Farming System Approach to Improve IUE, Employment and Income ...

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area. Farmers in this part used to growonly one rice crop. After partition, farmerswho migrated from Bangladesh settled inthis area. As they knew the technique ofJute extraction they started growing jute.This has become a very important cashcrop in this area having facilities of rettingin ponds and other water bodies. Jute isa very labour intensive crop whichprovides employment to large number ofpoor people. Its leaves are used asvegetables, fibers provides cash whilestem is used as fuel and fencing materialsetc. Jute cultivation is profitable providedthe fiber price is reasonably high i.e. Rs.800-1000/ quintal. It is observed that thefarmers got a net profit of Rs. 1020 perbigha (Table 9).Rice: West Bengal ranks first in riceproduction in the country. With irrigation,two to three rice crops can be grown fromthe same land. The farmer underdiscussion took rice after the harvest ofJute. It is seen that he used both organicmanures (oil cakes) and fertilisers mainlyN (urea) and P (SSP). He did not use Kfertiliser.Rice yield recorded was 8q/bigha(60q//ha) and net profit was only Rs. 647/bigha (Rs.4853 /ha) which is not high(Table 10). But as the rice is staple foodof the people of the area, it always findsa place in the cropping system practised.Mustard : Since mustard oil is used asmain cooking medium by the local peopleit also finds a place in the croppingsystem. The farmer took mustard afterrice. It is interesting to note here that thelocal farmers have been practicing zerotillage for many years to save time andmoney. The profit per bigha was Rs. 380(Table 11).Income From the Cropping SystemIt is observed that the cropping systemgave an income of Rs. 16888 only and outof the three crops jute gave the highestamount of profit (49.8 %).Small and marginal farmers whodominate in West Bengal (90%) are notable to survive if they have to depend onfield crops only and which are very oftendestroyed by floods and other weatheraberrations. This is why they practiseother systems like horticulture, animalhusbandry, fishery etc.HorticultureIt is observed that in the home stead,the farmer grows coconut, mango,jackfruit, guava, areca nut, lemon, banana,date palm, palmyra palm etc. The farmerunder discussion makes an earning ofabout Rs.7825 /annum from horticulturalsystem (Table 12).Animal SystemAnimal system is a very importantcomponent of farming system associatedwith the farmers of this area. This providesemployment, milk and dung which is usedfor generating energy and manure .Thefarmer in question owns 3 animal (2 adultcows). He has also installed a biogasplant, rears 10 ducks (9+1). The reportedincome is about Rs. 24950 per annumwhich seems to be at higher side (Table13).Fishery SystemRice and fish go well in Bengal. Thefarmer has a small pond (¼th bigha) whichhad provided income of Rs. 1000/- in thefirst year itself in addition to familyconsumption (Table 14).Total IncomeTotal income of the farmer amounts tobe Rs. 50663 per annum which seems tobe reasonably adequate to run a smallfamily of 3 adult and 2 minor (Table 15).CONCLUSIONTHE ENTIRE PHILOSOPHY OF FARMINGsystem revolves around better utilizationof time, money, resources and familylabour. The farm family gets scope forgainful employment round the yearthereby ensuring good income andhigher standard of living even fromsmall holdings. From the above study itis clear that the small size farms can earna living provided the farmer does all thefield operations as well as marketinghimself. The income can be furtherincreased if the farming system