MP Board · Class 10 · Social Science · Geography: AgricultureExplain the major types of farming practices followed in India with special reference to primitive subsistence, intensive subsistence, and commercial farming.

Introduction to Farming Practices in India\nAgriculture is an age-old economic activity in India. Over the years, cultivation methods have changed significantly depending upon the characteristics of physical environment, technological know-how, and socio-cultural practices. Farming in India varies from subsistence to commercial type. The major types of farming practices followed in India are discussed below under distinct headings.

1. Primitive Subsistence Farming

• Nature of Farming: This type of farming is practiced on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao, and digging sticks, and family/community labour.
• Dependence: This type of farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil, and environmental suitability to the crop grown.
• Slash and Burn Agriculture: It is also known as 'slash and burn' agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation.
• Local Names: This type of shifting cultivation is known by different names in different parts of the country, such as Jhumming in northeastern states, Bewar or Dahiya in Madhya Pradesh, Podu or Penda in Andhra Pradesh, etc.

2. Intensive Subsistence Farming

• Nature of Farming: This type of farming is practiced in areas of high population pressure on land.
• Labor Intensity: It is labor-intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.
• Land Holding Size: Though the 'right of inheritance' leading to the division of land among successive generations has led to land-holding size becoming uneconomical, the farmers continue to take maximum output from the limited land in the absence of alternative source of livelihood. Thus, there is enormous pressure on agricultural land.

3. Commercial Farming

• Nature of Farming: The main characteristic of this type of farming is the use of higher doses of modern inputs, e.g., high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.
• Degree of Commercialization: The degree of commercialization of agriculture varies from one region to another. For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha, it is a subsistence crop.
• Plantation Agriculture: Plantation is a type of commercial farming where a single crop is grown on a large area. Plantations have an interface of agriculture and industry. Plantations cover large tracts of capital-intensive investments, using migrant labor. In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc., are important plantation crops. Tea in Assam and North Bengal, and coffee in Karnataka are famous examples.