Can diversifying the farming systems in Maharashtra increase farmers’ income?

Agricultural diversification involves the movement of resources from low-value commodities to high-value commodity mixes. Diversification replaces the existing cultivar in a particular area, and it is important in improving agricultural productivity and sustainability. Diversification focuses mainly on horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries. A field experiment was conducted on cultivators’ fields on medium black soil in the scarcity zone of Satara district in western Maharashtra during the kharif and rabi seasons of 2017–18 by replacing existing cultivars with university-released varieties and technology. In Phaltan and Khandala blocks of Satara districts, four types of farming systems were identified: crop, dairy, goatery and poultry; crop, dairy and goatery; crop, dairy and poultry; and crop and dairy. The major cropping system was green gram or chickpea. The annual average net income of these four types of farming systems of selected farmers was increased by 14.79% over the benchmark. The average net intervention cost of all components was Rs. 8, 139. After interventions in all the four components, the benefit-cost ratio was the highest (2.24) in the crop, dairy, goatery and poultry farming system, and it was found the most suitable for sustainable, maximal net income in the Khandala and Phaltan blocks of Satara district. In the capacity building module, the pre-score improved from 51 to 77. After training in skills upgradation, farmers adopted an improved package of practices in field crops, livestock, processing and horticulture components.