ismanaged so as to harvest the crop duringfestivals. Early harvest can also help toget high price.Table 8 – Particulars of farmer under studyName (Changed) : Sunil Kumar MandalVillage : BikehatP.O. : BeraDistrict : BurdwanLand Holding : Irrigated 5.5 BighaUnirrigated2.75 BighaTotal8.25 BighaNumber of Family Members : 3 adults & 2 minorsTable 9 – Economics of Jute cultivation by the farmerS.No. Particulars Amount (Rs.)ACost of Cultivation (per Bigha)1. Ploughings (@ Rs. 80 /ploughing) -3 2402 Irrigation -1 1503 Seed – 1 kg 304 Weeding ( 6+6+4 labour @ Rs. 40) -3 6405 Thinning (6 labour) 2406 Harvesting (5 labour) 2007 Transporting water 2008 Retting (2 labour) 809 Transporting (5 labour) 16010 Drying 80Total 1780B Yield 3.5 q/Bigha (@ Rs. 800/q) 2800C Profit (per Bigha) 1020D Profit (per hectare) 765011FERTILISER MARKETING NEWS • May 2010
Table 10 – Economics of rice cultivation by the farmerS.No. Particulars Amount (Rs.)A Cost of cultivation (per Bigha)1 Ploughings (@ Rs. 150/ ploughing) 4502 Seed bed preparationSeed – 10 kg 120Watering 50Ploughing 803 ManuringOilcake (@ Rs 8/kg) – 50 kg 400SSP – 50 kg 150Urea( 21 DAT) -15 kg 77Urea (20 days later)- 30 kg 154Urea (10 -15 days later) 1024 IrrigationContract with shallow tubewell 800Labour 2005 Weeding -21 st Weeding (4 labour @ Rs. 40) 1602 nd Weeding (6 labour) 2406 Harvesting (4 labour @ Rs.45) 1807 Bundle making (3 labour @ Rs 45) 1358 Transporting (3 labour @Rs. 45) 1359 Threshing (4 labour @ Rs. 45) 18010 Drying 40Total 3653B. IncomeGrain yield 8 q/Bigha (@ Rs. 500/q) 4000Straw 300Total 4300C Profit (per Bigha) 647D Profit (per hectare) 4853Table 11 – Economics of mustard cultivation by the farmerS.No. Particulars With land Without landpreparation preparation(Rs.)(Rs.)A Cost of cultivation (per Bigha)1 Land preparation 240 302 Seed 30 303 Weeding 80 804 Fertiliser 500 5005 Harvesting 200 2006 Threshing 180 180Total 1230 1020B Yield (@1400/q) 1400 1400C Profit (per Bigha) 170 380D Profit (per hectare) 1275 2850Table 12 – Income from horticultural systemadopted by the farmerS.No. Particulars Amount (Rs.)1 Coconut (10 plants) – 800 nuts 20002 Mango (7 plants) – 560 kg 11203 Jackfruit (@ Rs. 25 /fruit) -25 6254 Guava (8 plants) – 120 kg 12005 Arecanut 2006 Lemon (2 plants) -20 2007 Banana 20008 Date palm 809 Palmyra Palm (5 plants) – 5 X40 nuts 400Total 7825Table 13 – Income from animal system adopted by the farmerS.No. Particulars Amount (Rs.)1 3 Cows (2 adult) 10X30 X10 150002 Gobar Gas plantGas 3700Manures (@ 5 tonnes/animal) 4000Total 227003 Ducks 2250Total 24950Table 14 – Income from fishery system adopted by the farmerS.No. Particulars Amount (Rs.)A Cost of digging 0.25 Bigha pond 2000B IncomeFish Sale 1500Fish consumed 1500C Profit 1000Table 15 – Total income of the farmer from all system adoptedS. No. System Amount (Rs.)1 Jute- Rice-Mustard 168882 Horticulture 78253 Animals 249504 Fisheries 1000Total 50663REFERENCES1. Behera, U K Management of Resources By Small and MarginalFarmers in the Handicapped Regions of Orissa, A Thesis submittedto OUAT, Bhubaneshwar for the award of Ph.D in Agronomy (1994).2. Behera, U K, Behera, B C and Mohapatra, P C, Indian Fmg,August, (2006).3. Biswas, B C , Tewatia, R K and Shukla, D K, Indian J of Fert4(10) 31-43 (2008).4. Biswas, B C , Lalit Kumar and Shukla, D K, Indian J Fert 5(5)33-36 (2009).5. Kathiresan, R M , Indian J Agron 54(1), 9-14 (2009).6. Gill, M S, Singh, J P, and Gangwar, K S, Indian J Agron,54(2)128-139 (2009).7. Rautaray, S K., Das P. C. and Sinhababu, D.P., Indian J agricSci, 75(2) 79-82 (2005).FERTILISER MARKETING NEWS • May 201012
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