3. What is Agriculture?
Agriculture is the set of activities that
transform the environment for the
production of animals and plants for human
use. Agriculture concerns techniques,
including the application of agronomic
research.
4. Farm System
A farming system is defined as a population of individual
farm systems that have broadly similar resource bases.
Agriculture or farming can be looked at as a system. The
important inputs are seeds, fertilizers, machinery and
labour. Some of the operations involved are ploughing,
sowing, irrigation, weeding and harvesting. The outputs
from the system include crops, wool, dairy and poultry
products.
CROP FARM
WOOL FARM
DAIRY FARM
5. Types of farming
Farming is practiced in various ways across the world .Depending upon the
geographical conditions, demand of produce, labour and level of technology,
farming . A farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted
primarily to the practice of producing and managing food fibers and,
increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF FARMING
Dry and irrigated farming,
ranching ,
mixed farming,
single-crop and multi-crop farming ,
tube-well farming .
TYPES OF FARMING IN INDIA
Tube-well farming,
Mixed farming.
FARMING ARE CLASSIFIED INTO
Subsistence farming,
Commercial farming.
6. Subsistence Farming
Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which
farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families.
The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals
needed by the family to eat during the year. Planting decisions
are made with an eye toward what the family will need during
the coming year, rather than market prices. This type of farming
is practiced to meet the needs of the farmer’s family.
Traditionally, low levels of technology and household lobour
are used to produce on small output. Subsistence farming can
be further classified as intensive subsistence and primitive
subsistence farming.
7. Intensive subsistence agricultureIntensive agriculture is the primary subsistence
pattern . The development of intensive
farming methods became necessary as the
human population grew in some major river
valleys to levels beyond the carrying capacity
of the environment using horticulture and
pastoralism. The transition to intensive
agriculture was originally made possible by
water management systems and the
domestication of large animals for pulling
plows. This allowed farmers to get below the
top soil to bring buried nutrients up to the
surface. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture is
the cultivation of small land holdings through
the expenditure of great amounts of labor. In
this agriculture the farmer cultivates a small
plot of land using simple tools and more
labour. It is prevalent in the thickly populated
areas of the monsoon regions of south,
southeast and east Asia.
8. Primitive subsistence agriculture
A form of agriculture where almost all the
produce goes to feed and support the
household and is not for sale. Some of
the output may be bartered. If there is
no market trade in any surplus, the
economy is classed as tribal or
‘primitive’; if some of the surplus is sold
for necessities, such as salt. The various
types of farming in India are: Primitive
Subsistence Farming At present, in
different parts of India, the following
farming systems are practiced.
Primitive Subsistence Farming This
type of farming is still practiced in few
pockets of India. Primitive subsistence
agriculture is practiced on small patches
of land with the help of primitive tools
like hoe, Dao and digging sticks.
9. Shifting Cultivation
Shifting Cultivation is
practiced by primitive tribes
in the forested highlands of
the Amazon Basin, Congo
Basin, Papua New Guinea,
etc. While cultivated using
shifting cultivation,
tropical/equatorial rainforest
nutrient is mainly locked up
in the biomass with little
nutrient in the soil. Also, the
cycling of nutrients is rapid.
It is also known as slash and
burn cultivation agriculture
because the plant and trees
of this land are burnt by the
owner .
10. Nomadic Herding
when farmers constantly move place to
place because more feed is available or
for other reasons that benefit the nomad.
Herding is the act of bringing individual
animals together into a group,
maintaining the group and moving the
group from place to place — or any
combination of those. Nomadic Herding –
the wandering, but controlled movement
of livestock, solely dependent on natural
forage – is the most extensive type of land
use system. Sheep and goats are the most
common with cattle, horses and yaks
locally important. The common
characteristics are hardiness, mobility
and ability to subsist on sparse forage.
These animals provide milk, cheese, meat,
hair, wool and skins and dung for fuel.
11. Commercial agriculture
Commercial agriculture: The
production of crops for sale,
crops intended for widespread
distribution to wholesalers or
retail outlets (e.g. supermarkets).
In commercial farming wheat,
maize, tea, coffee, sugarcane,
cashew, rubber, banana, cotton
are harvested. Commercial
agriculture includes livestock
production and livestock grazing.
Commercial agriculture does not
include crops grown for
household consumption (e.g.
backyard garden or from a
vegetable garden or a few fruit
trees.)
12. Mixed Farming
Commercial farming is a progression
from Diversified (sometimes called
Mixed farming), when the farmer's
intention is to produce goods for sale
primarily for widespread consumption
by others. The farmer may acquire a
sufficiently large amount of arable
land and/or sufficiently advanced
technology (such as hybrid seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides, etc.). At this
point, it may become more profitable
for the farmer to specialize and focus
on one or a few particular crops due to
economies of scale. This may be
further augmented by higher levels of
technology that might significantly
reduce the risk of poor harvests.
13. Plantation
A plantation is a large artificially
established forest, farm or estate,
where crops are grown for sale, often
in distant markets rather than for
local on-site consumption. The term
plantation is o and not precisely
defined. Crops grown on plantations
include fast-growing trees (often
conifers), cotton, coffee, tobacco,
sugar cane, sisal, some oil
seeds(notably oil palms) and rubber
trees. Farms that produce alfalfa,
Lespedeza, clover, and other forage
crops are usually not called
plantations. The term "plantation"
has usually not included large
orchards(except for banana
plantations), but does include the
planting of trees for lumber.
