ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenges facing rainfed agriculture and the potential contribution of crop-livestock-horticulture integrated systems towards agricultural growth and sustainability. Rainfed farming has a distinct place in Indian Agriculture, occupying 67% of the cultivated area, contributing 44% of the food grains and supporting 40% of the human and 65% of the livestock population. Under rainfed conditions, integrating livestock with perennial crops offers a unique opportunity to produce valuable animal products on land that is currently used for other purposes, making the overall system more sustainable and environmentally sound. The livestock production systems are rather complex and generally based on traditional and socio-economic considerations, mainly guided by available feed resources. Food production is the primary objective, but the role of animals clearly surpasses this function. Within integrated systems, animals play a particularly vital role, the extent of which is dependent on the type of production system, animal species and scale of the operation.
