Crop-livestock interaction is defined as a type of land use system in which cropping and livestock husbandry are done side by side. In addition to ensuring sustainable output and preserving ecological balance, the production system has no adverse environmental effects. Currently, there are two major obstacles to global food security: the population's inadequate diets of protein and energy with the majority of farmers in emerging nations being smallholder subsistence or landless. Secondly specialized intensive agriculture techniques frequently degrade the environment and soil. One agricultural technique that might be very helpful in reducing these difficulties is ICLS. An integrated crop-livestock production system appears to offer a way to produce and deliver food that comes from both crops and animals without negatively affecting the delicate ecosystem. Crops and animals work together in this integrated system to provide a synergy that enables sustainable production intensification and ecosystem balance. Although ICLS practices have grown over time, market competitiveness, producer skill gaps, sustained knowledge gaps, and a lack of investment continue to be adoption barriers. In order to successfully execute ICLS and provide new marketing opportunities, organizations and/or institutions must promote ICLS adoption and government initiatives that offer subsistence farmers access to markets, capital, and educational resources. The idea, tenets, methods, benefits and limitations of the crop-livestock production system have all been thoroughly documented in this chapter. Furthermore, the significance of the crop-livestock interactions for maintaining ecological balance as well as for sustainable crop and livestock production has also been discussed.
Agriculture; Crop-livestock interaction; Income; Livestock; Small-scale farmers; Sustainability
Alberta SPCA. 2014. Need to know: sustainable livestock production systems. Accessed from: www.ctsanimals.ca/va3040/resources/toKnow/pdfBC+SH_3040_6-2.pdf on 12th July 2018
Altieri, M.A., Funes-Monzote, F.R. and Petersen, P., 2012. Agroecologically efficient agricultural systems for smallholder farmers: contributions to food sovereignty. Agronomy for sustainable development, 32(1), pp.1-13.
Anderson, M. and Dennis, R., 1994. Improving animal-based transport: options, approaches, issues and impact. Improving animal traction technology, 18, p.23.
Andrieu, N., Vayssières, J., Corbeels, M., Blanchard, M., Vall, E. and Tittonell, P., 2015. From farm scale synergies to village scale trade-offs: Cereal crop residues use in an agro-pastoral system of the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. Agricultural Systems, 134, pp.84-96.
Asachi G (2010) Sustainable agriculture development- concepts, principles, eco-efficiency, ecoequity, eco-conditioning. CercetAgron Moldova XLIII
Asai, M., Langer, V. and Frederiksen, P., 2014. Responding to environmental regulations through collaborative arrangements: Social aspects of manure partnerships in Denmark. Livestock Science, 167, pp.370-380.
Azadi, H., Samiee, A., Mahmoudi, H., Jouzi, Z., RafiaaniKhachak, P., De Maeyer, P. and Witlox, F., 2016. Genetically modified crops and small-scale farmers: main opportunities and challenges. Critical reviews in biotechnology, 36(3), pp.434-446.
Baiyeri, P.K., Foleng, H.N., Machebe, N.S. and Nwobodo, C.E., 2019. Crop-livestock interaction for sustainable agriculture. Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture, pp.557-582.
Carvalho, P.C.D.F., Peterson, C.A., Nunes, P.A.D.A., Martins, A.P., de Souza Filho, W., Bertolazi, V.T., Kunrath, T.R., de Moraes, A. and Anghinoni, I., 2018. Animal production and soil characteristics from integrated crop-livestock systems: toward sustainable intensification. Journal of animal science, 96(8), pp.3513-3525.
Ellis, F. and Freeman, H.A., 2004. Rural livelihoods and poverty reduction strategies in four African countries. Journal of development studies, 40(4), pp.1-30.
Entz, M.H., Bellotti, W.D., Powell, J.M., Angadi, S.V., Chen, W., Ominski, K.H. and Boelt, B., 2005. Evolution of integrated crop-livestock production systems. In Grassland: a global resource (pp. 137-148). Wageningen Academic.
Erenstein, O. and Thorpe, W., 2010. Crop–livestock interactions along agro-ecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 12(5), pp.669-689.
Ezeaku, I.E., Mbah, B.N., Baiyeri, K.P. and Okechukwu, E.C., 2015. Integrated crop-livestock farming system for sustainable agricultural production in Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 10(47), pp.4268-4274.
FAO, Food Security, Policy Brief, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 2018, p. 4.
Food Program (2018) Sustainable crop production. Accessed from http://www.sustainabletable. org/249/sustainable-crop-production on 12th July, 2018
Garrett, R.D., Niles, M.T., Gil, J.D., Gaudin, A., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Assmann, A., Assmann, T.S., Brewer, K., de FaccioCarvalho, P.C., Cortner, O.J.A.S. and Dynes, R., 2017. Social and ecological analysis of commercial integrated crop livestock systems: Current knowledge and remaining uncertainty. Agricultural Systems, 155, pp.136-146.
