Introduction to Agriculture
Introduced| English |
|---|
| agriculture/ˈæɡrɪkʌltʃə/ |
| intensive/ɪnˈtensɪv/ |
| extensive/ekˈstensɪv/ |
| subsistence agriculture/sʌbˈsɪstəns ˈæɡrɪkʌltʃə/ |
| commercial agriculture/kəˈmɜːʃl ˈæɡrɪkʌltʃə/ |
Growing food on purpose
- Agriculture 农业 is the deliberate growing of crops and raising of animals.
- The first big split is by purpose: subsistence vs commercial.
- The second is by intensity: intensive vs extensive.
Subsistence vs commercial
- Subsistence agriculture 自给农业 feeds the farmer's own family.
- Commercial agriculture 商业农业 grows food to sell for profit.
- Subsistence is common in poorer regions; commercial in richer, mechanised ones.
Farming that grows food to sell for profit is called...
Commercial agriculture produces for sale, not just the family.
Farming mainly to feed the farmer's own family is ____ agriculture.
Subsistence agriculture feeds the household, not the market.
Intensive vs extensive
- Intensive 集约 farming uses a lot of labour or money on a small area (rice paddies, market gardens).
- Extensive 粗放 farming uses little input over a large area (ranching, shifting cultivation).
- Land cost usually decides which is used.
Intensive or extensive?
Sort each farm by its intensity.
Intensive farming uses a lot of labour or money on a small area.
Yes — rice paddies and market gardens are intensive.
Select all examples of extensive farming.
Ranching, shifting cultivation, and nomadism are extensive; a market garden is intensive.
Match each pair of terms.
Subsistence = family; commercial = profit; intensive = high input.
"Subsistence vs commercial" (purpose) and "intensive vs extensive" (input per hectare) are two different scales. A farm can be commercial and intensive (a market garden) or commercial and extensive (a cattle ranch). Do not collapse the two.
A flooded rice paddy worked by hand is subsistence and intensive (lots of labour, small plot). A vast cattle ranch is commercial and extensive (little input, huge area). Same two scales, different combinations.
Agriculture is deliberate farming. Split it by purpose — subsistence (feed the family) vs commercial (sell for profit) — and by intensity — intensive (much input, small area) vs extensive (little input, large area). The two scales are independent.