Agriculture JSS1
Week 3
Topic: TYPES OF AGRICULTURE
Contents:
Types of Agriculture
Difference between Commercial and Subsistence Agriculture
A. Types of Agriculture
The two major types of agriculture are
- Commercial Agriculture
- Subsistence Agriculture
Commercial (Industrialized) Agriculture: Commercial or Industrialized farming occurs when a farm is set up for the sole purpose of producing crops and farm animals for sale, with the sole intention of making profit. In this type of agriculture, large quantities of crops and livestock are produced through industrialized techniques for the purpose of sale. The goal of industrialized agriculture is to increase crop yield, which is the amount of food that is produced for each unit of land. Crops and livestock made through this type of agriculture are produced to feed the masses and the products are sold worldwide.
Industrialized agriculture is able to produce large quantities of food due to the farming methods used. Instead of using animal and manpower to work the fields, industrialized agriculture utilizes large machines, which are more powerful and can work faster and harder. The shift towards machines has increased the use of fossil fuels on industrial farms, and, therefore, the price of food can fluctuate as the price of oil changes. Industrialized agriculture also increases crop yield by investing in large irrigation systems and by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The chemical fertilizers that are used in industrialized agriculture often add inorganic nutrients to the soil to increase yield and plant size. The use of pesticides is also common in industrialized agriculture, and most pesticides help increase yield by killing pests that are harming or consuming the crops.
Subsistence Agriculture: Mainly practiced by tribes of the tropics, especially in Africa, in tropical South Central America, and in South-east Asia; better known as shifting cultivation. Farmers grow food only for themselves and their families. Shifting cultivation goes by different names in different parts of the world.
Subsistence agriculture is when a farmer lives on a small amount of land and produces enough food to feed his or her household and have a small cash crop. The goal of subsistence agriculture is to produce enough food to ensure the survival of the individual family. If there is excess food produced, it is sold locally to other families or individuals.
Subsistence agriculture varies a great deal from industrialized agriculture in terms of the farming methods used. This type of agriculture is very labor-intensive because all of the work is done by humans and animals and only hand tools and simple machines are used to work the land.
Subsistence agriculture does not rely on chemical fertilizers or pesticides and instead utilizes more natural techniques. Most farmers have animals, including chickens, goats and cows, and the manure from these animals is used to fertilize the plants. The crops produced are then consumed or sold, and the inedible parts of the plants are used to feed the livestock. This creates a closed circuit within the farm where nothing goes to waste.
B. Differences Between Commercial and Subsistence Agriculture
Subsistence Agriculture
(i) Farming practices in which crops are cultivated for local consumption.
(ii) Farms are small and food crops are cultivated such as rice and wheat.
(iii) Old tools and implements are used by the farmers.
(iv) Depends on monsoon and there is greater use of manpower.
Commercial Agriculture
(i) Farming practice in which goods produced are mainly for the market to get cash.
(ii) Farms are larger and cash crops are cultivated. Such as cotton, sugar-cane, jute.
(iii) Better implements are used and there are proper irrigation facilities.
(iv) Less of manpower is used
Exercise
- Which of this type of agriculture can serve a nation? a) Mechanized agriculture b) Commercial agriculture c) Subsistence agriculture d) implement agriculture
- Give two similarities of the two types of agriculture.
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