Efficiency Centric Management (ECM) in Agriculture

Abstract

Climate adversities have the potential to irreversibly damage the natural resource base on which agriculture depends and it is increasing production risks in many farming systems and reducing the ability of farmers and rural communities to manage these risks on their own. Around the world, resource-poor farmers are trying to adapt to the effects of climate change, which affect them disproportionately. In a context where the impact of climate change on the natural resource base is dramatically increasing, adoption of location-specific integrated management of natural resources for higher productivity and better resilience to erratic climatic events is becoming even more crucial. Since small farmers and rural communities are the starting point for efforts to adapt to climate change, the problems and solutions should be defined with their direct and active participation. It is necessary to use participatory farming system processes that empower smallholders to: draw on their expertise about ecology and management; overcome the constraints they face; create a sense of ownership; and share their visions and experiences with other partners. Farming system approach in small and marginal holders are expected to play a vital role in management of natural resources thereby reducing the climatic adversities. Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAnD) and integrated farming is a new agricultural ecosystem. TAnD converts animal waste into useful resources including biogas (65% methane and 35% carbon dioxide) energy, nutrients for aquaculture and bio-fertilizer for horticultural produce. The duck integration in rice field increases the rice yield by reducing weed growth, insect population, improving soil physical properties and thereby root growth and tillering. It also increases the dissolved oxygen content in rice field. However, ducks in rice farming reduces the greenhouse effect; prevent the release of methane gas which is important to check global warming. Duck provides additional benefit in terms of egg and meat to the small land holders apart from the environmental benefits. Developing of climate riskcoping production system, resilient to weather vageries, require diversified structures in space and time such as crop rotations, crop- -livestock associations and the use of hedges, vegetative buffer strips and other farm landscaping practices such as raised and sunken bed , three tier systems etc. Accomplishing this can have an enormous impact on adaptation to drought, heavy rains and winds which are expected to be a common phenomenon under changed climatic scenario. Diversification of sensitive agricultural production systems (egrainfed farming) into less sensitive agricultural microenterprises has the potential to mitigate climate adversities.