Types of Farming Systems in India

Based primarily on nature of land, climatic characteristics and available irrigational facilities, the farmers in India practice different types of farming.

Subsistence Farming

Majority of farmers in the country practice subsistence farming. It is characterized by small and scattered land holdings and use of primitive tools. As the farmers are poor, they do not use fertilizers and high yielding variety of seeds in their fields to the extent they should do. Facilities like electricity and irrigation are generally not available to them. These result into low productivity. Most of the food production is consumed by the farmers and their families. Where facilities like irrigation and electricity are available, farming has improved. Important cash crops like sugarcane, oilseeds, cotton and jute are grown.

Shifting Agriculture

In this type of agriculture, first of all a piece of forest land is cleared by felling trees and burning of trunks and branches. After the land is cleared, crops are grown for two to three years and then the land is abandoned as the fertility of the soil decreases. The farmers then move to new areas and the process is repeated. Dry paddy, maize, millets and vegetables are the crops commonly grown in this type of farming. The per hectare yield is low. This practice is known by different name in different regions of India like Jhum in Assam, Ponam in Kerala, Podu in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and bewar, masha, penda and bera in various parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Plantation Agriculture

Plantation farming is bush or tree farming. It was introduced by the British in the nineteenth century. It is a single crop farming of rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, coconut and fruit crops like apples, grapes, oranges, etc. It is capital intensive and demands good managerial ability, technical know-how, sophisticated machinery, fertilizers, irrigation, and transport facilities.

Intensive Farming

In areas where irrigation has been possible, the farmers use fertilizers and pesticides on large scale. They have also brought their land under high yielding variety of seeds. They have mechanized agriculture by introducing machines in various processes of farming. These have led intensive farming where the yield per unit area is high. In some areas, this has led to the development of dairy farming.

Dry Agriculture

This practice is followed in areas where irrigation facilities are lacking. Crops cultivated in these areas can withstand dry conditions. The crops grown generally with the help of irrigation are also grown under dry farming. In such circumstances the per hectare yields are generally lower. Most of the area under dry cultivation entertains only one crop during the year. This is practiced in drier parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh etc.

Mixed and Multiple Agriculture

Mixed farming is referred to cultivation of crops and raising of animals simultaneously. The multiple farming is used to denote the practice of growing two or more crops together. In such case a number of crops having varying maturing periods are sown at the same time. The crop maturing early is generally harvested before the growth of the long maturing crop. This practice is followed is areas having good rainfall or facilities of irrigation.

Crop Rotation

This refers to growing of number of Crops one after the other in a fixed rotation to maintain the fertility of the soil. The rotation of crops may be complete in a year in some of the areas while it may involve more than one year’s time is others. Pulses or any leguminous crop is grown after the cereal crops. Legumes have the ability of fixing nitrogen to the soil. Highly fertilizer intensive crops like sugarcane or tobacco are rotated with cereal crops.

Terrace Cultivation

This type of cultivation is practiced specially in hilly areas. The hill and mountain slopes are cut to form terrace sand the land is used in the same way as in permanent agriculture. Since the availability of flat land is limited terraces are made to provide small patch of level land. Soil erosion is also checked due to terrace formation on hill slops.