Types of Farming and Shifting Cultivation: GK Notes
Exam notes on farming types: subsistence and commercial systems, plantation and mixed farming, dry farming and shifting cultivation with its local names.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 4 min read
Farming is classified by what the farmer does with the harvest, by how much land and labour go into it, and by how much the land is rested. Those three tests give the whole scheme that geography papers use: subsistence or commercial, intensive or extensive, settled or shifting. Shifting cultivation sits at one end of this scale, the oldest surviving form of farming, and it carries a different local name in almost every forest region of the world, which is why it is asked so often.
Subsistence farming
In subsistence farming the farmer grows mainly for the family, with little or nothing left to sell. It has two forms. Primitive subsistence farming covers shifting cultivation and nomadic herding; the tools are simple, the inputs are family labour and natural fertility, and the yield per hectare is low. Intensive subsistence farming is the farming of the densely peopled monsoon lands of Asia, where holdings are tiny, labour is abundant, manure and irrigation are used heavily and the same small field is worked again and again, giving a high yield per hectare but a low yield per worker. Wet paddy is its dominant crop in the river deltas and coastal plains, while wheat, soyabean, millets and sorghum dominate where rainfall is lower.
Shifting cultivation and its names
Shifting cultivation, also called slash-and-burn or swidden farming, works in a fixed cycle. A patch of forest is cleared, the felled vegetation is dried and burnt, and the ash supplies the nutrients in place of manure. The patch is cropped with mixed grains, millets, pulses and vegetables for two or three years. As fertility falls and weeds spread, the plot is abandoned to the forest and a new patch is cleared, the old one being returned to only after a long fallow. Where the fallow once ran for twenty to thirty years, population pressure has cut it to a few years in many regions, and the soil no longer recovers, which is why the practice is now linked with deforestation, soil erosion and falling yields.
| Local name | Region |
|---|---|
| Jhum or Jhoom | Assam and the north-eastern states |
| Podu | Andhra Pradesh and Odisha |
| Bewar, Dahiya and Penda | Madhya Pradesh |
| Dipa | Bastar region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| Kumari | The Western Ghats and Kerala |
| Kuruwa | Jharkhand |
| Milpa | Mexico and Central America |
| Conuco | Venezuela |
| Roca | Brazil |
| Ladang | Indonesia and Malaysia |
| Taungya | Myanmar |
| Ray | Vietnam |
| Chena | Sri Lanka |
| Masole | the Congo basin of Africa |
Commercial farming
In commercial farming the crop or the animal product is grown for sale, and the scale of capital decides the form it takes. Commercial grain farming on the prairies of North America, the steppes of Eurasia and the pampas of South America is extensive and highly mechanised, with a single cereal, usually wheat, grown on very large farms and a low yield per hectare but a very high yield per worker. Mixed farming of western Europe and eastern North America combines crops with livestock on the same holding, uses crop rotation and fodder crops, and spreads the farmer's risk. Dairy farming is the most capital-intensive form, needing refrigeration, veterinary care and quick transport, and it clusters near large cities and in north-western Europe. Mediterranean agriculture is a specialised commercial type famous for the grape, which gives viticulture its importance, along with citrus fruits, olives and figs. Market gardening and truck farming grow vegetables, fruits and flowers for a nearby urban market on small, intensively worked plots.
Plantation agriculture
Plantation agriculture is a commercial type of its own, introduced in the tropics by Europeans in the colonial period. Its marks are a single cash crop grown on a large estate, heavy capital investment, scientific management, a large body of hired labour, processing of the produce on or near the estate, and dependence on transport to a distant market. Tea in Assam and the Nilgiris, coffee in Karnataka and Kerala, rubber in Kerala, and sugarcane, banana, coconut and spices in various tropical regions are the familiar plantation crops.
Other systems a student should know
Dry farming is practised where annual rainfall is below about seventy-five centimetres and irrigation is absent; moisture is conserved by fallowing, mulching and deep ploughing, and hardy crops such as jowar, bajra, ragi and gram are grown. Wet or irrigated farming depends on canals, wells or tube wells. Terrace farming cuts steps into a hillside to hold soil and water, and is the recommended replacement for jhum on steep slopes. Collective farming, the kolkhoz of the former Soviet Union, pooled land, labour and machinery under state direction, while cooperative farming leaves ownership with the farmer and pools only purchase, marketing and machinery. Allied activities complete the picture: pomology is the growing of fruit, olericulture of vegetables, floriculture of flowers, viticulture of grapes, sericulture the rearing of silkworms, apiculture of bees and pisciculture of fish.
