Cropping System Diversification Stabilizing smallholders’ income and enhance agro-ecosystem services

Abstract

A significant agricultural challenge of the 21st Century is providing sufficient food, feed, and fuel for the increasing global population without degrading the planet’s natural resources and productive capacity. Consequently, balancing crop productivity, profitability, and maintenance or improvement of soil and water quality and biodiversity is critical to meet these goals. Diversification through crop rotation is especially useful strategy in farming system that integrate crop and livestock production. The addition of forage crops, including fodder cowpea, berseem etc., to cereal-based systems, can enhance nitrogen supply through fixation by legumes, and increases nutrient cycling due to greater livestock density and manure production. These changes will allow the intensification of both crop and livestock production, and increase yields substantially. In addition to reducing requirements for purchased fertilizers, soil-related benefits of this practice include improvements in soil carbon storage and microbial biomass, soil physical structure, plantavailable nitrogen, and infiltration and retention of water. Manure transfer between on-farm enterprises or neighbouring farms provides an opportunity to integrate crop and livestock operations within a watershed and can alleviate costs associated with manure storage, handling, and disposal.