Economic Efficiency and Sustainability of Integrated Farming System Models in Samba District of Jammu and Kashmir

Agriculture remains the main livelihood source in India; however, small and marginal farmers continue to struggle with low incomes, nutritional deficiencies, and the degradation of natural resources. To address this issues, Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) offer a sustainable approach to address these issues by combining crop and allied enterprises to enhance resource use efficiency, profitability, and resilience. This study was conducted in the Samba district of Jammu & Kashmir to assess the composition, economic viability, diversification, System Economic Efficiency, and Sustainability of different IFS models followed by the farmers. Primary data were collected from 50 IFS farmers across the Nud and Purmandal blocks of Samba district through personal interview method. Seven IFS models were identified: FS-I (Crop + Dairy), FS-II (Crop + Poultry), FS-III (Crop + Dairy + Goatry), FS-IV (Crop + Dairy + Mushroom), FS-V (Crop + Dairy + Goatry + Poultry), FS-VI (Crop + Dairy + Goatry + Mushroom), and FS-VII (Crop + Dairy + Goatry + Poultry + Mushroom). The results indicated that FS-I was the most prevalent system (50% of households) due to its simplicity, while FS-VII, though least adopted (4%). The highest net returns (Rs. 349,780.3) and System Economic Efficiency (Rs. 191/day). Among all the IFS models, FS-VI recorded the highest Benefit-Cost ratio (2.34:1) and Sustainability Value Index (0.49), indicating its strong long-term viability. Based on Simpson's Index of Diversification, FS-VII emerged as the most diversified model (Crop SI = 0.57; Livestock SI = 0.52), whereas FS-I showed the lowest level of diversification. Overall, the findings suggest that multi-enterprise farming systems outperform traditional single-or dual-enterprise models in terms of profitability, sustainability, and resilience. The low adoption of complex IFS models highlights the need for financial support, capacity-building, and market linkages for better uptake of IFS models.