Our Expert's view on Sustainable Farming

Self-Reliant Sustainable Integrated Farming Systems (SRSIFS) for Sustainable future for small farming families. Small farmers' agriculture is at a crossroad. Farm yields have reached a plateau. Agricultural incomes have come down because of lack of support prices. Farmers' suicides are on the rise. There is a big question mark hangs over the future of small farmers. It poses a great challenge to agricultural policy makers and scientists. We need to make agriculture more productive and more profitable to keep the future farmers to stay in the production fronts. It has been acknowledged that the green revolution technologies, which helped in making the country to emerge from the ship-to-mouth existence to become a breadbasket, cannot be employed at present, as they are fraught with environmental problems. We are now compelled to produce more, but will have to do it differently. We need to produce more from shrinking land and water resources using environmentally benign technologies and economically rewarding strategies. In short, the business as usual methods will not work in the present context, and we need to seek newer approaches to sustain farming systems without endangering the ecological endowments in the country. To achieve sustainable food security based on physical and economic access to balanced diets, including the needed micro nutrients and safe drinking water, we should embark on an "evergreen revolution rooted on the principles of ecology, economics, equity and employment, according to Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, renowned agricultural scientist and father of the "evergreen revolution". The Self-Reliant Sustainable Integrated Farming Systems (SRSIFS) methodology provides the pathway to achieving an evergreen revolution in agriculture advocated by Prof. Swaminathan. According to SRSIFS, as the name implies, involves the intensive use of resources of the self-reliant farm for sustainable productivity. To be ecologically sustainable, such intensification should be based on techniques, which are knowledge rather than capital intensive and which replaces, to the extent possible, market purchased inputs with farm grown biological inputs. Such a shift in the nature of the inputs used is brought about through integrated farming, involving animal husbandry, fisheries and agro forestry. Such integrated farming practices, which constitute the second element of the SRSIFS strategy, provide scope for organic re-cycling. A third element of the SRSIFS strategy is value-addition to every part of plant and animal biomass through establishment of bio-refineries. On-farm and off-farm employment can then be linked in a symbiotic manner. In the case of farmwomen, who are invariably overworked because of their multiple roles in a household, SRSIFS aims to reduce the number of hours of work and add economic value to each hour of their work. To sum up, SRSIFS involves a pro-nature, pro-employment, pro-women and pro-poor orientation to technology development and dissemination in agriculture. It leads to labor diversification and not displacement. SRSIFS leads to a resource-based, in contrast to the widely prevalent commodity- based, agricultural development planning, as envisaged by Prof. Swaminathan. A number of environmentally benign farming technologies and knowledge intensive integrated farming systems have been adopted by several innovative farmers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and other parts of the country as well. It is a blend of environmentally sound frontier bio technologies and time-honored farmer's wisdom that have proved to be economically and ecologically sustainable. There are several technological options for meeting the nutrient demands of various crops using biological pathway. Bio fertilizers and improved composting techniques such as aerobic and anaerobic systems are now in place for the farmers to adopt. They offer immense potentials for efficient recycling of organic crop and livestock residues and energy conservation. Integrated pest and disease management using bio-control agents and botanical insecticides have proved to very effective and less expensive with no danger to the environment. SRSIFS relies heavily on the holistic management of the natural resource base. Efficient use of water and preservation of soil health are all important aspects of SRSIFS. Efficient water harvesting and aquifer recharging techniques thus form part of the system. Effective means of harvesting the solar incidence both through photosynthetic pathway and other passive and active solar devices are built-in to meet the energy demands and increase the biomass production (energy plantation) of the farms. Multi-tier cropping systems including the horticultural and sylvicultural species contribute to enhancing the overall productivity per unit of soil, air and water. Post harvest technology for adding value to the agricultural commodities and to the time of the farming families is important to SRSIFS. Bio-refineries concept and the effective use of crop residues would be meaningful and income- generating exercises. Grain losses can be averted through proper drying of the produce using simple solar dryers and storing the produce in properly designed storage structures would prevent losses due to vermins, insects and fungal attacks. The crop residues and by-products can be used for making a variety of finished products at the village itself. This will generate off-farm jobs for skilled and semi-skilled youth, women in the village. If properly designed and endorsed with "green label", the products from eco-friendly cottage industries can be sold in select urban markets for a premium price. Eco-friendly produce and health food with no toxic residues are becoming popular in urban markets, and this trend will have to be capitalized by the SRSIFS programme leaders. Sound agricultural policies supporting the dissemination of the environment-friendly and cost-saving technologies through efficient extension machinery and encouraging the successful practitioners of SRSIFS would go a long way in ensuring sustainable agriculture in the country. A mission-mode approach to promote SRSIFS concepts by setting up information shops and other intellectually stimulating knowledge-sharing extension programmes to strengthen the horizontal spread of farmer-to-farmer communication would give a new fillip to this movement to perpetuate an evergreen revolution through self-reliant development in agriculture. By G. Venkataramani Agricultural Communications and Knowledge-Sharing Specialist #51 Journalists' Colony Srinivasapuram, Thiruvanmiyur Chennai 600041 India Tel: +91-9840083858 E-mail: gvenkat05@yahoo.com