Integrated Farming Systems Improve the Income of Small Farm Holdings—An Overview of Earlier Findings in the Indian Context

ABSTRACT The cultivation of cereal‐based cropping systems is the focus of marginal plus small farmers in India, who face high risks from climatic anomalies such as floods and droughts. Marginal and small farmers who are resource‐poor and risk‐prone to a variety of situations are practically illiterate, have financial difficulties, and have small, dispersed properties that are not fit for high‐tech agricultural apparatuses. Farming itself became nonprofit over time because of rising costs and uneconomical holding sizes due to fragmentation of land holdings and resource degradation, which posed a grave threat to agriculture's ability to remain sustainable. In terms of Indian agriculture, large‐scale urbanization, industrial development, and infrastructure growth have made it necessary to focus on vertical growth rather than horizontal expansion. To address such challenges, there has been broad recognition of the importance of employing farming systems approaches in research. The cultivation of cropping systems with orchard crops and livestock components can play a significant role in the optimal utilization of resources, enhancing energy use efficiency as well as the eco‐efficiency index, and reducing carbon footprints. To satisfy the dietary requirements of a household, including food (grains, oilseeds, pulses, dairy products, fruit, honey, fish meat, etc.), feed and fodder for animals, and fuel and fibre for everyday use, attention must be given to the Integrated Farming System which not only satisfies household needs but also enriches the diets of both humans and animals while simultaneously protecting people from the risks of residual toxicity of the chemicals used in agriculture on a large scale. Additionally, the model's diversity gives unemployed rural young people a significant number of work options. In the review, we discuss the potential of the IFS with respect to profitability, resource recycling, and the creation of employment, which benefits small farm holdings in the Indian context.