Dry land integrated farming system-A Review

In India, nearly 100 million ha of land is under rainfed cultivation and therefore, rainfed agriculture will continue to play an important role in the Indian economy. The disappointing results of conventional cropping systems in advancing the productivity of small farms were the driving force in the development of farming systems research. It views the whole farm as a system with the integration of crops, animals, soils, workers, other inputs and environmental influences wherein the farm family attempts to produce outputs within the limitations of its capability and resources and the socio-cultural setting. Development and adoption of integrated farming system will help in productivity enhancement, employment, income generation and nutritional security both for human and livestock. The different components of the system have complementarities with waste products of one component becoming source of food and energy for other components. Considerable research efforts are being made in evolving situation specific integrated farming system. Literature on dry land integrated farming system is reviewed and presented below.