At organic foods farms, we practice an integrated farming system, which allows us to grow nutritious food and also take care of our planet.
Today we decided to take a deeper dive and share with you a guide showing you how the integrated organic farming system works.
If you have always been curious about our farming system, or you just want to learn about organic farming in general, then this guide is your friend.
Here is what we will cover in this article:
- Understanding Integrated organic farming
- Advantages of Integrated organic farming
- Factors that influence Integrated organic farming
- Our Goal in Utilizing the Integrated organic farming system
- Summary
Understanding Integrated Organic Farming
Integrated organic farming system is a farming system that combines livestock, aquaculture, and agriculture to produce nutritious foods as well as live stocks.
This combination brings about an exchange, whereby the waste of one method becomes the source of nutrients for others.
Take for example, the waste from our livestock farms are used to make manure for plants while the leaves and seeds of plants can also be used for the production of animal feeds.
This farming system allows us to use the best farming practices, as well as a nature friendly system to provide high agriculture yields and also highly nutritious crops free from toxins.
Advantages of Integrated organic farming
Now that we have understood what integrated farming system is, lets take a closer look at the advantages of this farming method. They include:
- It allows the maximum utilization of space and increase the productivity of crops per unit area
- It allows diversification of produce.
- It improves soul facility and the overall physical structure of the soil. This is due to the practice of crop rotation and the use of organic compost.
- There is a reduction in weeds, insect’s pest and diseases thanks to crop rotation
- It encourages proper farm waste management since crop residues and livestock wastes are reused.
- Zero to little reliance to outside inputs such as fertilizers, agrochemicals, feeds energy etc.
- Produces higher profit in terms of land and labor returns for we the farmers
Apart from the aforementioned advantages, this method of farming is very safe for man and nature since there is literally zero pollution and all the produces are highly nutritious.
Factors that influence Integrated organic farming
While integrated organic farming is a superior, stable and powerful farming system, it is important to know that, there are different factors that can affect it. They include:
Soil and Climate features
Depending on the area or geography of the farm, the nature of the soil as well climatic condition of your selected area will have an effect on your farm.
You must be careful to pick a location with good soil and climate conditions to support the kind of crops and livestock you intend to produce.
Accessibility of resources (land, labour and capital.)
Resources are required when venturing into farming, and it is also a requirement when venturing into organic farming. Resources like land, labour and capital is a must have. One resource most people often overlook, is knowledge.
You need the know how to effectively setup, run and manage a successful organic farm.
Farming Economics
The economics which entails understanding and planning effectively all farm operations and activities, as well as understanding the input and output of all farm processes, as well as maintenance of farm tools, staff etc.
Managerial skill of the farmer
Finally, the managerial skill of the farmer, will go a long way in determining if the farming venture will be successful or not. Management of a farm requires diligence, knowledge and focus.
Since one wrong move can end up having a very terrible effect on the harvest.
It is also necessary to note that management goes beyond just managing the physical aspect of the farm, it also has to deal with the intangibles like making crucial decisions regarding the farm, farm supplies and management, staff management etc.
Our Goal in Utilizing the Integrated farming system
The main reason we choose the integrated farming system was due to fact that it aligned 100% with our mission. Which is:
“Producing nutritious food to support global food security”
However, we also discovered that apart from the fact that it supports our mission, the following reasons will also help to provide insights on why we have chosen to farm with the integrated farming system.
If you want to venture into farming then you should consider using our integrated organic farming system.
- Improve productivity:
- Regulate nutrient and material flows
- Increase on-farm biodiversity
- Limit disease
- Save the Planet (that is a very noble thing to do J)
In Summary:
While this is just an overview of how the integrated farming system works, it is important to note that there are different models, techniques and strategies that you can employ when practicing IFS.
Some other time, we will take a deeper dive into these models and techniques. We hope you enjoyed this piece and if you wish to learn the art of organic farming, reach out to us now. Click the button below to learn more.
Got questions or feedback? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
