost made with earthworms), as TANWA women's groups did in Tamil Nadu, and the compost feeds the crops. Silt from the fish pond also fertilises the fields.
Don't confuse with
- Rainbow Revolution: this is a national goal of growing all farm sectors at the same time (National Agricultural Policy, 2000). IFS is a method used on a single farm, where by-products are recycled between activities.