Assignment Sample on Integrated Agricultural Systems

Part 1: Outline of the enterprise

1.1 Background and introduction

This case study analysis is based on the integrated farming system which is executed by the enterprise Children Village Mkuranga. This enterprise is also known as Malaika kids and it is situated in the district of Mkuranga of Tanzania. The executive children’s village Mkuranga is the home place of many orphanage children that are from Dar-es-Salaam. The organisation Malaika Kid’s main motive is to work for helping the children that will help the children have a better life in the future and lead a sustainable livelihood.  However, integrated farming is one type of agriculture that mainly focuses on decreasing the use of inputs that are being implemented from outside.  The implementation is done through various different ways such as the executive increases the overall production and thus makes it long and diverse. The executive follows different types of cropping systems that help in increasing production. The cropping system is implemented according to the observation such as the climatic condition and soil type of the particular site is analysed before starting the cropping system.

1.2 Climate, Soil type, and Current Farming Systems

As per the information it is observed that the organisation is situated in Tanzania and which is a part of East Africa. This country falls on the part of the equator on planet earth, which describes the climatic condition of the country hence, this region is very hot and humid.

Climate

The organisation is situated in the equator region which means the area is hot in nature and very humid which means it is a coastal region. Thus, being a coastal region, the overall average temperature is also very high. As per the view of Ganjegunte et al. (2017), the major demand of the farming field is proper production of water, there are problems arising due to lack of water because of different climatic changes. The observed temperature over there is noticed to be 28 to 30 degrees Celsius. However, the overall temperature over there stays average, it does not go under 17 degrees centigrade and it does not even go above 34 degrees centigrade. Apart from that the region even faces an overall annual rainfall of up to 1000-1200 millimetres. The region even experienced two rainy seasons, one of them is the short rainy season and the other one is the long rainy season. However, after facing two rainy seasons there is even a dry period when the climatic condition of the region becomes cool and dry. Although due to two consecutive rainy seasons there is an adequate amount of groundwater available that can be used for the cropping system.

Soil type

The soil type of the region is sandy soil due to which the sand type is unable to hold the hummus and moisture that is present due to the climatic conditions of the region. The region faces two consecutive rainy seasons, firstly a long rainy season and secondly a short rainy season. According to Thierfelder et al. (2017), the farmers are facing a loss of crop yield because the farmers cannot afford new farming techniques. Firstly, the long rainy season starts which stays for up to 90 consecutive days. The long rainy probably starts from the month of March and it stays up to May month. After that comes the short rainy season which probably stays for up to an average of 60 days. The short rainy season starts in the month of October and ends in the month of December. The sand type is unable to hold a lot of humus and moisture due to which retention capacity of the low moisture and low nutrients is occurring. Apart from that, a higher rate of percolation of the water is affected.

Current Cropping system

The current cropping system makes an impact on different types of farming practices. The farming practices are facing many problems such as the issue of poor quality of the soil and sometimes there are issues with regulation of the rain thus due to which several problems arise such as lack of moisture and hence the nutrient level of the soil goes down. However, the region has two consecutive rainy seasons and thus the rainwater is being collected for executing the process of irrigation. As opined by Beerling et al. (2018), the climatic changes that are occurring all over the world are causing problems in farming. Apart from that the region even faces dry and cool climatic conditions in the month of June. Hence, at that time the use of the solar panel is used for collecting solar energy thus that can be used for the irrigation process.

1.3 Economic, Climatic and Social Pressure

Economic pressure:

The economic condition of the village is very bad because the village does not have any regular income throughout the year. However, as per the requirement of the consumption purpose, there are only a few numbers of crops that are successfully used. The economic condition of the village depends on the donations that were made and are used as per the requirement for fulfilling the needs. As per the view of Pereira (2017), small-scale farmers are facing many problems that are going through under development. Due to lack of income, there is a lack of introduction to the livestock of the poultry farm. The enterprise currently is lacking funds and is in need of funds for managing the equipment and skills in the enterprise.

Climatic pressure:

There is some sort of pressure created due to climatic changes as the region faces a dry and cool period. At that time there is no rainfall and thus it affects the crops. However, as the region faces two consecutive rainy seasons there is a risk regarding floods which can occur due to heavy rainfalls. As per the view of Shaffril, Krauss, and Samsuddin (2018), unexpected climate changes affect economic and environmental factors. Due to which different types of crops which rely on rainfall are difficult to harvest. Apart from that the tropical crops which include vegetables and different types of fruit plants also face problems.

Social pressure:

There is a crucial social pressure on the executive as the village do not have any independent source of earnings. Hence, it depends on donations and for a proper livelihood, the executive has to provide nutritious food to up to 80 children. Apart from that, the region is facing a high mortality rate because of certain reasons which include the spreading of diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Hence, the children are suffering from malnutrition and the executive has to overcome this problem by providing good and nutritious food to the children.    

