Question

Distinguish between the following.
Subsistence farming and intensive farming.

Answer 1

Hint: These are different in terms of the tools and methods that are used.
Subsequently these two methods produce different quantities of crops depending either of their needs.
One of them can be carried out by a single farmer while the other needs a large team of workers.

Complete answer:

Subsistence farming

Intensive farming

It is the type of farming that is carried out by farmers in a small scale on smallholdings and with the sole purpose of meeting their personal needs and the needs of their family. They use primitive farming methods such as Shifting agriculture and nomadic herding.The farmer makes decisions on what crop to grow depending on what the family needs in the coming year. In the current scenario most subsistence farmers are seen in developing countries of the world. The people who carry out this type of farming are called ‘subsistence peasants’.

It is the type of farming which is done with the purpose of producing higher yields. They have higher levels of input. i.e. capital, pesticides, fertilizers, and labor and a higher output, i.e. crops produced. It is also known as industrial agriculture. It is performed after a detailed analysis of the condition of the soil, seed, pests, weeds etc. Majority of the fruits and vegetables that are available in the markets are produced through this type of farming.The same intensification is also applied to raise livestock with animals and poultry being taken care of indoors. This type of farming results in what is known as, factory farms.

Note: Another form of agriculture is the intensive subsistence farming which is coming into play these days.
In this type of farming the farmer performs the traditional subsistence farming, but not only does he produce for his personal needs, he also manages to produce some extra which he then trades for other goods or sells in the local market.
The single subsistence farmer also uses more intensive tools for this kind of production, i.e. fertilizers, pesticides etc.