Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

Integrated farming in hilly regions can be a sustainable way to provide income and employment to farmers. Keeping in view the importance of the Integrated Farming System in substantially increasing the profitability and livelihood of households, an attempt was made to introduce and study the feasibility of the best possible interventions & diversifications in the prevailing farming system in the hills of Uttarakhand and create awareness among farmers about these income-generating enterprises. The present study was conducted in the district of Nainital during 2011-12 to 2015-16. For this study, from the hilly region of district Nainital, one high productivity block (Kotabagh) and one low productivity block (Bhimtal) were selected on the basis of secondary data, in each block, three villages were selected randomly for the study. A total of ten farmers participated in the study. For the experimentation, the farming system was studied under different modules: Crop module, livestock module, value addition & processing module, and optional module. The module-wise benchmark data of farm families collected through farmer participatory research from a system perspective to identify the constraints in each module. The module-wise constraints were addressed with low or no-cost-effective and environmentally safe technological interventions and diversifications with suitable enterprises. The mean total cost of farming systems was Rs. 116,634 during the benchmark year (2011-12), with additional costs on interventions and diversification, it increased over the years, and it was recorded highest (Rs. 171,372) during the fourth year of experimentation (2015-16). The mean gross return from farming systems of participating households was Rs. 193,911 during the benchmark year and it increased over the years and it was recorded highest (Rs. 351,134) during fourth year of experimentation due to increased production in different module and due to additional income from value addition & processing of agricultural produce and additional income from diversification of farming systems of participating households. The mean net return increased from Rs. 77,277 during the benchmark year to Rs. 179,760 during the fourth year of experimentation. The benefit:cost ratio also improved over the subsequent years from 1.66 during the benchmark year to 2.05 during the fourth year of experimentation.