Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ECONOMICS OF INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM WITH CONVENTIONAL COTTON CULTIVATION IN NORTH EASTERN KARNATAKA REGION (NEK) REGION

Rashtrarakshak and D.G. Satihal

Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) the ‘white Gold’ or ‘king of fibres’ is closely linked to human civilization itself. In India, cotton industry ranks first among the agro-based industries and engaged about 4 to 5 million people. Cotton is one of the important sources of income for dry land farmers. It plays vital role in industrial activities, employment generation and foreign exchanges. This paper examines comparative economics of different IFS modules being practiced by farmers against conventional cotton cultivation in North Eastern Region of Karnataka. As the highest lint yield was noticed in Raichur (432 kg/ha) followed by Kalburagi (422 kg/ha). It also assess the impact on livelihood security of farm households. Specially, it has estimated the impact of IFS at farm level in terms of profitability of IFS with different components such as dairy, horticulture, sericulture, vermicompost, sheep and goat rearing besides examining its impact on employment generation and livelihood security. The data was collected from 60 IFS and 60 Non-IFS sample farmers from three districts of NEK region. The tabular analysis is used for cost and returns calculation and for comparing financial feasibility and overall performance of IFS modules discounting measures are used. It is observed that the practice of IFS found to be more profitable in terms of productivity, employment generation and nutritional security as compared to conventional cotton cultivation of Non-IFS practices.