Farm and Farming System and Its Classification

Farm: It is organized economic unit in which crop and animal production is carried out with purpose of producing economic net returns.

Farming System: It is a part of farm system which crop production, animal production and combination of both i.e Mixed Farming.

Farm Area: Productive land- cropped area/ fields pastures, plantations, fishponds, forest etc. + indirectly productive land- farm building, ditches, roads etc. + fallow land + unproductive land. Rocks, deserts within farm boundaries.

In the system theory, the terms input and output linked with farming system.

These are Classified as:

1. Economic Input and Output: Are those which usually registered a farm management sheet and comprise all items which are gathering brought or sold which have a value in terms of opportunity cost.

Inputs: Land, labour and means of production.

Outputs: Goods sold and consumed in the farm household.

2. Non-economic Input and Output: Are the free goods from the point of view of farmers.

What is Farming System?

“Farming system” therefore designates a set of agricultural activities organized while preserving land productivity, environmental quality and maintaining desirable level of biological diversity and ecological stability. The emphasis is more on a system rather than on gross output.

In other words “farming system” is a resource management strategy to achieve economic and sustain agricultural production to meet diverse requirement of the farm household while preserving the resource base and maintaining high environmental quality. The farming system in its real sense will help the following ways to lift the economy of Indian agriculture and standard of living of the farmers.

Farming system specially refers to a group combination of enterprises in which the products and or the by products of one enterprise serve as the inputs for production of other enterprise.

Farming system takes into account the combination needs of the family the economic factors like relative profitability of the technically feasible enterprises, availability off farm resources, infrastructure and institutions such as irrigation, marketing facilities including storage and transportation and credit besides the agro biological consideration namely interdependence, if any among various technically feasible enterprises and the performance of individual farmers.

Farming is defined as the way in which the farm resources arte allocated to the needs and priorities of the farmers in his local circumstances which include-

1. Agro climatic condition such as the quantity, distribution and reliability of rainfall. Soil type and topography temperature etc and
2. Economic and institutional circumstances like market opportunities, prices, institutional and infrastructure facilities and technology.

Definition:

Farming system is a decision making unit comprising the farm household, cropping and livestock system that transform land, capital and labour into useful products that can be consumed or sold( fresco and westphal,1988) or

Farming system is a resource management strategy to achieve economic and sustained production to meet diverse requirement to farm household while presenting resources base and maintaining a high level environmental quality (lal and Millar 1990).

They interact adequately with environment without dislocating the ecological and socio- economic balance on the one hand and attempt to meet the national goal on the other.

Farming system consist of several enterprises like cropping system, dairying, piggery, poultry, fishery, bee, keeping etc. these enterprises are interrelated. The end product and wastes of one enterprise are used as inputs in others. The waste of dairying like dung, urine, refuse etc. is used for preparation of FYM, which is an input in cropping systems. The straw obtained from the crops is used as fodder for cattle’s are used for different field operations for growing crops. Thus different enterprises of farming systems are highly interrelated.

Farming system is a complex inter related matrix of soil plants, animals, implements, power labour, capital and other inputs controlled in parts by farming families and influenced to varying degree by political, economic, institutional and socials forces that operate at many levels. Thus farming system is the result of a complex interaction among a number of interdependent components. To achieve it, the individual farmer allocates and qualities of four factors of production. Land, labour, capital and management, which has access to processes like management which has crop, livestock and off farm enterprises in a manner, which within the knowledge he possess will maximize the attainment of goal he is striving for.

Income through arable farming alone is insufficient for bulk of the marginal farmers. The other activities such as dairying, poultry, sericulture, apiculture, fisheries etc. assume critical importance in supplementing their farm income.

Livestock rising along with crop production is the traditional mixture of activities of the farmer all over the country, only the nature and extent various from region to region. It fits well with farm level infrastructure, small land base and abundant labour of small man and ensures full utilization of by products.

Farming system approach addresses itself to each of the the farmer enterprises, inter relationship among enterprises and between the farm and environment. Thus farming system research has the objective of increasing productivity of various enterprises in the farm while enterprises the crop production. But these approaches are not strictly compartment in the sense that any change in cropping system may bring about an inevitable change in the farming system.

Farming system approach introduces a change in farming technique for high production from a farm as whole with the integration of all the enterprises. The farm produce other than the economic products for which the crop is grown can be better utilized for productive purposes in the farming system approach. A judicious mix of cropping system with associated enterprises like dairy, poultry, piggery, fishery, sericulture etc. suited to the given agro-climatic conditions and socio economic status of farmers would bring prosperity to the farmer.

Mixed Farming and Its Related Terms

Mixed Farming:

Mixed farming is defined as a system of farming on a particular farm which includes crop production, raising live stock, poultry, fisheries, bee keeping etc. to sustain and satisfy as many needs of the farmer as possible. Subsistence is important objective of mixed farming. While higher profitability without altering ecological balance is important in farming system.

Organic Farming:

Organic farming is a special type of farming in mixed farming. Organic farming is a method of farming mainly depends on organic recycling. Industrial agricultural chemicals like fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides etc. are not used or the minimum extent necessary. However, organic farming cannot replace the chemicals production technology since there is need for higher and higher production with ever growing population on limited land.

Cropping System:

Cropping system is an important component of farming system: It represents cropping pattern used on a form and their interaction with resources, other farm enterprises and available technology, which determine their makeup.

Cropping Pattern:

 

Cropping pattern means the proportion of area under various at a point of time in a unit area. Or it indicates the yearly sequences and spatial arrangement of crops and fallow in an area.

Crop sequence and crop rotation are generally used synonymously.

Crop Rotation:

Crop rotation refers to recurrent succession of crops are so chosen that soil health is not impaired.

Cropping Scheme: 

Cropping scheme is the plan according to which crops are grown on individual plots of a farm with an object of getting maximum return form each crop without impairing the fertility of soil is known as cropping scheme.

Classification of Farming Systems

Many farms have a general similarity in size, products sold and methods followed is called a type of farming or when farms are quite similar in kind and production of the crops and live stock that are produced and methods and practices used in production, the group is called as type of farming.

On the basis of the share of gross income received from different sources and comparative advantage, the farming systems may be classified as follows:

Classification of Farming Systems:

A) According to the Size of the Farm:

a) Collective farming.
b) cultivation farming: i) small scale farming ii) large scale farming.

B) According to the Proportion of Land, Labour and Capital Investment:

a) Intensive cultivation.
b) Extensive cultivation.

C) According to the Value of Products or Income or on the basis of Comparative Advantages:

i) Specialized farming.
ii) Diversified farming.
iii) Mixed farming.
iv) Ranching.
v) Dry farming .

D) According to the Water Supply:

i) Rained farming.
ii) Irrigated farming

.

E) According to:

I) Type of Rotation:

a) lay system:i)) unregulated lay farming
ii)) regulated lay system.
b) Field system.
c) Perennial crop system

.

II) Intensity of the Rotation:

a) Shifting cultivation.
b) Lay or fallow farming.
c) Permanent cultivation.
d) Multiple cropping.

F) Classification According to Degree of Commercialization:

a) Commercialized farming.
b) Partly commercialized farming.
c) Subsistence farming.

G) Classification According to Degree of Nomadic:

a) Total nomadic.
b) Semi nomadic.
c) Partial nomadic.
d) Transhumant.
e) Stationary animal husbandry.

H) Classification According to Cropping and Animal Activities:

I) Classification According to Implements Used for Cultivation:

a) Spade farming.
b) Hoe farming.
c) Mechanized or tractor farming.