Subsistence Agriculture
by Jendela Ilmu in Speech Topics 0
Subsistence agriculture is a labor-intensive method of cultivating meals crops, which is ample for the farmer and his family. The manufacturing is done on a small scale which is sufficient to feed a small population. Self-sufficiency is primarily focused in subsistence farming, due to which surplus food is reduced. A complete family or a small society is dependent upon subsistence farming for their livelihood. In many elements of the world like Africa, Indonesia, Latin America, south and east Asia and some remoted areas, subsistence farming is prevalent and the people feed themselves and their household, by cultivating food crops on their own fields.
Examples of Subsistence Agriculture
* A farmer grows wheat in his area which is enough to make bread for him and his family.
* A family has only one camel that gives milk for them.
Subsistence Farming
"Subsistence farming is a form of farming in which nearly all the crops or livestock raised are used to take care of the farmer and his family, leaving little, if any, surplus on the market or commerce". Barnett et al. explains subsistence farming as ~ "farming and related actions which together kind a livelihood strategy the place the primary output is consumed immediately, the place there are few if any purchased inputs and where only a minor proportion of output is marketed". Subsistence farmers, additionally hunt animals, get fruits and vegetables from the woods and add it to the meals they produced from their lands. They domesticate crops like cotton in a small space of their land and sell it out there, to get other important commodities. Depending upon the socioeconomic circumstances of the farmers, the scale of their plot varies. The plot measurement also reduces because the number of shares will increase, depending on the number of persons inheriting the land from their father.
Subsistence agriculture may be divided into three components:
* Herding animals like goats, sheep, cows etc.
* Cultivating crops like rice, wheat etc.
* Working towards combined-farming
Varieties of Subsistence Agriculture
Extensive Subsistence Agriculture
The land concerned within the cultivation of intensive subsistence agriculture method, is giant and the people concerned within the manufacturing process per unit hectare is less.
Nomadic Herding, is a part of extensive subsistence agriculture. Relying up on the natural forage, the livestocks raised by the subsistence farmers are fed in the pastoral lands. The animals like camel, that are concerned within the nomadic herding, have the traits of hardiness, mobility and flexibility to the move around in numerous climatic conditions. Resulting from altering financial and social system, nomadic teams are declining.
Shifting Agriculture is practiced by subsistence farmers within the intensive agricultural system. In the sort of farming, rotation of lands somewhat than rotation of crops is practiced by the farmers. The lands, as a result of continuous cultivation and nurturing, lose the essential nutrients within the soil. So, rotation of fields is necessary. This course of is known as shifting agriculture. Slash-and-burn is likely one of the methods used in shifting agriculture.
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
In intensive subsistence agriculture methodology, a big area of cultivable subject is split into small plots and the farming is completed intensively by the labors, working per unit area of the field. Head of Cattle are also employed within the discipline by the peasants. Densely populated monsoon areas is good for finishing up this type of farming. Moist rice is especially related to intensive subsistence agriculture, and it is grown predominantly in Asian countries. Different crops cultivated in the sort of agriculture includes wheat, barley, etc. Though oxen and few instruments like hoes, rakes etc., are involved in the cultivation, the work is done by hand, due to which lots of time is consumed to complete the cultivation process. An enormous mass of population is benefited by this type of farming.
Subsistence farming is a traditional agricultural technique which remains to be a livelihood for many people across the world. The subsistence farmers are dealing with many issues attributable to increasing complexities reminiscent of population development, international trade, low socio-economic and financial situations, low availability of lands, rising drug crops, introduction of agricultural tools and technologies etc.
"Contrasting sharply, within the developing international locations represented by India, Pakistan, and most of the international locations in Asia and Africa, seventy to eighty % of the inhabitants is engaged in agriculture, principally at the subsistence level." ~ Norman Borlaug
By Suganya Sukumar
Revealed: 9/7/2011
