© 2015 PP House Evaluaton of Hortculture Based IFS Models for Providing Nutritonal Security to Small and Marginal Farmers of Western Plain Zone of Utar Pradesh, India Project Directorate for Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, UP (250 110), India Abstract Article History Correspondence to Keywords Manuscript No. IJEP26 Received in 31 st January, 2015 Received in revised form 24 th February, 2015 Accepted in fnal form 27 th February, 2015 The farm holding size of India has been declining over years as a result of indiscriminate fragmentation of land holding, industrialization and urbanization. Small farm holders including the small and marginal farmers constitute more than 86% of Indian farm families. Under such situation horticulture plays a signifcant role in contributing to food and livelihood security along with the employment generation. Three horticulture based modules viz. fruit tree based (CS-1, 0.3 ha), vegetable crops based (CS-2, 0.22 ha) and feld crop based (CS-3, 0.4 ha) were evaluated. In CS-1 mango, guava and banana were grown as the main crops whereas cucumber, radish, carrot and onion as intercrops in mango, brinjal, vegetable pea and okra as intercrop in guava and turmeric as intercrop in banana. In CS-2, turmeric, bottlegourd-caulifower-tomato and brinjal-potato were grown while under in CS-3 system Rice-wheat and sugarcane- sugarcane ratoon-wheat were grown. Results obtained from the study revealed that among the three modules, vegetable based system has been found most effective in terms of net returns for the frst two years. The net returns ha -1 from the vegetable based system was INR 151640 followed by CS-3 (INR 68765) followed by CS-1 being INR 44660. Vegetable based system also resulted in higher employment generation. Fruit based system gave lowest net returns hectare -1 as low yield was recorded from the fruit trees during the initial years. Initial results of the study revealed that through diversifcation of existing farming system livelihood of poor farmers can be improved signifcantly. * E-mail: pakhihorti@gmail.com Fruits, nutritional security, higher returns, Sustainable development, Vegetables Poonam Kashyap, Avinash Kansal, Ashisa Kumar Prusty and J. P. Singh 1. Introduction Agriculture continues to be a major source of livelihood in India. However, due to poor crop management practices, limited resources and lack of know-how the productivity and income from farms is low as evident from baseline survey reports. Therefore, major effort has been on identifcation and introduction of suitable crop varieties with location specifc management practices and diversifcation to vegetable crops for better remuneration. The major crop interventions include introduction of improved crop varieties, intercropping, crop diversifcation and seed production. The horticulture sector includes fruit crops, vegetable crops, potato and tuber crops, ornamental crops, medicinal and aromatic crops and spices and plantation crops. It contributes in poverty alleviation and nutritional security. Presently horticulture contributes 28% of agricultural GDP. The national goal of achieving 4.0% growth in agriculture can be achieved through major contribution from horticulture growth. Introduction of improved technology of vegetable production became an important component in overall livelihood improvement of the respective region. Vegetable crops are highly income intensive if improved management practices are adopted along with development of appropriate market linkages. They are also rich source of nutritional security. Horticulture is not only an integral part of food and nutritional security, but also an essential ingredient of economic security. Vegetable cultivation is considered one of the major sources of food security and income generation among the rural community. The role of horticulture is changing rapidly from traditional to high income generating activity. The process of transition from low-input largely subsistence horticulture to a more intensive market-oriented version presents many challenges. India’s share in world fruits and vegetables production is 10% and 13.28%, respectively. India is the second largest producer of horticultural crops in the world after China, but the productivity is very low. Since, fruits and vegetables are 015 Short Note International Journal of Economic Plants 2015, 2(1):015-017