Diversification is the key in agricultural development

It may be defined as the association of two or more normally separate farming systems, which become part of the whole farming system. Integrated livestock-fish, poultry-fish, and rice-fish farming and crop rotation in fishponds have been well developed and practiced in countries like China, Hungary, Germany and Malaysia. For centuries, small-scale farmers have sustained themselves by practicing different kinds of crop diversification. About 80% of India’s population lives in rural areas at subsistence or near subsistence level. These rural folk are greatly under-nourished and need not only a large supplement of animal protein in their diet but also new sources of gainful employment. India being an agrarian economy, produces large quantities of plant and animal residues, the former to the tune of 321.4 million metric tonnes and the latter amounting to about 1000 million metric tonnes of animal dung on annual basis. It is known that the country supports the largest bovine population of over 240 million cattle heads along with 108 million sheep and goats, 7 million pigs 140 million poultry and other live stock. Activities like mushroom cultivation and rabbitry, silviculture, apiculture, etc. apart from providing for diversification of farming systems, also provide huge quantities of organic material, which may become resources in the aquaculture system.