Mixed crop-livestock farming
Also called: Mixed farming · Topic: Rural Development: Diversification, Allied Sectors and Organic Farming · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Rural Development"
Meaning
Mixed crop-livestock farming is India's common farming system. A farm family grows crops and also keeps cattle, goats and fowl. The two parts support each other: crop leftovers feed the animals, and dung feeds the soil or serves as fuel. Livestock also acts as insurance. When crops fail, animals can still be milked or sold, so the family has a buffer against shocks.
Example
A small farmer in Uttar Pradesh grows wheat and keeps two buffaloes and a few hens. Milk and eggs bring daily cash even in a bad crop year. Livestock supports over 70 million small and marginal farmers and landless labourers (Class 11, Rural Development).
Don't confuse with
- Integrated farming system: this is a planned version of mixed farming. It adds activities such as fish ponds and horticulture and deliberately recycles the by-products of one activity as inputs for another.