Study Suggests Coconut Based Integrated Farming as a Climate-Smart Model for Food Security

According to a recent study that uses Kerala as an example, coconut-based integrated farming not only offers the potential for improving crop biodiversity and farm productivity but also provides a way to sequester carbon. Growing a variety of agricultural crops that thrive in the shade, or "sciophytic" crops, is a component of the coconut-based farming system (CBFS).

Research Findings:

According to the study, the system has two advantages: it increases crop productivity, which ensures economic benefits, and it can be used as an illustration of a nature-based solution (NbS). It was carried out by a group under the direction of professor Jacob John from Kerala Agricultural University.

“Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, providing benefits to human well-being and biodiversity at the same time," according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

At the Integrated Farming System Research Station (IFSRS), Karamana, run by Kerala Agricultural University, John's team created an integrated farming system (IFS) model based on coconuts that were suitable for lowlands. The model uses a region of 0.2 hectares (ha), which corresponds to the average per-person land availability of the marginal farmer in the state based on their previous estimates. The model also includes intercrops like vegetable, fruit, spice, fodder, and tuber crops in addition to the major crop of coconut. Agroforestry, the farming of azolla, an aquatic fern that coexists symbiotically with blue-green algae and is an effective bio-fertilizer, and livestock farming are also included. The model now includes teak, jackfruit, breadfruit, garcinia, and mango tree species.

According to John, "Coconut, when grown as a monoculture, often leads farmers to distress, primarily due to crop loss associated with the incidences of pest and disease and market price fluctuations." In addition to the benefits to the environment from reducing the use of fertilisers, he claims that integrated farming using coconuts can increase the yield from a given unit area and result in a significant increase in farm income. The generation of more employment opportunities, which is described in the study, is further evidence of the social relevance of such systems, which is also quite encouraging.

Additionally, it is a "climate-smart" solution because it minimises the use of chemical fertilisers by producing plant nutrients from crop residues as well as livestock dung and urine, according to the report. The model produced annual plant nutrients totaling 177 kg of nitrogen, 89 kg of phosphorus, and 98 kg of potassium on average.

Additionally, the model yields net negative emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily due to agroforestry. Along with the main crop coconut, the inclusion of tree components like teak, mango, jackfruit, garcinia, rose apple, and breadfruit helps to accumulate above- and below-ground plant biomass, which has the ability to store carbon. According to the researchers, the agroforestry component accounts for over 90% of carbon sequestration.

Rajeswari Raina, an expert in agricultural economics and Professor at the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies at Shiv Nadar University close to Delhi, claims that coconut farming is one of the most organic agricultural systems. She cites the traditional Indian practise of burying coconut husks in the ground, which aids in soil water retention and groundwater recharge by preventing soil water runoff. Additionally, Raina adds, "the transformation of small farmer holdings into profit-making ones through the intensive use of land through diversification of crops, involving an integrated farming system with several crop combinations, helps generate additional income."

In order to increase the productivity and efficient use of land, energy, and water resources as well as the income of farm women, a project by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Central Institute of Women in Agriculture (ICAR-CIWA) attempted to standardize suitable intercrops in a coconut-based multi-storey cropping model with banana, papaya, and guava as second storey crops. In the spaces between the main crop, various ground-story intercrops, including cowpea, turmeric, elephant foot yam, and pineapple, were grown.