3. Subsistence farming
•It means farming for own consumption.
•In other words, the entire production is largely
consumed by the farmers and their family, and they do
not have any surplus product to sell in the market.
4. Sustainable farming
•Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable
ways meeting society's present food and textile
needs, without compromising the ability for
current or future generations to meet their needs.
5. Shifting cultivation
• Shifting cultivation is another form of extensive
agriculture.
• Planting crops in a region until fertility diminishes and then
moving to a fresh area to plant means there must be lots of
land available.
• This is practised in forest area.
6. Taungya Cultivation
• Taungya is a system of forest management in which land is
cleared and planted initially to food crops. Seedlings of a
desirable timber species are then planted on the same plot of
land, either in combination with the food crops, or following
several years of cultivation.
7.
8. Specialized farming
•When a farm business unit derives more than 50
percent of its income from a single enterprise, it is
called a specialized farm.
•This means that among the possible crops or livestock
enterprises taken up by a farmer, one particular crop or
livestock enterprise contributes more than 50 percent
of the income.
9. Diversified Farming
•Here farming is diversified, i.e., several enterprises
are taken up on the farm simultaneously.
•It also means the production and sale of the product
are at a different time during the year.
•There is not much significance for a single
enterprise under this situation.
•No single enterprise contributes as high as 50 percent
of the total income derived in farming.
10. Mixed Farming
• It represents a type of farming in which crop production and
livestock production are combined to sustain and satisfy as
many farmers’ needs as possible.
• Some of the crops that are grown under this system are
wheat, barley, potatoes and legumes.
• It is highly beneficial since the farmers get to use animal
manure (an alternative to chemical fertilizers) for healthier
crops.
11. Commercial farming
• It involves the production of food for sale.
• It is a farming method that involves growing crops, raising
livestock, selling produce on the market, and making
money.
• Commercial agriculture mainly produces high-demand
crops.
• In today’s agriculture most of the farmers are involved in this
type of farming.
12. Agribusiness
• Agribusiness is a combination of the words "agriculture"
and "business" and refers to any business related to
farming and farming-related commercial activities.
• Agribusiness involves all the steps required to send an
agricultural good to market, namely production,
processing, and distribution.
• It is run by large corporations that are self-sufficient
providing their own inputs and processing their own outputs.
13. Intensive Farming
• Intensive farming is referred as small area, high production
• It is practiced in those countries where the supply of land is
limited, and density of population is high.
• Intensive farming requires more of everything on a smaller
portion of land: labour, fertilizers, high-yield crops and so on.
• States like Odisha and Bihar are known for their intensive
farms.
• Countries like India, China, Japan, Britain, Holland,
Germany, and Belgium practice this method of agriculture.
14. Extensive Farming
• Extensive farming is referred as large land, high production.
• It is practiced in sparsely populated area - where average land
holding area is higher and where there is scope for bringing
additional land under cultivation
• Extensive farms also need high inputs but on a larger tract of
land.
• Punjab & Haryana are known for these farming methods.
• Example: USA, Russia, Australia, Argentina and Brazil.
15. Plantation Farming
• It is an estate where a single cash crop is grown for sale.
• This type of agriculture involves growing and processing of a
single cash crop purely meant for sale.
• Tea, coffee, rubber and spices are all examples of plantation
crops.
16. Ley Farming
• The growing of grass or legumes in rotation with grain or
tilled crops as a soil conservation measure. (IBPS AFO 2020,
RRB SO 2018)
17. Contour farming
• Contour farming is the practice of tillage, planting, and other
farming operations performed on or near the contour of the field
slope. This method is most effective on slopes between 2-10 %
• Tillage and planting operations follow the contour line to promote
positive row drainage and reduce ponding.
• Farming system which provides more time to absorb runoff water
and later it is supplied to crops. (RRB SO 2020)
18. Organic farming:
❖Organic farming can be defined as an agricultural process that uses
biological fertilizers and pest control acquired from animal or plant waste.
❖Organic farming is a production system where all kinds of agricultural
products are produced organically, including grains, meat, dairy, eggs, fibers
such as cotton, flowers, and processed food products.
❖International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements - IFOAM,
1972 to promote sound agricultural practices and worldwide demand for
organic.
❖Synonyms of organic farming: Eco-farming, Biological farming, Bio-
dynamic farming, Macrobiotic agriculture.
