Question

differentiate between subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture ​

Answer 1

Explanation:

Subsistence agriculture is the production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer and mostly found in less developed countries. In subsistence agriculture, small-scale farming is primarily grown for consumption by the farmer and their family. Sometimes if there is a surplus of food it might be sold, but that is not common. In commercial agriculture, the primary objective is to make a profit.

The largest type of agriculture practiced around the world is intensive subsistence agriculture, which is highly dependent on animal power, and is commonly practiced in the humid, tropical regions of the world. As the word implies, this form of subsistence agriculture is highly labor intensive on the farmer using limited space and limited waste. This is a very common practice in East, South, and Southeast Asia where population densities are high and land use is limited. The most common form is wet rice fields, but could also include non-wet rice fields like wheat and barley. In warm locations and long growing seasons, farmers may be able to efficiently get two harvests per year from a single field, a method called double cropping.    

Image by NASA, licensed as Creative Commons Public Domain.

SHIFTING CULTIVATION

Another form of subsistence agriculture is called shifting cultivation, because the farmers literally shift around to new locations every few years to farm new land. There are two processes in shifting cultivation: 1) farmers must remove and burn the earth in a manner called slash-and-burn agriculture where slashing the land clears space, while burning the natural vegetation fertilizes the soil, 2) farmers can only grow their crops on the cleared land for 2-3 years until the soil is depleted of its nutrients then they must move on and remove a new area of the earth; they may return to the previous location after 5-20 years after the natural vegetation has re-grown. The most common crops grown in shifting cultivation are corn, millet, and sugarcane. Another cultural trait of LDCs is that subsistence farmers do not own the land; rather the village chief or council controls the earth. The satellite image above shows deforestation between along the border of Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic (right), highlighting their political boundaries. Slash-and-burn agriculture has been a major contributor to deforestation around the world. Yet in order to address deforestation and the protection of species, humans need to address root issues such as poverty and hunger.

Answer 2

Explanation:

ANSWER

Subsistence agriculture:

1. The predominant type of Indian agriculture is subsistence farming.

2. In this type nearly half of the production is issued for family consumption and the rest is sold in the nearby markets.

3. The farmers concentrate on staple food crops like rice and wheat.

Commercial agriculture:

1. Crops in great demand are grown in commercial agriculture.

2. In this type crops are raised on a large scale with the view of exporting them to other countries and for earning foreign exchange.

Example: Cereals, cotton, sugarcane, jute etc.