In which one of the following countries is intensive subsistence agriculture not predominantly practised?

The correct answer is C, Canada. Canada has vast land and a small farming population, so it practises large-scale, mechanised commercial grain farming, not intensive subsistence farming.

Intensive subsistence agriculture is found in the thickly populated monsoon lands of South, South-East and East Asia. Farm holdings are small, family labour is used heavily, simple tools are common, and the land is cropped more than once a year, mostly with paddy where rainfall is high, using manure and irrigation to get the most from each plot. In Canada, by contrast, wheat is grown on huge farms on the Prairies with tractors and combine harvesters, mainly for export; it is an example of extensive commercial grain cultivation, like the steppes and the Pampas.

A is wrong because India, with dense population and small holdings, is a classic home of intensive subsistence farming. B is wrong because Japan farms its scarce lowland very intensively, especially for rice. D is wrong because Indonesia, notably Java, grows wet rice intensively on small plots and terraces.

Exam tip: Intensive subsistence – monsoon Asia, paddy; extensive commercial grain – Prairies, Pampas, Steppes, Downs.