Rural livelihood is dependent on a number of factors including the integration of different farm enterprises which can supply all the basic needs of the families and at the same time could improve the lifestyles of the farm families. Assam is a land dominated by tribal, marginal and small farmers with poor resource base like lack of assured irrigation facilities, small operational holdings, insufficient transport and communication facilities, traditional technology, low input utilization in farm sector, small cash at the disposal of the farm families and so on. At the same time the demand for meat (protein) is increasing. Almost all the tribal farmers are rearing pigs of local breed with low productivity and small litter size. Pork is one of the main sources of protein for the tribal farmers. The availability of pigs was 4.2 per 100 people in Assam in 1987 which rose to 4.83 in 1999. As per the 2003 livestock census, the total pig population in Assam rose from 1.08 million in 1997 to 1.53 million only in 2003. The growth of pig population is due mainly to low productivity and poor reproductive efficiency. It was hypothesized that integration of pig with fisheries and vegetables farming along with cross bred pigs and proper management practices, the production efficiency of the homestead could be improved to a great extent. Under the present study as part of a Livelihood project under NAIP, ICAR, New Delhi, 1070 farmers with homestead ponds from three disadvantaged districts of Assam, namely, Kokrajhar, Diphu and Lakshimpur were provided with technological backstopping in the form of introduction of Hampshire male pig for improvement of local breed, services of de worming, introduction of Indian major carps in homestead ponds and vegetable cultivation in marginal land around the ponds. Our efforts were directed in establishing the fact that the available resources at the disposal of the farmers could be integrated and with little bit of technological intervention, the livelihood could be made more secure and the available natural resources could be manipulated for enhancing income to a great extent. After two cycles of litter, a group of 170 farmers were selected randomly for final data collection. The data were compared with the base data collected before start of the project. It was found that the farmers were able to earn an average income of Rs.1,16,875.00 per family from all the three components against a cost of Rs. 29,000.00. Income from pig farming was Rs. 19,200.00 only before IFS (Integrated Farming System) was introduced. The reproductive efficiency enhanced to a great extent as the farmers were able to get 34-36 piglets from two cycles on a unit of two female and one male pig. In addition, pig sludge recycled was 2.5 q/ family. As this was used as fish feed, it helped in maintenance of environmental hygiene. Moreover, a total of 114 additional man days was created.

Keyword: Rural livelihood ; Enterprises; Lifestyles; Farm families; Traditional technology; Management;