Designing a profitable and sustainable integrated farming system model for small and medium farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra

Integrated farming system (IFS), consist of the components like cropping systems, horticulture, fishery, poultry and goat rearing, livestock’s rearing was undertaken at IFSR unit Akola Maharashtra, India during 2022-23 and 2023-24 to study profitability and employment generation of IFS over conventional Cotton-based system in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Fishery component achieved highest returns. Employment generation and maximum returns were observed in case of IFS over conventional agriculture. The relative contribution of different components to the total returns was 28.20% from fish, 22.82% from crops, 18.18% from Dairy + Vermicompost, and 16.57% from goat. IFS has generated highest employment of 568 Man days ha^-1 year^-1 against conventional system generated only 97 Man days ha^-1 year^-1.