19. Dry-land farming
• Dry farming or dry-land farming may be defined as a practice of
growing crops without irrigation in areas that receive an annual
rainfall of 750 mm – 500 mm or even less.
• It is practiced in low rainfall areas or where there is an inadequate
irrigation facility.
• In this type of farming, moisture is maintained by raising special types of
crops.
• Gram, jowar, bajra, and peas are such crops that need less water.
• Dryland farming is practiced in dry areas of the country such as western,
north-western India and central India
20. Wetland farming
•Wetland farming depends mainly upon rain, so it is
practiced in high-rainfall or well-irrigated areas.
•In this type of farming, the major crops are rice, jute,
and sugarcane.
•This type of farming is prevalent in the north, north-
eastern India and on the slopes of the Western Ghats.
21. Precision Farming
• Precision farming is also known as site-specific crop management.
• It merges data collection and remote sensing with Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to allow
farmers to respond to in-field variability with their crop management.
• Farmers can get extremely precise in their crop management while not
sacrificing crop yields.
• This means they can place the precise amount of seed and fertilizer to
optimize production based on field conditions such as soil types and
moisture levels.
• The main components of precision farming are information, technology
and management.
22. •The use of GPS and GIS together gives farmers the
ability to orient their equipment and data collection in
real-time for accurate positioning and field
management.
•Variable rate technology lets farmers apply seeds,
fertilizer and other inputs at different rates across a
field.
•The use of highly sensitive satellite imagery or images
collected by drones or planes to identify areas of crop
growth and stress and then geo-locating those specific
points in a field using GPS.
23. Advantages of Precision Farming Technology
• Precision management technology gives farmers more
precise information to enable better decision-making and
enables real-time action on that information.
• The end results are a better use of resources enabling more
sustainable practices and saving time and money while not
sacrificing profitability.
24. Disadvantages of Precision Farming Technology
•High cost
•Lack of technical expertise knowledge and technology
•Not applicable or difficult/costly for small land
holdings
•Heterogeneity of cropping systems and market
imperfections
26. Vertical farming
• Vertical farming is an agricultural method through which crops are
grown in vertically stacked layers.
• It is done in a controlled environment using techniques such as
aquaponics, hydroponics and aeroponics, that does not make use of
soil.
• As the population of India is increasing and farmers are not having
enough land, vertical farming can be used to fulfill the growing food
demands of the world.
• The concept of vertical farming was first studied by Dickson
Despommier in 1999.
29. Hydroponics
• Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without the
involvement of soil.
• Here, plant roots are submerged in magnesium, nitrogen,
potassium calcium etc.
• These solutions support roots, improving chances of higher
yield and reducing dependence on water.
• Studies have shown that there have been 11 times yield
compared to conventional farms at a cost of 13 times less
water.
• Thus, hydroponics is the most widely used method in Vertical
Farming.
31. Aquaponics
• It is slightly advanced method than hydroponics.
• Aquaponics integrated production of plants with that of
aquatic organisms in a closed loop system resembling
nature itself.
33. Aeroponics
•Aeroponics does not use mediums like solid or
liquid, instead it uses air to grow plants.
•A liquid solution is used in air where the plants are
located, through which the plants absorb nutrients.
•It is the most suited method as it requires neither
water nor soil and requires no growing medium.
34. Advantages
• Vertical farming requires a fraction of land and water with more yield per acre.
• Vertical farming can produce crops throughout the year. Even more than one
crop can be harvested at once due to their individual land and plots.
• Traditional farming is subjected to unpredictable weather patterns and natural
disasters such floods, droughts, wildfires, etc. In a controlled environment of
vertical farming such factors are stopped to have any effect and thus less
susceptible to disruption in the supply chain process.
• Vertical farming helps in environmental conservation as deforestation that
accompanies traditional farming can be stopped without having any effect, thus
saving resources in the long run.
• Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional ploughing, planting,
and harvesting by farm machinery, protecting soil, and reducing emissions.
35. Disadvantages
• Vertical farming is quite costly and some use urban settings
where the real estate prices are high, thus, its maintenance
costs are even higher as compared to traditional farming.
• During the growing season, the sun shines on a vertical
surface at an extreme angle such that much less light is
available to crops than when they are planted on flat land.
Therefore, supplemental light would be required.
