Integrated Farming System is a holistic approach in which different enterprises are utilized in a collaborative way, wherein the resources are managed efficiently so that waste output of one enterprise serves as the input for another. Due to an ever-increasing population, the arable land is becoming increasingly scarcer per person, leaving little room for horizontal agricultural expansion. There are 115 million working farms in India, with about 80% of them being small or marginal farmers. With Integrated Farming System, the living standards of these farmers can be enhanced by efficient utilization of different enterprises. The IFS is actually a mixed farming system wherein different enterprises like dairy, fish, poultry, and other beneficial enterprises give an enhanced returns with lower risks, which can intermediate the losses of crops in case of severe climatic conditions. Under IFS, various enterprises having lower dependency on severe weather circumstances, the farmer is comparatively on safer side as far as the adversities of crop losses are concerned There are many advantages to integrated farming systems (IFS), such as a more efficient use of farm resources and an eco-friendlier strategy to farming. As a system of crop and livestock farming, IFS consists of at least two distinct but logically interdependent parts. Water efficiency, weed and pest control, and soil health can all be improved with IFS. It also helps to maintain water quality. Chemical fertilisers, weed killers, and pesticides should be used sparingly in an integrated farming system in order to protect the environment from their harmful effects. Adopting an Integrated Farming System (IFS) ensures a stable and long-term source of farm income by integrating a number of businesses to make the most of the land's natural resources. IFS itself is important for sustainable development of farmer by improving yield, economic return, employment generation, nutritional security and livelihood.

A field experiment on "Response of Sweet corn hybrid to establishment methods and weed management practices under temperate conditions" was conducted at research farm of Faculty of Agriculture (SKUAST-K) kharif during 2017. The treatments comprised of three establishment methods (Transplanting polypot (TP),Transplanting nursery (TN) and Direct Seeding (DS) and six weed management practices (Atrazine @ 1.5 kg a.i. ha -1 as pre emergence + hand weeding and intercultivation at 30 days after sowing (W1), Pendimethalin @ 1.0kg a.i. ha -1 as pre emergence + hand weeding and intercultivation at 30 days after sowing DAS (W2), Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg a.i. ha -1 pre emergence + Sulfosulfuran 60 g a.i. ha -1 as post emergence at 30 DAS (W3), Atrazine @ 1.5 kg a.i. ha -1 as pre emergence +Tumbotrione 120 g a.i. ha -1 as post emergence at 30 DAS (W4), Weed free (W5), Weedy check(W6) laid out in RCBD with three replications. Sweet corn variety Sugar-75 of Syngenta was used as the test variety. The seedling parameters were significantly superior in transplanting polyplot sown in green house. All the growth parameters (viz. plant height, dry matter production, leaf area index), days to tasseling, days to silking and yield parameters viz. number of cobs plant-1, number of grains cob -1 , green cob yield and stover yield and harvest index) were observed to be significantly higher in transplanting polyplot. The plant height, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation and number of leaves were observed to be significantly higher in treatment of atrazine @ 1.5 kg a.i. ha -1 as pre emergence + tembotrione 120 g a.i. ha -1 as post emergence at 30 DAS (W4). Yield parameters viz., green cob yield and green fodder yield increased significantly in treatment of atrazine @ 1.5 kg a.i. ha -1 as pre emergence + tembotrione 120 g a.i. ha -1 as post emergence at 30 DAS (W4). It can concluded that under existing conditions transplanted polypot in combination with application of atrazine @ 1.5 kg a.i. ha -1 (pre-emergence) + tembotrione @ 120 g a.i. ha -1 (post-emergence) (TPW4) showed highest benefit cost ratio of 7.97 and proved superior for realizing higher yield and profitability of sweet corn under temperate conditions.

Heavy metals (HMs) are unique products, and as a result of their uniqueness, they cannot be converted into non-toxic forms. Both natural and man-made sources, such as mining, industry, and automobile emissions, release heavy metals into the environment. They enter subsurface waters through waterways or are carried away by runoff into surface waters, damaging both the water and the land at the same time. Because of population growth, industrialisation, and urbanisation, HM pollution is on the rise. Organic and inorganic pollutants are now poisoning a large area of the world, with heavy metal pollution becoming a serious problem in recent years. Toxic heavy metal has a detrimental influence on plant growth, which also damages DNA, and causes cancer in animals and humans. To remove, transport, stabilise, and breakdown contaminants from soil, sediment, and water, phytoremediation employs plants. Rhizofiltration, phytostabilization, phytovolatization, phytodegradation, and phytotransformation are some of its processes. Due to its advantages as a low-cost, effective, and environmentally friendly way of eliminating dangerous metals from the soil, phytoremediation has grown in favour in recent years. Field crops can create a thick green canopy on disturbed soil, improving the landscape and reducing contaminant movement through water, wind, and percolation. This increases the effectiveness of phytoremediation. More than 400 plant species, including the well-known Ricinus communis, Thlaspi, Brassica, and Arabidopsis, Helianthus annuus, Zea mays, and Brassica napus, have been identified as having potential for soil and water remediation. In this review article, we discuss the factors that contribute to heavy metal pollution, phytoremediation technology, the method by which heavy metals are taken up, and various studies that describe its practical use.

Rye, oats, barley, corn, triticale, millet, and sorghum are among the cereals cultivated in various countries. With more than half of theworld’s grain production going to wheat and rice, these two crops are the most significant on the planet. Human have traditionallyconsumed cereals, which are staple foods and significant nutrient sources in both developed and developing nations. Cereal goodscontain a variety of micronutrients, including vitamin E, several B vitamins, magnesium, and zinc, and are a significant source of energy,carbohydrate, and protein. All living species, including crop plants, require a number of fundamental elements in order to maintaindevelopment and cell processes as well as to complete the life cycle. For the development and production of plants, vital minerals arenecessary. Essential minerals are indispensable for plant growth and production. There are a variety of recognized essential mineralelements that are mostly accumulated from the soil. However, the soils of the Indian subcontinent have been deficient in some nutrientsas a result of years of extensive agriculture and unbalanced fertilizer use. Under nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) nutrientstress, leaf characteristics show different deficiency symptoms, according to the plant nutrition process. For crop nutrient management,it is critical to develop a reliable, fast, and modified method for diagnosing crop nutrition. Improving fertilizer efficiency is a majorconcern for managing crop production and maintaining soil economic productivity.

The UN Sustainability Goals emphasise on use of renewable sources of energy viz wind, solar, hydro power, biomass etc which are increasingly becoming important in the global energy mix. India with a 900 GW potential, aims to have 175 GW by 2022 and about 40% of total power production from renewable sources by 2030 with solar source contributing the most (83 %). Solar energy is the most fundamental renewable energy resource with many agricultural applications. The abundance of solar energy makes it suitable for electricity and thermal applications and hence can be used in agriculture in photovoltaic electricity generation, powering irrigation, crop and grain drying, pesticide application, green house heating and ventilation, cold storages etc. North western Himalayan regions are energy-poor with high energy requirements. Low ambient temperature, high Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and Direct Net Irradiance (DNI) of 4.8-6.43 kWh per square metre per day indicate huge solar potential, higher solar photovoltaic electricity and solar thermal production efficiency. Solar energy can replace or supplement conventional sources used for domestic and agricultural applications in the region. However, the use of solar energy is limited by policy and regulatory obstacles, financial obstacles, land availability constraints and low PV conversion efficiency. Hence a robust policy, financial measures and technological refinement are needed to remove the bottlenecks. In this paper, attempts have been made to discuss solar energy use in agriculture, scope in the north western Himalayan region of India and future recommended strategies.