Resilient farming systems through crop diversification and integration in lowlands

Climate change and food security are among the most complex issues facing the world today. Diversifying crops to improve farm income stands as a pivotal strategy for fostering sustainable agricultural development. Suitable crop diversification strategies with location-specific crops are inevitable in lowlands for resilience and low emission systems. An experiment was conducted at the Integrated Farming System Research Station of Kerala Agricultural University located in Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala during 2021–2022 to 2023–2024. The objective was to evolve different cropping sequences in lowlands suited to integrated farming systems for improvement of soil health, family nutrition, animal nutrition and income enhancement. The study also aimed to assess the weed density over different rice-based cropping sequences and seasons. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with 10 treatments (existing and diversified cropping sequences) replicated thrice. The results showed that the floristic composition of weeds varied with seasons and the weed density was found lower in diversified cropping sequences. The soil health status was assessed through the organic carbon build up in the sequences and all the diversified sequences have a positive build-up of organic carbon. Among the cropping systems evaluated, rice + daincha - rice + daincha - red gram + groundnut, rice - bush cowpea-sweet potato, rice - guinea grass + fodder cowpea - guinea grass + fodder cowpea and rice-sweet potato - culinary melon were identified as the most effective systems for enhancing soil health, family nutrition, livestock nutrition and farm income, respectively. Diversified cropping systems can be recommended for reduced weed density over the seasons.