- Integrated farming
Integrated farming (or integrated agriculture) refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production. Examples include:
* "pig tractor" systems where the animals are confined in crop fields well prior to planting and "plow" the field by digging for roots
* poultry used in orchards or vineyards after harvest to clear rotten fruit and weeds while fertilizing the soil
* cattle or other livestock allowed to grazecover crops between crops on farms that contain both cropland and pasture (or wheretranshumance is employed)More recently, however, it has been used to denote a system of agricultural techniques developed in
France in1993 byFARRE (Forum de l'Agriculture Raisonnée Respecteuse l'Environnement). It is an attempt to reconcile agricultural methods with the principles ofsustainable development , by balancing, in the words of FARRE, "food production, profitability, safety, animal welfare, social responsibility and environmental care."See also
*
Green technology
*Renewable energy development
*Restorative Development Initiative
*Sustainable agriculture External links
* [http://www.farre.org/ FARRE homepage]
* [http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5686E/x5686e07.htm Integrated farming of fish, crop and livestock]
* [http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC264E/AC264E13.htm Design an construction of an intergated fish farm]
* [http://www.scizerinm.org/chanarticle.html Integrated Farming System by George Chan]
* [http://integratedfarming.netcipia.net/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome wiki on integrated farming]
* [http://www.songhai.org Songhai Centre in Benin]
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