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Smt F. Lalchhuanawmi, a progressive farmer from Hmarveng, Kolasib district, has transformed her farm by adopting an agri-horti-livestock-based Integrated Farming System (IFS), significantly improving her family’s livelihood and farm profitability. Before 2018, she practiced traditional slash-and-burn (jhum) farming, which offered limited productivity and income. However, with support from ICAR-NEH Mizoram Centre, Smt Lalchhuanawmi began cultivating flowers, fruits, and vegetables in a polyhouse structure, along with rearing pigs, creating a sustainable farming model.

Her flower cultivation venture, especially Anthurium, yielded impressive results with a gross income of Rs 1,72,380, generating a net income of Rs 1,27,200. This model achieved an outstanding investment-to-outcome ratio of 1:2.82, significantly reducing the need for external fertilizers by 53.14%. Her fruit crops, such as bananas and dragon fruit, brought in Rs 2,24,000 in gross income, with a net income of Rs 1,79,722 and an investment-to-outcome ratio of 1:4.06, benefiting from the use of pig manure as an organic fertilizer.

Pig farming also contributed greatly, generating a net profit of Rs 1,83,510 with a gross income of Rs 2,52,370. Smt Lalchhuanawmi reduced her reliance on chemical fertilizers by 52-65% by utilizing well-decomposed pig manure. Her diversified crops, including seasonal vegetables and pulses, increased farm productivity and minimized external input usage, leading to a more sustainable farming system.

Over the past five years, her farm’s productivity surged, with Maize Equivalent Yield (MEY) increasing from 15.261 t/ha to 62.825 t/ha. Her annual net income grew to Rs 5,38,632, and the B:C ratio rose from 1.37 to 2.92, highlighting the financial success of the IFS model compared to traditional methods.

Read more: https://www.icar.org.in/transforming-tribal-farming-boosting-profitability-through-agri-horti-livestock-integration-mizoram

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