Exam Point of View
Most questions on this topic are one-line matches. The local names of shifting cultivation, in India and abroad, are the single most asked item, so learn them as pairs. The second favourite is the contrast between intensive subsistence and extensive commercial grain farming, usually framed as yield per hectare against yield per worker. The branches of horticulture, pomology, olericulture, floriculture and viticulture, appear regularly, as do the allied terms sericulture, apiculture and pisciculture. Expect a question on the features of plantation agriculture, on the rainfall limit of dry farming, and on the kolkhoz as collective farming. A common trap is to offer podu and kumari as the north-eastern name instead of jhum.
Important Facts
| Other names for shifting cultivation | Slash-and-burn farming, swidden farming |
|---|---|
| Jhum | Assam and the north-eastern states |
| Podu | Andhra Pradesh and Odisha |
| Bewar, Dahiya, Penda | Madhya Pradesh |
| Kumari | Kerala and the Western Ghats |
| Milpa | Mexico and Central America |
| Conuco and Roca | Venezuela and Brazil |
| Ladang | Indonesia and Malaysia |
| Taungya, Ray, Chena | Myanmar, Vietnam and Sri Lanka |
| Dry farming limit | Annual rainfall below about 75 cm |
| Plantation crops of India | Tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, spices, coconut |
| Kolkhoz and Sovkhoz | Collective farm and state farm of the former Soviet Union |
| Horticulture branches | Pomology for fruit, olericulture for vegetables, floriculture for flowers, viticulture for grapes |
| Allied activities | Sericulture for silkworms, apiculture for bees, pisciculture for fish |
Practice MCQs on this topic
The branch of horticulture which deals with the production, storage, processing and marketing of vegetables is called ______.
- A.olericulture
- B.agronomy
- C.pomology
- D.apiculture
Show answer
Olericulture is the branch of horticulture that deals with vegetables, covering their production in the field, their storage, their processing and their marketing, and it is the branch on which market gardening and truck farming rest.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following comes in the category of plantation crop?
- A.Potato
- B.Cucumber
- C.Coffee
- D.Millet
Show answer
A plantation crop is a single cash crop grown on a large estate with heavy capital, hired labour and processing of the produce on or near the estate, and coffee, grown in the hills of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, is a classic example along with tea, rubber and sugarcane.
Read the full explanation →Shifting cultivation is known as 'Milpa' in which of the following regions?
- A.Indonesia and Malaysia
- B.Mexico and Central America
- C.Brazil
- D.Sri Lanka
Show answer
Milpa is the local name given to the slash-and-burn system of the Mexican and Central American forests, where maize, beans and squash are grown together on a burnt forest clearing for a few seasons.
Read the full explanation →Jhum cultivation is practised mainly in which part of India?
- A.The north-eastern states
- B.The Punjab plains
- C.The Thar desert
- D.The Deccan lava plateau
Show answer
Jhum, also written jhoom, is the local name of shifting cultivation in Assam and the hill states of the north-east, where a forest patch on a slope is cleared, burnt and cropped for two or three years before being left fallow.
Read the full explanation →'Podu' is the local name of shifting cultivation in which states?
- A.Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
- B.Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
- C.Kerala and Karnataka
- D.Jharkhand and Bihar
Show answer
The correct answer is B, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, where the hill communities of the Eastern Ghats call shifting cultivation podu.
Read the full explanation →'Ladang' is the term for shifting cultivation in
- A.Vietnam
- B.Myanmar
- C.Indonesia and Malaysia
- D.Venezuela
Show answer
The correct answer is C, Indonesia and Malaysia, where the forest clearings of the equatorial islands are called ladang and are cropped with dry rice, maize and root crops for a few seasons.
