Types of Farming

Intensive Agriculture

Intensive Agriculture

Crop cultivation & livestock rearing systems requiring high labor & capital relative to land size

Commercial Agriculture

Farming focused on producing agricultural commodities for sale in the market, costly due to machinery use and hiring workers

Market Gardening

Small-scale farming system producing vegetables and fruits for local markets, ideal in moderate climates with fertile soils

Plantation/Monocropping

Large-scale production of a single crop for global markets, typically in tropical regions by wealthy landowners

Grain Farming

Specializes in cereal grains production using large farms, machinery, and pesticides, with multiple grain regions known as "belts"

Truck Farming

Scaled-up market gardening with a focus on a single product for distant markets, often participating in cooperative marketing

Mixed Crop/Livestock

Cultivation of grains, root crops, and herd livestock in semiarid climates, combining crop and livestock farming

Cash Crops

Crops grown for profit rather than personal consumption, such as cotton, coffee, and tobacco

Peasants

Small-scale farmers relying on family labor, owning fields, and producing for family consumption and market sale

Paddy Rice

Wet rice cultivation on small fields flooded for most of the growing season, practiced by peasant farmers in humid climates

Livestock Fattening

Feeding livestock in feedlots to fatten for slaughter and processing, common in humid continental and subtropical climates

Dairy Farming

Specializes in dairy livestock breeding and production, with farms close to urban areas for milk and distant areas for processed products

Extensive Agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock systems requiring less labor and investment, relying on natural soil fertility and climate

Subsistence Agriculture

Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, common in LDCs with high labor input

Shifting Cultivation

Land use until less productive, then shifting to new land through slash-and-burn, common in tropical regions

Nomadic Herding

Breeding and rearing herd livestock by following seasonal rainfall movement, often practiced in arid or colder zones

Livestock Ranching

Rearing herds of livestock on extensive land for meat, hides, and wool, typically in semi-arid zones as a commercial activity