Redesigning of Farming Systems Using a Multi-Criterion Assessment Tool for Sustainable Intensification and Nutritional Security in Northwestern India

Ashisa K. Prusty, Ravisankar Natesan, Azad S. Panwar, Mangi L. Jat, Jagdish P. Tetarwal, Santiago López-Ridaura, Roos Adelhart Toorop, Jelle van den Akker, Jashanjot Kaur, Prakash C. Ghasal, Jeroen C. J. Groot, Luis Barba-Escoto, Poonam Kashyap, Meraj A. Ansari and Mohammad Shamim
Additional contact information
Ashisa K. Prusty: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Ravisankar Natesan: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Azad S. Panwar: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Mangi L. Jat: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), NASC Complex, New Delhi 110012, India
Jagdish P. Tetarwal: All India Coordinated Research Project on Integrated Farming Systems (AICRP-IFS), Agriculture University, Kota 324001, India
Santiago López-Ridaura: Sustainable Intensification Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera México-Veracruz, Km. 45, El Batán, Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Roos Adelhart Toorop: Farming Systems Ecology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jelle van den Akker: Farming Systems Ecology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jashanjot Kaur: School of Organic Farming, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India
Prakash C. Ghasal: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Jeroen C. J. Groot: Farming Systems Ecology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands
Luis Barba-Escoto: Sustainable Intensification Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera México-Veracruz, Km. 45, El Batán, Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Poonam Kashyap: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Meraj A. Ansari: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India
Mohammad Shamim: ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Sustaining agricultural systems dominated by small and vulnerable resource-poor farms that are subject to climatic aberrations is a major challenge for most Asian countries. In this context, the role of agriculture requires immediate attention in northwestern India where marginal farmers with less than a meagre 1 hectare of land represent about 67% of the population. Research based on prototype farms is being promoted in the redesign of current farming practices to help give these farmers sustainable livelihoods. We hypothesize that integrating innovative cropping systems into smallholder marginal farms could help to achieve these objectives. The study presented here describes a modelling approach for the ex-ante assessment of the current farming practices of marginal households in terms of economic, environmental, and nutritional indicators in comparison with those of experimental research farms in order to delineate an alternative scope of flexibility to optimize farming practices. We used the FarmDESIGN model to evaluate farmers’ realities, with a focus on marginal farms (marginal poor farmers (MPFs)) and marginal diversified farmers (MDF) with the objective of enhancing profit, soil organic matter balance, and nutritional system yield in terms of dietary energy and reducing pesticide usage. Introducing prototype cropping systems in up to 33% of the farm area, combined with rearrangements of the existing crops, provided ample opportunity to improve farm performance. The improvements were greater when prototype cropping systems were added, and MPFs could benefit greatly from improvements in soil organic matter balance when considering the current negative organic matter balance of most farms. We conclude that the model-based approach of evaluating the potential of new cropping systems, along with the fine tuning of alternative combinations, will support the enhanced adaptability of innovative cropping practices, which will help to improve the livelihoods of marginal farmers.

Keywords: system analysis; whole-farm modeling; optimization; mixed farming system; sustainable agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3892/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3892/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:3892-:d:779816

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().