This is a very complex and serious problem, when share of agriculture in gross domestic product
is declining, average size of land holding is contracting and number of operational holdings is
increasing. It is imperative to develop strategies that enable adequate employment and income
generation, especially for small and marginal farmers who constitute more than 80 percent of the
farming community. Under the gradual shrinking of land holding, horizontal expansion of land
based enterprises is not possible. Hence, vertical integration land based enterprises within the socioeconomic
environment of the farmers will make farming more profitable and dependable. Therefore,
Farming systems approach is a valuable approach to addressing the problems of sustainable economic
growth for farming communities in India. Hence, integrated farming systems are viewed as a sustainable
alternative to commercial farming systems particularly on marginal lands with the objective of reversing
resource degradation and stabilizing farm incomes. The literature on the contribution of integrated
farming systems in achieving sustainable rural livelihood security has been reviewed in this paper