Homestead Farming Case Study

Homestead farming refers to the crop production in small holdings adjacent to the human settlement; it is the oldest and most enduring form of cultivation. As these small farming units mostly depend on family labour they are also called as family farming system (Ninez, 1987). The food basket of any country is served by these small family farming units. For example, in India, the small and marginal farmers constitute 84.97 percent operating in an area of 44.31 percent (Govt. of India, 2012). The scenario is replicated elsewhere also as the share of family farming in the total agricultural production is 40 per cent from 25 per cent of the farmland in Brazil, and 84 per cent from 47.4 per cent farmland in Fiji. Further, census data from ninety …show more content…
Hence, organic farming system that advocates raising diverse crops in the same piece of land with adoption of environment friendly methods to improve soil fertility, including crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and application of compost can be an ideal model of sustainable agriculture intensification (World Bank, 2006) for these homestead farms. After all, environmental sustainability is the principal objective of the promoters of organic farming (Rigby and Caceres, 2001). This is particularly true in developed countries where with surplus resources, limited population and high purchasing power a consumer expects safe and high quality food produced without any serious ecological impact (Marwaha and Jat, 2004). But, for a developing country, with high population and fewer resources, ensuring enough food for all at affordable prices will be the prime strategy of food production sector (Mahapatra et al., 2009). In addition, for a country like India where small and marginal farmers are more economic sustainability of organic farming is also as important as environmental …show more content…
Farmers who practice organic farming with an aim of localization of safe food while protecting environment as well as who own organic certification to export organic produce are part of Kerala’s organic farming scenario. Majority of the certified organic farmers are in the high range districts like Wayanad and Idukki of the state and they own lion's share of India’s export market of organic spices (Spices Board India, 2014). Also Kerala is one among the few Indian states where the entire quantity of farmyard manure can be used for farming. It is because firewood is widely used as the source of fuel in Kerala unlike other states where cow dung cakes are used for