Herrero, M.T., Thornton, P.K., Notenbaert, A.M.O., Msangi, S., Wood, S., Kruska, R.L., Dixon, J.A., Bossio, D.A., Steeg, J.V.D., Freeman, H.A. and Li, X., 2010. Drivers of change in crop-livestock systems and their potential impacts on agro-ecosystems services and human well-being to 2030.
Lemaire, G., Franzluebbers, A., de FaccioCarvalho, P.C. and Dedieu, B., 2014. Integrated crop–livestock systems: Strategies to achieve synergy between agricultural production and environmental quality. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 190, pp.4-8.
Martin, G., Moraine, M., Ryschawy, J., Magne, M.A., Asai, M., Sarthou, J.P., Duru, M. and Therond, O., 2016. Crop–livestock integration beyond the farm level: a review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 36(3), p.53.
Moraine, M., Duru, M., Nicholas, P., Leterme, P. and Therond, O., 2014. Farming system design for innovative crop-livestock integration in Europe. Animal, 8(8), pp.1204-1217.
Nardone, A., Ronchi, B., Lacetera, N., Ranieri, M.S. and Bernabucci, U., 2010. Effects of climate changes on animal production and sustainability of livestock systems. Livestock Science, 130(1-3), pp.57-69.
Niles, M.T., Garrett, R.D. and Walsh, D., 2018. Ecological and economic benefits of integrating sheep into viticulture production. Agronomy for sustainable development, 38, pp.1-10.
Niu, Y., Zhu, H., Yang, S., Ma, S., Zhou, J., Chu, B., Hua, R. and Hua, L., 2019. Overgrazing leads to soil cracking that later triggers the severe degradation of alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau. Land Degradation & Development, 30(10), pp.1243-1257.
Notenbaert, A., Herrero, M., De Groote, H., You, L., Gonzalez-Estrada, E. and Blummel, M., 2013. Identifying recommendation domains for targeting dual-purpose maize-based interventions in crop-livestock systems in East Africa. Land Use Policy, 30(1), pp.834-846.
Österle, N., Angassa, A., Tadesse, A., Ebro, A., Sauerborn, J. and Treydte, A.C., 2012. Crop-livestock farming systems varying with different altitudes in southern Ethiopia. Science, Technology and Arts Research Journal, 1(4), pp.01-13.
Ponnusamy, K. and Devi, M.K., 2017. Impact of integrated farming system approach on doubling farmers’ income. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 30.
Powell, J.M., Pearson, R.A. and Hiernaux, P.H., 2004. Crop–livestock interactions in the West African drylands. Agronomy journal, 96(2), pp.469-483.
Rangnekar, D.V., 2006. Livestock in the livelihoods of the underprivileged communities in India: A review.ILRI
Romeo, A., Meerman, J., Demeke, M., Scognamillo, A. and Asfaw, S., 2016. Linking farm diversification to household diet diversification: evidence from a sample of Kenyan ultra-poor farmers. Food security, 8, pp.1069-1085.
Rufino, M.C., Rowe, E.C., Delve, R.J. and Giller, K.E., 2006. Nitrogen cycling efficiencies through resource-poor African crop–livestock systems. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 112(4), pp.261-282.
Russelle, M.P., Entz, M.H. and Franzluebbers, A.J., 2007. Reconsidering integrated crop–livestock systems in North America. Agronomy journal, 99(2), pp.325-334.
Schiere, H., Louis Baumhardt, R., Van Keulen, H., Whitbread, A.M., Bruinsma, A.S., Goodchild, T., Gregorini, P., Slingerland, M. and Hartwell, B., 2006. Mixed CropâLivestock Systems in Semiarid Regions. Dryland agriculture, 23, pp.227-291.
Sekaran, U., Lai, L., Ussiri, D.A., Kumar, S. and Clay, S., 2021. Role of integrated crop-livestock systems in improving agriculture production and addressing food security–A review. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 5, p.100190.
Singh, Y.P., Naresh, R.K., Singh, P.K., Singh, H.L., Rathi, R.C. and Singh, S., 2011. Crop-livestock interaction to food security and sustainable development of agriculture for small and marginal farmers in northwest India. The Journal of Rural and Agricultural Research, 11(2), pp.6-13.
Souchère, V., Millair, L., Echeverria, J., Bousquet, F., Le Page, C. and Etienne, M., 2010. Co-constructing with stakeholders a role-playing game to initiate collective management of erosive runoff risks at the watershed scale. Environmental Modelling & Software, 25(11), pp.1359-1370.
Soussana, J.F. and Lemaire, G., 2014. Coupling carbon and nitrogen cycles for environmentally sustainable intensification of grasslands and crop-livestock systems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 190, pp.9-17.
Sustainable Development Network of the United Nations (SDSN) (2013) Solutions for sustainable agriculture and food systems. A technical report for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, 18 September
Thornton, P.K., Rosenstock, T., Förch, W., Lamanna, C., Bell, P., Henderson, B. and Herrero, M., 2018. A qualitative evaluation of CSA options in mixed crop-livestock systems in developing countries. Climate smart agriculture: Building resilience to climate change, pp.385-423.
Wolfe, E.C., 2011. Interactions between crop and livestock activities in rainfed farming systems. Rainfed farming systems, pp.271-298.
