Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been instrumental in helping farmers adopt integrated systems on the farm, thereby helping them produce more and earn more. Lyngrah’s farm, now a model farm, serves as an example of such support provided by KVK.
Shri Wallam Kupar Lyngrah, a dedicated progressive and innovative farmer, hails from the village Mawsiatkhnam of Mawlai C&RD Block, East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. He is a graduate and a teacher by profession. He started devoting his time focusing on better farming practices. He owns a total of 4.94 acres of land of which 2.50 acres has been converted into an Integrated Farm.
As an agriculture entrepreneur, Mr. Lyngrah felt that conventional method of agricultural cultivation minimized the yield and income. It is also associated with low productivity, increased cost on agriculture inputs and poor or no utilization of existing resources available on the farm. The conventional method also produced ecological problems in terms of limited crop diversity as well as creating soil and water pollution.
His journey towards becoming a sustainable farmer began when he was searching for a solution towards sustainable agricultural methods. It was then when he came into close contact with officials from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, East Khasi Hills district in the year 2013. He received technical guidance on sustainable agriculture through integrated farming. He was also inspired by an exposure visit to Indian Council of Agricultural Research for NEH Region, Umroi Road, Umiam, Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya, where he was introduced to the concept and the income opportunities of Integrated Farming System. He gathered technical knowhow by attending a number of trainings programmes, seminars, workshops conducted by the KVK as well as other line departments. He established an integrated farm in a total of 2.50 acres of land area since 2015 with poultry and piggery units as the main components in the farm. Equipped with a strong foundation about integrated farming, Shri Lyngrah further developed his farm by incorporating additional components to his unit.
Details of Components
The integrated farm at present has the following components distributed over 2.5 acres of land:
i. Horticulture unit
ii. Animal Husbandry and Livestock Unit
iii. Vermicompost Unit
i. Horticulture Unit
The horticultural unit includes vegetable crops like cabbage, cauliflower, chilli, ginger, chow-chow, etc., fruit crops like papaya, pineapple, Assam lemon, orange etc. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, East Khasi Hills District has been giving special emphasis on effective utilization of land by growing assorted vegetables all through the year which increase the farm income and sustain the soil health. After undergoing numerous training programmes he understood that vegetable crops occupy an important place in diversification and an important role in food and nutritional security. In his village Mawsiatkhnam, year round production of vegetables is possible inside the polyhouse. Growing second crop in the open field is very difficult due to higher rainfall during May to October. As he could not afford to construct the polyhouse by himself he approached Krishi Vigyan Kendra, which in turn through the Ministry of Agro Textiles in collaboration with SASMIRA has helped him in constructing one polyhouse at a subsidized rate. Now, he produces vegetables throughout the year and is getting year round income from this activity.
ii. Animal Husbandry and Livestock Unit
a) Poultry Unit
He started poultry rearing with fifty birds in his farm in the year 2000. However, he was not getting the returns as expected. Later, he enhanced his poultry farming activities by doubling the number of birds. He started to rear layer birds (BV 360) whereby he faced problems regarding scientific poultry rearing. To overcome the problems, he started adopting new technologies. However, he still suffered losses. On keenly observing, he found that the birds are fond of laying eggs on corners and where there are darker shades. Realizing this, he constructed the laying cabins which attracted the birds for laying their eggs. A specific dimension was maintained in the cabins preventing breakage of eggs (0% breakage of eggs) during laying. Provisions for collecting the eggs was made in the form of hinged top covers so as to facilitate easy collection of eggs from the cabin without entering the poultry shed. By adopting this method, he could increase the production of eggs from his farm and at the same time could minimize the death of birds. On an average, the modified innovative technology adopted by the farmer reduced the spoilage of eggs by 90% and increasing the productivity by 80-90%. The method adopted by the farmer involves low investments with high productivity and low mortality rate of the birds, which makes it economically more viable.
