Farming is simply the growing of crops and rearing livestock. Agriculture or farming is practicing by most of the people all around the world. It is the most important factor that alleviates our hunger. It provides the healthy food for the global population. Farming owns a very long history and now it’s modernizing continuously to meet the current demands of the people. There are several types of farming which practice by most of the farmers according to their available resources as well as some other factors. Through this post we will see about some of the types of farming.
Before that we will see the factors affecting to select the type of farming. Based on these factors you can select the best type based on the available factors.
Table of Contents
Factors affecting on determining the type of farming
There are some factors affecting the determination of the type of farming. These factors can divide in to some sub categories.
- Natural factors
- Socio-economic factors
Natural factors
The natural factors affecting are of two main types.
- Physical factors
- Biological factors
Physical factors
These are the external factors affecting on the development of the crops and animals. Climatic factors like temperature, rainfall, humidity, sunlight etc. comes under this. Soil conditions like soil fertility, aeration, reactions and so on also affect. Moreover, topography of the land also a cause determining the farming type.
Biological factors
Factors like the crop type, animal type as well the pests, diseases and weeds are also there.
Socio-economic factors
Socio-economic factors are also of two types.
- Endogenous factors
- Exogeneous factors
Endogenous factors
These are the factors like composition of the family, education level of the family members, food preferences, risk aversion and so on.
Exogenous factors
Factors like population, Off-farm opportunities, Markets, Prices, Technology, Social infrastructure, Credits, Inputs and so on also have an effect on choosing the farming type.
From the below types of farming, you can select the best type depending on the above factors. Now let’s focus on the types of farming systems.
Types of farming
Depending on the inputs type used the farming can categorize in to two methods. They are intensive farming and extensive farming.
Intensive farming: in here the target is to have higher productivity or higher production per unit. Therefore, in this type if system usually more costly inputs are use. Here the land remains the constant and inputs like labor, capital, technology, chemicals are increasing in order to have a higher output. Considerably the land extent is less here. Higher use of the fertilizers and the pesticides are more common here.
Extensive farming: in this type the land area under cultivation is increases. Low and cheap inputs are using here. The productivity is considerably less. Involve low inputs.
Based on the cropping pattern and the activities of animals farming can divide in to three types. They are arable, pastoral and mixed.
Arable farming: this type involves growing crops for consumption.
Pastoral farming: involves rearing animal and growing pasture and fodder for animal consumption.
Mixed farming: when both the crops and animals are there in the farm.
According to the irrigation type there are two types of farming. Rain-fed and the irrigated farming.
Rain-fed farming: cultivating crops and rearing animals by using only rain water. This method is practicing by most of the small-scale traditional farmers.
Irrigated farming: farming using the irrigation technologies. Artificial water reservoirs are there to supply water needed for farming. Better than the rain-fed farming.
Farming can divide in to another three types according to the level of commercialization.
Subsistence farming: this is normally practice by the home gardeners. In here the output is solely consuming by the growers. No selling is there.
Partially commercialized farms: when more than 50% of the out put is consuming by the growers and the rest is selling it is called a partially commercialized farm.
Commercialized farm: if more than the 50% of the output is selling then it is a commercialized farm.
There are two other types named sedentary and nomadic depending on the farmers settlement.
Sedentary farming: where the settlements and the farming area is permanent
Nomadic farming: when the farmers are moving around looking different lands and fresh pasture. I think now you have a brief knowledge about these farming systems. Let’s meet with another useful post.