1.4 Current and future threats

There are some current threats and future threats available for the executive future. The executive faces different types of conflicts which include the issue with the soil. The soil over there is not able to hold humus and moisture and due to which the nutrient level of the soil is very low. The lack of nutrients present in the soil creates new problems for the crops and relies on the nutrient and humus of the soil.

The overall crop yield is decreasing day by day because of different types of worms, aphids, termites, and locusts. They attack and destroy the crops and thus to prevent that a lot of care and monitoring on the crops is required.

1.5 Farming Techniques

For resolving the problems related to the crops and soil, the method of agroforestry is chosen. As per the view of Carolan (2018), smart farming techniques should be introduced to the farmers which are affordable. The agroforestry farming techniques help in improving livelihood, improves the quality of the soil, and make it more fertile and stable for proper farming. Apart from that, it focuses on managing the natural resources that can help in future improvement of the economic, social, and environmental benefits. For improving the quality of the soil there are leguminous plants intercropped with the other trees which will result in increasing the nutrient level of the soil. The proper use of the agroforestry method helps in reducing the usage of fertilizers in the crops. The agroforestry method has many advantages which can be utilized for improving the overall farming condition of the village.

Part 2: Step-by-step plan for implementation

2.1 Management and implementation

For improving the farming condition of the village, the method of agroforestry and alley cropping are introduced and implemented in the farms. Agroforestry is a method that helps in improving the management system of the land. It focuses on introducing technologies that can prevent crop failures. Agroforestry methods include different types of practices such as alley cropping, forest farming, and windbreak. As per the view of Orsini et al. (2019), digital technologies and smart techniques are adapted for the improvement of the cropping system. Alley cropping is also a method of farming in which the annual crops are grown in between the rows of woody trees. This method helps in improving the soil fertility at the time when the region is facing hot and humid temperatures. Agroforestry is the best-recommended method for improving the farming conditions because it supports both integrated forestry and agriculture.

Period plan

Initially for implementing the method of agroforestry, it is started by planting trees in proper directions. However, if the trees are planted in the wrong direction, then it can cause blocking of the sunlight due to which the crops will not get the proper amount of sunlight and thus it will result in decreasing the crop yields. The crops which are recommended for planting alongside the existing crops or the trees are Cashew, Citrus, Coconut Palm, Mango, Papaya, Banana, Moringa, Neem, Acacia caffra, Calliandra calothyrsus, Jackfruit, Avocado, and Leucaena Leucocephala.

Alongside the existing trees such as cashew trees, there can be papaya trees grown in the same row. For growing a healthy plantation of papaya, the potholes can be filled up with compost and moss, and hence that will help in increasing the production of the papaya tree. On the other hand, pineapples can be grown together with mango trees. However, the production can be affected hence to solve the problem of erosion the soil has to be fully covered with a mulch it will help in balancing the soil moisture. However, for maintaining a proper paw tree production it is required that with paw trees only small plants should be planted.

Long term solution

For having a long-term solution, there can be some changes made that can help in a long-term solution. By changing the positions and by rotating the green crops with that of alley crops will help in solving the problem for almost 2 to 3 years. However, the method of changing and rotating the crops helps in increasing the overall productivity of the crops and enhances the capacity and quality of the soil. This method helps in improving the quality of the soil by adding organic matter in the soil and which helps in improving the nutrient level of the soil, thus this enhances the moisture level of the soil.

Management of plot

The plots can be managed easily by following the management plan, which will help in improving the quality of the crop. There are some points that can help in the management of the plot and they are

• Providing a proper number of natural fertilizers such as cow dung to the crops can improve the growth of the crops. This process should be repeated twice a year so that there can be a balanced amount of manure spread all over the field.
• Decomposing the dead plants and leguminous plants in the soil can help in enhancing the nutrient level of the soil and thus it will improve the quality of the soil.
• Popper irrigation system should be followed through the year; thus, it will help the crops in growing well. Apart from that, the irrational system should be working with the help of solar energy, it will help in conserving the energy.

Limitation of the introduced plan

There are some limitations faced when executing the plan, those limits are as follows

• The plan completely focuses on using biofertilizers in the field for increasing crop production. Thus, this plan fails in explaining the overall cost of the entire plan as it uses biofertilizers and apart from that method of making biofertilizers on the site are not explained that are made by completing the culture of soil microbes.
• The plan does not focus on explaining the market strategies when the production of the crops is excess in amount. Thus, there should be facilities available in the local market for selling the excess crops that are being harvested.

