3.3 Agriculture types Flashcards
Types of farming
Subsistence and commercial farming.
* Subsistence: Extensive and Intensive farming.
* Commercial farming: Arable, Pastoral Farming and Mixed farming.
Subsistence Farming
- Cultivation of food to meet the needs of the farmers and their families
- Low levels of technology and small amount of labour is used
Types of Subsistence Farming
- Intensive Subsistence Farming
- Extensive/Primitive Subsistence Farming
Intensive Subsistence Farming
Small plots of land with high-
* labor,
* inputs (fertilizers, machinery)
* outputs
what is Extensive/Primitive Subsistence Farming
Small amount of production from a large area of land
Types of Extensive/Primitive Subsistence Farming
Shifting cultivation
Nomadic Herding
Shifting cultivation
- Farmers clear forested land, burn the vegetation, and use the ashes to fertilize the soil.
- After three to four years, the soil loses its fertility. The land is then abandoned to regenerate its natural fertility, and the cultivator moves to a new plot and repeats the same process.
- Crops: Maize, yams, potatoes, and cassava.
Nomadic Herding
Herders move from one place to another with their animals for fodder and water
Commercial farming
- Crops are grown, animals are reared for profit in market
- The area of cultivation is very large
- Amount of human labour is less.
Types of Commercial farming
- arable
- pastoral
- mixed
arable farming
- Production of plants for consumption by humans.
- Eg: Growing Rice, wheat and soybeans.
- The size of the production can vary
- There can be subsistence arable or commercial arable farming.
pastoral farming
- Production of animals or animal related products.
- Eg: Meat,milk,wool,egg etc.
Mixed farming
Land is used for growing food or fodder crops and for rearing livestock.
