Types of Farming

Shifting Cultivation, Mixed Farming, Subsistence Farming

Contingent on the geological conditions, the interest for produce, work and level of innovation, cultivating can be arranged into two principal types: Subsistence cultivating and Commercial cultivating.

Subsistence Farming

It is practised in order to meet the needs of the farmer’s family. Customarily, low degrees of innovation and family work are utilised to deliver little result. It tends to be additionally named as Intensive resource and Primitive means cultivating.

Features of subsistence farming

  • The work is mostly done manually
  • Yield is not very high
  • Small farms are used for subsistence farming 
  • Most of the yield is consumed by the family only
  • The whole family works on the farm
  • Modern methods are not used in subsistence farming, only the traditional methods are used.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture:  

  • The rancher develops a little plot of land utilising simple devices and more work
  • Factors, for example, the environment with an enormous number of long stretches of daylight and better quality soils result in more than one yield yearly on a similar plot
  • Crops grown in intensive subsistence farming: Rice is the main crop,  various yields consist of wheat, maize, pulses, and oilseeds
  • This kind of horticulture is rehearsed in thickly populated spaces of the South, Southeast, and East Asia. 

Primitive Subsistence Farming

This is done solely to grow crops for the purpose of providing for oneself and one’s family. It includes shifting cultivation and nomadic herding. 

Shifting cultivation

  • It is rehearsed in the thickly forested spaces of the Amazon bowl, tropical Africa, portions of Southeast Asia, and Northeast India
  • These are the spaces of high precipitation and fast recovery of vegetation
  • It is also known as slash and burn agriculture, as a plot of land is cleared by felling the trees and burning them. The cinders are then blended in with the dirt and harvests like maize, sweet potato, potatoes, and cassava are developed 
  • After the dirt loses its ripeness, the land is deserted, and the cultivator moves to another plot

Nomadic Herding

  • It is practised in the semi-arid and arid regions of the Sahara, Central Asia, and some parts of India, like Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir
  • In this sort of cultivating, herders move from one spot to another with their creatures for feed and water, along characterized courses
  • Development emerges because of climatic imperatives and landscape. Sheep, camel, yak, and goats are most normally raised

Benefits of subsistence farming 

  • It is cheap and cost-effective 
  • Huge investment is not required 
  • The farming tools and techniques used are easily obtained and are not very expensive
  • It provides a source of employment for the family
  • It doesn’t require the hiring of labour
  • It is mostly based on indigenous tools.

Business Farming

In business farming, crops are developed and animals are raised to be purchased in the market. The area created and the proportion of capital used is gigantic. The vast majority of the work is finished by machines. Business farming incorporates business grain farming, blended farming and manor horticulture.

Characteristics of business or commercial farming 

  • It involves a large farm for agriculture 
  • It uses machines and modern techniques for farming 
  • It also uses chemical fertilizers 
  • Large scale production is done
  • A very few works is done manually
  • It requires huge capital investments

Commercial Grain Farming

  • In this farming, crops are grown for commercial purposes. Wheat and maize are some popular examples
  • Regions, where commercial grain cultivation is rehearsed, are mild meadows of North America, Europe and Asia
  • These regions are scantily populated, with enormous ranches spreading north of many hectares. Extreme winters confine the developing season and just a solitary harvest can be developed.

Mixed farming

  • In this cultivation, the land is utilised for developing food and feeding harvests and raising animals
  • It involves growing one or more crops on the same land 
  • It is polished in Europe, eastern USA, Argentina, southeast Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa

Plantation

  • In this farming, a single crop of tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, banana, or cotton are grown
  • A huge proportion of work and capital are required
  • Significant branches are found in the tropical districts of the world. For instance, Rubber in Malaysia, espresso in Brazil, tea in India and Sri Lanka and so forth
  • In a huge number of cases, produce from plantations is usually exported to countries that are developed
  • Plantations are restricted to continents with tropical climates
  • In India, plantations are mainly observed in the hills of northeast India, West Bengal, and Nilgiri Hills

Benefits of commercial farming 

  • It helps in encouraging the development of local infrastructure such as roads and electricity
  • It generates a lot of employment for the people
  • It helps in decreasing the cost of the products
  • It enhances food production, which ultimately enhances food security
  • It also promotes foreign exchange

Home Farming

  • This type of farming is done at home, usually for aesthetical or decorative purposes
  • It involves terrace farming and gardens
  • In this type of farming, any types of crops such as fruits, vegetables, flowers are grown in the same land
  • Under this, two kinds of farming exist: Container farming and Vertical farming
  • Vertical farming is simply a window garden
  • Mostly, it is used to grow vine crops and plants
  • Container farming, as the name suggests, involves farming in a very limited space
  • It is mainly done to grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers

Conclusion 

Thus, we can say that there are mainly two types of farming on the basis of geological conditions,  the interest for produce, work and level of innovation. Subsistence farming is practised to meet the needs of farmers’ families. In this farming, the work is mostly done manually, and the yield is not very high. Also, small farms are used for farming and the whole family works on the farm. Subsistence farming company of two types-intensive subsistence agriculture and primitive subsistence agriculture. The rancher develops a little plot of land utilizing straightforward devices and more work. Crops grown in intensive subsistence farming: Rice is the main crop. Various yields consolidate wheat, maize, pulses, and oilseeds. Primitive subsistence agriculture includes shifting cultivation and nomadic herding. In business farming, the crops are developed and animals are raised, available to be purchased in the market. It involves large farms for agriculture and uses machines and modern techniques for farming. It also uses chemical fertilizers and a very little work is done manually. Business farming includes commercial grain farming, mixed farming and plantation agriculture.