Mr. Lyngrah is now an influencer and motivator to others farmers with regard to improved farming practices.
b) Piggery unit
Pigs are the most common and preferred livestock species in East Khasi Hills district. Almost 80% of farming households in the region rear pigs (mostly 1-2 pigs/household) mainly for fattening purpose. The production process is traditionally based on indigenous breeds. Moreover, pig producers have traditional knowledge and skills for fattening purpose, but few have the skills to breed pigs. Seeing this opportunity, he started the piggery breeding unit. He is rearing 9 sows and 1 boar where one sow gives at least 1 farrowing per year. The demand for pork meat in the market is high, offering good scope for improvement/expansion.
c) Goatery Unit
The unit consists of 15 numbers of goats which were reared in a fenced area in which they graze. Zero expenditure was incurred for feed. Expenses for fencing and low cost shed was around Rs. 5,000 only. The goats are sold in the local market.
d) Fishery Unit
In the year 2018, he constructed 3 numbers of fish ponds with a production capacity of 600 kg/0.3 ha and the average cost of the fishes in the local market was Rs 200/kg. By products from all units of the farm serve as fertilizer and feed to the fish ponds.
iii. Vermicompost Unit
He has 2 vermi-beds of 6x4x2 ft. size with an annual capacity of producing 3000 kg of vermicompost on an average. This is entirely used for all the crops on his farm. Raw materials from the farm are the substrates used for composting all year round.
Table 1: Total cost incurred and net income received from each of the components of the Integrated Farm
| Components | Area/Nos. | Gross Income | Net Income | B:C |
| 1. Horticulture Unit | ||||
| Protected Cultivation
(since 2018) |
1 (500 m2) | 1,10,000.00 | 45583.00 | 0.71
(1st Year) |
| Open cultivation | Ginger | 2,40,000 | 182508.00 | 3.20 |
| 1. Animal Husbandry & Livestock | ||||
|
i. Poultry
|
Layers | 8,76,000.00 | 7,09,140.00 | 4.25 |
| Local Breed | 18,000.00 | 8,556.00 | 2 | |
|
ii. Goatary Unit |
15 nos. | 60000.00 | 38000.00 | 1.73 |
|
iii. Piggery Unit |
1(9sows+1boar) | 6,00,000.00 | 4,31,419.00 | 2.4 |
|
iv. Fisheries (estimate) |
3 (1000 m2 each) | 15000.00 | 35000.00 | 2.3 |
Impact
The new technologies developed by the farmer are being practiced by him for the past 3 years, proving to be economically rewarding. Shri Wallam K. Lyngrah’s farm is now a model farm. Farmers in his village and of the district who own poultry sheds have been motivated by his success and those having poultry sheds have adopted the award winning innovative idea “Low cost Poultry Layer shed”. He is a role model to other farmers who are aspiring to set poultry layer farm in the district as well as in other parts of the state. He is integrating all the existing resources available on his farm. He is running his farm successfully. As a progressive farmer he has been always open to skill development and is eager to know every aspect of farming through various sources viz. trainings, meeting experts from various line departments etc. He is now an influencer and motivator to other farmers with regard to improved farming practices. Hailed as one of the innovative farmers in East Khasi Hills district, he is one of the key trainers on IFS with special reference to poultry and piggery rearing in the district. He has become role model for establishing a successful Integrated Farming System in his block.
Mawsiatkhnam KVK East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya
Mawsiatkhnam KVK
East Khasi Hills,
Upper Shillong-793009
Meghalaya
e-mail: kvkekhup@gmail.com
Note: This article was originally published in Bidyut C. Deka, A.K.Singha, Divya Parisa, Azriel Mervin Tariang, Emika Kordor Kyndiah Mesaya R. Marak (Eds.,), Integrated Farming Systems for Doubling Farmers’ Income in NEH Region of India, ICAR- Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone – VII, Umiam, Meghalaya –793103, March 2020.
