Subsistence agriculture Totally Explained

Everything about Subsistence Agriculture totally explained

Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficient farming in which farmers grow only enough food to feed the family, pay taxes or feudal dues. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye towards what the family will need during the coming year, rather than market prices. Tony Waters (2007:2) writes that "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace."
Subsistence grain-growing agriculture (predominantly wheat and barley) first emerged during the Neolithic Revolution when humans began to settle in the Nile, Euphrates, and Indus River Valleys. It was the dominant mode of production in the world until recently when market-based capitalism became widespread. Subsistence horticulture may have developed earlier in South East Asia and Papua New Guinea. Subsistence farming continues today in large parts of up-country Africa (Hyden 1981), and other countries of Asia and South America. Subsistence agriculture had by and large disappeared in Europe by the beginning of World War I, and in North America with the movement of share croppers and tenant farmers out of the American South and Midwest during the 1930s and 1940s (Waters 2007:127-129).

Effects on the environment

Subsistence farming typically uses few fertilizers and no machines. Instead the farmers may use draft animals which can be fed and raised on the farm. Subsistence farmers often rely on crop rotation, animal manure, and compost to restore the nutrients rather than purchasing expensive synthetic fertilizers.
   In areas which are sparsely populated, subsistence agriculture can be sustainable for a long time. In more densely populated areas, subsistence agriculture may deplete the soil of nutrients, and damage the environment. However the traditional agriculture of East Asia, for example the small-holdings of China, has been described as sustainable, using extensive methods of cultivation and despite high population pressure.
   One form of subsistence agriculture is shifting cultivation, or swidden (different names in different places), a practice common with rain fed agricultural systems. Farmers typically abandon a given plot when soil fertility wanes and move on to more fertile land, often utilizing slash and burn techniques. A considerable fallow period ensues on the abandoned land. It takes up the least amount of land among the 4 types of cultivation but it's only enough for the town.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Subsistence Agriculture'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://subsistence_agriculture.totallyexplained.com">Subsistence agriculture Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.