Read the full explanation →Dry farming is generally practised in regions where the annual rainfall is
- A.Below about 75 cm
- B.Between 100 cm and 150 cm
- C.Above 200 cm
- D.Above 150 cm
Show answer
Dry farming, also called dryland farming, is the practice of raising crops without irrigation in areas of low and uncertain rainfall, and the conventional limit used in Indian geography is an annual rainfall of about seventy-five centimetres.
Read the full explanation →Sericulture is the rearing of
- A.Honey bees
- B.Silkworms
- C.Fish
- D.Grapes
Show answer
Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms on mulberry or other host leaves for the production of raw silk, and it is an allied activity of farming that supports lakhs of rural households in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.
Read the full explanation →Intensive subsistence agriculture, marked by very small holdings, heavy use of manure and a high yield per hectare, is characteristic of
- A.The prairies of North America
- B.The monsoon lands of Asia
- C.The steppes of Eurasia
- D.The pampas of South America
Show answer
Where population is dense and holdings have been divided by inheritance over generations, as in India, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, the farmer puts in abundant labour, manure and irrigation water on a tiny field and takes more than one crop a year.
Read the full explanation →The 'kolkhoz' of the former Soviet Union was an example of
- A.Cooperative farming
- B.Collective farming
- C.Plantation agriculture
- D.Market gardening
Show answer
The kolkhoz was the collective farm of the former Soviet Union, in which land, implements, livestock and labour were pooled and the farm worked under state direction with production targets fixed by the plan; the state farm, worked wholly by wage earners, was called the sovkhoz.
Read the full explanation →Mediterranean agriculture is particularly famous for which activity?
- A.Viticulture
- B.Dairy farming
- C.Shifting cultivation
- D.Commercial grain farming
Show answer
The Mediterranean climate, with its hot dry summer and mild wet winter, suits the vine better than almost any other region, and the lands around the Mediterranean sea, together with California, central Chile, the Cape region of South Africa and parts of southern Australia, are the world's great wine-producing areas…
Read the full explanation →In shifting cultivation, the ash of the burnt vegetation serves mainly as
- A.A pesticide
- B.A manure that supplies nutrients to the soil
- C.A weedicide that kills the forest roots
- D.A means of levelling the slope
Show answer
In slash-and-burn farming the felled trees and undergrowth are dried and burnt on the spot, and the ash left behind is rich in potash and other mineral nutrients, which the cultivator depends on because no chemical fertiliser or farmyard manure is used.
Read the full explanation →Frequently Asked Questions
What is shifting cultivation?
It is a form of primitive subsistence farming in which a patch of forest is cleared, the felled vegetation is burnt and the crop is sown in the ash. The plot is cropped for two or three years until its fertility falls, and is then abandoned to the forest while the cultivator clears a new patch. It is also called slash-and-burn or swidden farming, and jhum in north-east India.
Why is shifting cultivation considered harmful today?
Not because of the practice itself, which worked well when land was plentiful, but because the fallow period has collapsed. Where a plot once rested for twenty to thirty years, population pressure has cut the cycle to a few years, so the forest cannot grow back and the soil cannot recover. The result is deforestation, soil erosion on slopes and steadily falling yields. Terrace farming and settled horticulture are the usual recommended alternatives.
How is plantation agriculture different from ordinary commercial farming?
A plantation grows one cash crop, usually for export, on a single large estate. It needs heavy capital, scientific management, a large hired labour force and a processing unit on or near the estate, because tea leaf, rubber latex and sugarcane spoil quickly. Ordinary commercial farming, such as grain farming or mixed farming, works on family-owned farms, grows more than one product and sells into a general market.
What is the difference between dry farming and wet farming?
Dry farming is carried on where annual rainfall is below about seventy-five centimetres and no irrigation is available, so moisture is conserved by fallowing, mulching and deep ploughing, and hardy crops like jowar, bajra, ragi and gram are grown. Wet farming is carried on where rainfall is heavy or irrigation is assured, and it supports rice, jute and sugarcane, with more than one crop a year.
What is the difference between collective and cooperative farming?
In collective farming, such as the kolkhoz of the former Soviet Union, land, implements, livestock and labour were pooled and the farm was worked under state direction, with the farmer losing ownership. In cooperative farming the land remains the individual farmer's property and only the purchase of seeds and fertiliser, the use of machinery and the marketing of produce are shared, as in Denmark and the Netherlands.
