Characterization of Organic, Inorganic and Integrated Farming Practices for Livelihood Assessment in Jammu Region – A Case Study of Sambha District

Abstract

Aim: Organic farming is considered as a solution to environmental ills associated with modern agriculture.  Survey covered crop, livestock, homestead, agro forestry systems with data pertaining to 120 farmers from 06 villages of Sambha district in Jammu division. Data refer to the input output details and other socio-economic characteristics of farm households in the crop year 2019-2020. Study Design: Descriptive statistics like sum, average, percentage and ratio were calculated to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the sample farmers. Place and Duration of Study: Survey covered crop, livestock, homestead, agro forestry systems with data pertaining to 120 farmers from 06 villages of Sambha district in Jammu division. Methodology:  Random sampling technique has been used for collecting data. A combination of descriptive statistics, mathematical and statistical techniques was used to analyse the data collected. Results:  Out of 120 sample farmers, the highest percentage of farmers was in small farm category followed by marginal, landless, medium and large. Average farm size for landless, marginal, small, medium and large were 0.02 ha, 0.71 ha, 1.43 ha, 2.65 ha and 4.80 ha, respectively. All the five categories of farmers showed little variation in terms of the age of households of the farmer. Farmer’s age, literacy and farm size are factors having impact on decision making processes in farming. Own cultivated land for marginal, small, medium and large were 0.53 ha, 1.21 ha, 2.23 ha and 4.21 ha, respectively whereas using above formula total cultivated land for marginal, small, medium and large were 0.71ha, 1.43ha, 2.65ha, and 4.80 ha respectively. Among the six major farming systems, the highest number of farmers practiced Crop+Livestock+Poultry (C-L-P) system. C-L-P was followed by Crop+Livestock+Poultry+Agroforestry (C-L-P-A), Crop+Livestock+Kitchen gardening (C-L-K), Crop +Vegetables (C-V), Crops+Horticulture (C-H) and Vegetable+Horticulture (V-H) systems. Cereals were major crops of the region followed by pulses in high land areas and horticultural crops. Out of five cropping patterns, net returns was the highest in Rice-maize-vegetable cultivation (Rs.120344 ha-1) followed by Maize-Potato-Wheat (Rs.103380 ha-1), Pulse-Mustard-Wheat (Rs.101100ha-1), Rice-Pulses-Wheat (Rs. 98000 ha-1) and Rice-Wheat system (Rs.88950 ha-1). The overall food security index in case of integrated farming practicing households was 1.13. However, food security indices of food secure households and food insecure households were 1.37 and 0.87, respectively. From the index it can be seen that even though the farmers are practicing integrated farming Conclusion: The study reveals that crop–livestock–poultry–homestead farming system was the most popular in integrated farming systems. Integrated farming has the potential of increasing farmers’ income and employment creation over the mixed and traditional farming practices in the study areas. The extent of food security situation was much better among the integrated farm households when compared to others. Farm households practicing organic in integrated farming were more economically self-sustainable having different modules comprising of livestock, horticulture, poultry  and crop. In UT of Jammu where land is scarce, effort should be taken to increase production through integration of various production components in agriculture for efficient utilization of resources. It would result in production of diversified products from minimum area and help in increasing the income of the farmers