14. Major Crops
Rice is the main grain crop of India.
India ranks second in the world in
production of rice. About 34% of the
total cultivated area if the nation is
under rice cultivation. Out of the total
production of food grains, production
of rice is 42%. Rice is cultivated in
areas having annual average rainfall
of 125 cm and average temperature of
23 degree Celsius.
wheat: Wheat is the second major crop in India.
It is cultivated in the Rabi season. There was a
significant increase in the production of wheat
after the Green Revolution. Improved seeds,
proper application of fertilizers and irrigation,
these three factors are utilized.
Wheat is cultivated in areas with mean annual
rainfall of 75 cm and fertile soil. The highest
quantity of wheat in the country is in Uttar
Pradesh. 35 % of wheat is produced only in
Uttar Pradesh. This is produced by Punjab and
Haryana where production of wheat is on a
large scale.
15. The millets are a group of
small-seeded species of cereal
crops or grains, widely
grown around the world for
food and fodder. They do not
form a taxonomic group, but
rather a functional or
agronomic one. Their
essential similarities are that
they are small-seeded grasses
grown in difficult production
environments such as those
at risk of drought.
Maize is commonly known as corn in
some countries. The growing of corn
first began in Mesoamerica and has
since spread throughout the
American continents. Today maize is
the largest crop in the Americas.
There has been much disagreement
about the origin of maize in
Mesoamerica. There are some
reports that the Spanish first grew
maize in southern Mexico. The
domestication of maize has been
dated back as far back as 12,000
years ago.
16. Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple
fiber that grows in a boll
around the seeds of the cotton
plant. The plant is a shrub
native to tropical and
subtropical regions around the
world, including the Americas,
Africa, India, and Pakistan.
The fiber most often is spun
into yarnor thread and used to
make a soft, breathable textile,
which is the most widely used
natural-fiber cloth in clothing.
Jute is a long, soft,
shiny vegetable
fiber that can be
spun into coarse,
strong threads.
Jute is one of the
most affordable
natural fibers.
Jute fibre is often
called hessian;
jute fabrics are
also called hessian
cloth and jute
sacks are called
gunny bags in
some European
countries. The
fabric made from
jute is popularly
known as
burlapin North
America.
17. Coffee are shrubs or small trees, native to
subtropical Africa and southern Asia. Seeds of
several species are the source of the popular
beverage coffee. After their outer hull is removed,
the seeds are commonly called "beans". Coffee
beans are widely cultivated in tropical and sub-
tropical countries on plantations, for both local
consumption and export to probably every other
country in the world. Coffee ranks as one of the
world's most valuable and widely traded
commodity crops and is an important export of a
number of countries.
Tea is the agricultural product of the
leaves, leaf buds. There are at least six
varieties of tea: white, yellow, green,
oolong, black, and pu-erh of which the
most commonly found on the market are
white, green, oolong, and black. All teas
are made from the same species of plant,
though different varieties may be used,
and the leaves are processed differently,
and, in the case of fine white tea, grown
differently. Pu-erh tea, a post-fermented
tea, is also often used medicinally.
18. Agricultural Development
Growth in agriculture is twice as effective in reducing
poverty as growth in other sectors. It refers to efforts
made to increase farm production in order to meet the
growing demand of increasing population. This can be
achieved in many ways such as increasing the cropped
area, the number of crops grown, improving irrigation
facilities, use of fertilizers and high yielding variety of
seeds. Mechanisation of agriculture is also another
aspect of agricultural development is to increase food
security.
Agriculture has developed at different places in
different parts of the world. Developing countries with
large populations usually practice intensive agriculture
where crops are grown on small holdings mostly for
subsistence. Larger holdings are more suitable for
commercial agriculture as in USA, Canada and
Australia. With the help of two case studies of farms-
one from India and the other from USA.
19. A Farm in India
Agriculture in India has a long history dating
back to ten thousand years. Today, India
ranks second worldwide in farm output.
Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry
and logging accounted for 16.6% of the
GDP in 2007, employed 52% of the total
workforce[and despite a steady decline of
its share in the GDP, is still the largest
economic sector and plays a significant role
in the overall socio-economic development
of India. India is the largest producer in the
world of milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea,
ginger, turmeric and black pepper. It also
has the world's largest cattle population
(281 million).[It is the second largest
producer of wheat, rice, sugar, groundnut
and inland fish.[It is the third largest
producer of tobacco. India accounts for
10% of the world fruit production with first
rank in the production of banana and
sapota. India's population is growing faster
than its ability to produce rice and wheat.
20. A Farm in USA
Agriculture is a major
industry in the United States
and the country is a net
exporter of food. As of the last
census of agriculture in 2007,
there were 2.2 million farms,
covering an area of 922
million acres (373 million
hectares), an average of 418
acres (170 hectares) per farm.
Farm type is based on which
commodities are the majority crops
grown on a farm. Nine common types
include: Cash Grains includes corn,
soybeans and other grains (wheat, oats,
barley, sorghum), dry edible beans and
peas, and rice. Tobacco Cotton. Other
Field Crops includes peanuts, potatoes,
sunflowers, sweet potatoes, sugarcane,
broomcorn, popcorn, sugar beets, mint,
hops, seed crops, hay, silage, forage, etc.
Tobacco and cotton can be included here
if not in their own separate category.
High Value Crops includes fruits,
vegetables, melons, tree nuts, greenhouse
and nursery crops, and horticultural
specialties. Cattle Hogs Dairy Poultry
and Eggs
