Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India

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 t...

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Autores principales: Prusty, Ashisa K., Natesan, Ravisankar, Panwar, Azad S., Jat, Mangi Lal, Tetarwal, Jagdish P., López Ridaura, Santiago, Toorop, Roos Adelhart, Akker, Jelle van den, Kaur, Jashanjot, Ghasal, Prakash Chand, Groot, Jeroen C.J., Barba-Escoto, Luis, Kashyap, Poonam, Ansari, Meraj A., Shamim, Mohammad
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126861
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author Prusty, Ashisa K.
Natesan, Ravisankar
Panwar, Azad S.
Jat, Mangi Lal
Tetarwal, Jagdish P.
López Ridaura, Santiago
Toorop, Roos Adelhart
Akker, Jelle van den
Kaur, Jashanjot
Ghasal, Prakash Chand
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Kashyap, Poonam
Ansari, Meraj A.
Shamim, Mohammad
author_browse Akker, Jelle van den
Ansari, Meraj A.
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Ghasal, Prakash Chand
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Jat, Mangi Lal
Kashyap, Poonam
Kaur, Jashanjot
López Ridaura, Santiago
Natesan, Ravisankar
Panwar, Azad S.
Prusty, Ashisa K.
Shamim, Mohammad
Tetarwal, Jagdish P.
Toorop, Roos Adelhart
author_facet Prusty, Ashisa K.
Natesan, Ravisankar
Panwar, Azad S.
Jat, Mangi Lal
Tetarwal, Jagdish P.
López Ridaura, Santiago
Toorop, Roos Adelhart
Akker, Jelle van den
Kaur, Jashanjot
Ghasal, Prakash Chand
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Kashyap, Poonam
Ansari, Meraj A.
Shamim, Mohammad
author_sort Prusty, Ashisa K.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description 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.
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spelling CGSpace1268612025-12-08T10:29:22Z Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India Prusty, Ashisa K. Natesan, Ravisankar Panwar, Azad S. Jat, Mangi Lal Tetarwal, Jagdish P. López Ridaura, Santiago Toorop, Roos Adelhart Akker, Jelle van den Kaur, Jashanjot Ghasal, Prakash Chand Groot, Jeroen C.J. Barba-Escoto, Luis Kashyap, Poonam Ansari, Meraj A. Shamim, Mohammad farming systems sustainable agriculture smallholders sustainable intensification nutrition 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. 2022-04-01 2023-01-11T14:33:07Z 2023-01-11T14:33:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126861 en Open Access application/pdf MDPI Prusty, A. K., Natesan, R., Panwar, A. S., Jat, M. L., Tetarwal, J. P., López-Ridaura, S., Adelhart Toorop, R., Akker, J. van den, Kaur, J., Ghasal, P. C., Groot, J. C. J., Barba-Escoto, L., Kashyap, P., Ansari, M. A., & Shamim, M. (2022). Redesigning of Farming Systems Using a Multi-Criterion Assessment Tool for Sustainable Intensification and Nutritional Security in Northwestern India. Sustainability, 14(7), 3892. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073892
spellingShingle farming systems
sustainable agriculture
smallholders
sustainable intensification
nutrition
Prusty, Ashisa K.
Natesan, Ravisankar
Panwar, Azad S.
Jat, Mangi Lal
Tetarwal, Jagdish P.
López Ridaura, Santiago
Toorop, Roos Adelhart
Akker, Jelle van den
Kaur, Jashanjot
Ghasal, Prakash Chand
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Kashyap, Poonam
Ansari, Meraj A.
Shamim, Mohammad
Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title_full Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title_fullStr Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title_full_unstemmed Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title_short Redesigning of farming systems using a multi-criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern India
title_sort redesigning of farming systems using a multi criterion assessment tool for sustainable intensification and nutritional security in northwestern india
topic farming systems
sustainable agriculture
smallholders
sustainable intensification
nutrition
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126861
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