explian types of farming
Answers
Types of farming include subsistence farming, mixed farming, nomadic herding, commercial plantation, livestock rearing, etc. Farming involves rearing animals and growing crops for raw materials and food.
Answer:
1. Arable Farming
Arable farming involves growing of crops only in warm climate. It is practiced on gently sloping or flat land with deep, fertile soil. It is important that the land is neither too wet nor dry. Land ideal for growing crops should be fairly sheltered and suitable for use of machinery. In the UK, this type of farming is mainly adopted in the east and south.
2. Pastoral Farming
Pastoral farming is the practice of rearing animals only in cold and wet climates not ideal for growing crops. Land with steep slopes and poor soils cannot support the use of machinery nor provide the nutrients crops need to grow. Only heather and grasses can grow on that kind of land.
Stronger winds on the steep slopes can also easily damage crops. Therefore, they are ideal for rearing animals such as sheep. In the UK, highland areas in the west and north allow for pastoral farming. Sheep can easily graze on hilly areas and feed on the kind of grass growing in such areas.
However, dairy animals need flat land with enough pasture to feed on. Dairy farming is also practiced near markets because dairy products are highly perishable.
3. Mixed Farming
Mixed farming involves growing of crops and rearing of animals on the same piece of land. The two types of farming, pastoral and arable, support each other and increase farm yield. This type of farming reduces the risk of making losses due to poor weather conditions. For instance, if the crops are not doing well, animals on the farm are still a good source of food and money.
Furthermore, animals provide the manure farmers need to improve soil fertility for crops to grow and increase yield.
4. Subsistence Farming
Subsistence farming is the practice of growing crops and rearing animals for personal use. It is done on a small-scale with the focus of feeding the farmer’s family. It can be labor-intensive in terms of manpower in use, but little to no machinery or technology is used. Subsistence farmers are determined to be self-sufficient.
5. Commercial Farming
Commercial farming is practiced for the purpose of making a profit. It involves the rearing of animals and or growing of crops on a large scale to increase production and profits. Technology and machinery are used with a few workers to operate them. This type of farming often involves monoculture, the growing of a single type of cash crop such as flowers or coffee.
6. Extensive and Intensive Farming
Extensive farming or cultivation involves land tillage with an aim of increasing output. Farmers increase the size of land for cultivation to improve yield without changing other factors. On the other hand, intensive farming involves increasing capital and labor on the same piece of land being cultivated to increase yield.
7. Nomadic Farming
Nomadic farming involves farmers moving with their animals from one place to another in search of pasture and water. It is similar to pastoral farming and often practiced in arid and semi-arid areas.
Different regions across the world rear different animals under this type of farming. They include camels, sheep, cattle, donkeys, goats and horses. As a type of subsistence farming, it provides families with food.
8. Sedentary Farming
Sedentary farming involves tilling the same piece of land for many years. Unlike nomadic farming, land is used permanently for growing crops or rearing animals. With its origins in the Americas and Eurasia, the practice is believed to have started in 10,000 B.C.E.
Hunters and foragers first settled in America in 20,000 B.C.E. and by 7,000 B.C.E, agriculture had spread to South America. This type of farming fostered the development of early civilizations.
9. Poultry Farming
Poultry farming involves the rearing of turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S exports about 18% of all its poultry meat. It can be practiced in large or small scale farms. However, there is increasing demand for local poultry fed on natural pasture.
10. Fish Farming
Fish farming is also known as aquaculture. It is the practice of raising fish in large numbers in large tanks or fish ponds. Although farmed fish, according to Grist, have a bad reputation, properly managed fish farms are clean, sustainable and yield protein of high quality.