2.2 Recommendations

As per the analysis and study made on integrated farming, it is observed that the village does not have any independent and permanent source of earning. Thus, the farming method should be working properly for the livelihood of the people living in the village. Hence, it is recommended for taking the agroforestry process of farming, as it will help in improving the production of the crops. The climatic condition of the region is also not favourable because it either has an excess amount of rainfall or it becomes dry. Thus, it affects crop production even though the soil type of that region is also very bad. It is a sandy type of soil and because of that, the soil cannot hold the proper amount of moisture and humus in it. Thus, the nutrition level of the soil is very bad, and to improve the soil quality there are several techniques and methods implemented from agroforestry farming methods.

Agroforestry is a specific type of method which focuses on both integrated forestry and cropping. Thus, this method focuses on producing both crops and plants which increases the overall growth of the production. However, there are some drawbacks that can be faced while implementing the agroforestry method. The proper costing of the entire plan is not mentioned properly and due to which there can be some problems regarding cost management of the plan. Hence, it is recommended to notice every advantage and disadvantage of agroforestry before implementing it.

2.3 Conclusion and summary

As per the analysis, it is concluded from the case study that the financial and economic conditions of the village people are very bad. However, they do not have any source of income, and thus they have to completely depend on the donations for their livelihood. The executive has to provide a proper amount of nutritional food to the children because the children are facing malnutrition.

Hence, in order to improve the conditions, the executive has to adapt the agroforestry farming method. Thus, this method can improve the conditions of the farm and can increase overall crop production. This method enhances the production of crops and forests both together and increases the quality of the soil. Apart from that proper management of the plots should be done for maintain the crops. There can be many reasons that can cause crop failure and thus to prevent that crop management should be done. Although there should be proper irrigation maintained in the field for balancing the growth of the crops. However, there are some disadvantages of this method, such as it does not provide proper cost management of the overall project and even though there are no market strategies stated in this plan. Thus, market strategies and management of cost should be done so that it successfully implements the farming method. Hence, the complete process of agroforestry is explained in the case study with proper recommendations which are provided for planting new trees with the existing trees that can increase the overall productivity and hence this will improve the financial status of the village. Thus, the villager’s financial condition will improve and they can lead a healthy life.

Reference

Beerling, D.J., Leake, J.R., Long, S.P., Scholes, J.D., Ton, J., Nelson, P.N., Bird, M., Kantzas, E., Taylor, L.L., Sarkar, B. and Kelland, M., 2018. Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security. Nature Plants, 4(3), pp.138-147. Available at: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/135671/1/EW_perspective_4_Jan_2018.pdf

Carolan, M., 2018. ‘Smart’farming techniques as political ontology: Access, sovereignty and the performance of neoliberal and not‐so‐neoliberal worlds. Sociologia Ruralis, 58(4), pp.745-764. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/soru.12202

Ganjegunte, G., Ulery, A., Niu, G. and Wu, Y., 2017. Effects of treated municipal wastewater irrigation on soil properties, switchgrass biomass production and quality under arid climate. Industrial crops and products, 99, pp.60-69. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/am/pii/S0926669017300389

Orsini, R., Basili, D., Belletti, M., Bentivoglio, D., Bozzi, C.A., Chiappini, S., Conti, C., Galli, A., Giorgini, E., Fiorentini, M. and Malinverni, E.S., 2019, May. Setting of a precision farming robotic laboratory for cropping system sustainability and food safety and security: preliminary results. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 275, No. 1, p. 012021). IOP Publishing. Available at: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/275/1/012021/pdf

Pereira, L., 2017. Climate change impacts on agriculture across Africa. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Available at: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/21175/12/

researchgate.net, Agroforestry, Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-AGFORWARD-project-is-promoting-agroforestry-practices-ie-the-integration-of-trees_fig1_275647662 [Accessed on: 14.05.21]

Shaffril, H.A.M., Krauss, S.E. and Samsuddin, S.F., 2018. A systematic review on Asian’s farmers’ adaptation practices towards climate change. Science of the total environment, 644, pp.683-695. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/download/62993747/Hayrol_-_systematic_review20200417-41047-1inxdns.pdf

Thierfelder, C., Chivenge, P., Mupangwa, W., Rosenstock, T.S., Lamanna, C. and Eyre, J.X., 2017. How climate-smart is conservation agriculture (CA)?–its potential to deliver on adaptation, mitigation and productivity on smallholder farms in southern Africa. Food Security, 9(3), pp.537-560. Available at: http://oar.icrisat.org/10078/1/10.1007%252Fs12571-017-0665-3.pdf

Ünal, Z., 2020. Smart Farming Becomes Even Smarter With Deep Learning—A Bibliographical Analysis. IEEE Access, 8, pp.105587-105609. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6287639/8948470/09108212.pdf

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