There are many different types of agricultural activity

including:
commercial farming, e.g. dairy farming in Worcestershire, cereal
crops in France (EU) and plantation agriculture, e.g. west coast of
Malaysia for oil palm and tea
subsistence farming, e.g. shifting cultivation in the Amazon
Basin of Brazil and Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia
intensive farming, e.g. market gardening in the Vale of
Evesham, flowers and bulb cultivation in the Netherlands and wet
rice cultivation on the Ganges Plain of India
extensive cultivation, e.g. cereal growing in Norfolk, sheep
farming in Australia.
KEY POINT: Subsistence farmers grow crops and rear
animals mainly for their own use.

Types of Agriculture
Imagine a family farm on a small plot of land and a huge
commercial farm that spans acres and acres of land. What do
you think makes these two types of farms different? Although
both of these farms are designed to produce food, they vary
in the methods of production, the amount of food they
produce and who consumes the food produced.
Although for most of human history our species has survived
by hunting and gathering food, around 10,000 years ago our
ancestors starting producing their own food. Agriculture is the
term used to describe the act of growing crops and raising
livestock for human consumption and use.
Since the development of agriculture, many different types of
production have been implemented. Currently, agriculture is
divided into two different types, including industrialized
agriculture and subsistence agriculture. Let's explore and
learn more about these two types of agriculture.

Industrialized Agriculture
Industrialized agriculture is the type of agriculture where
large quantities of crops and livestock are produced through

industrialized techniques for the purpose of sale. The goal of

industrialized agriculture is to increase crop yield, which is
the amount of food that is produced for each unit of land.
Crops and livestock made through this type of agriculture are
produced to feed the masses and the products are sold
worldwide.
Industrialized agriculture is able to produce large quantities
of food due to the farming methods used. Instead of using
animal and manpower to work the fields, industrialized
agriculture utilizes large machines, which are more powerful
and can work faster and harder. The shift towards machines
has increased the use of fossil fuels on industrial farms, and,
therefore, the price of food can fluctuate as the price of oil
changes. Industrialized agriculture also increases crop yield
by investing in large irrigation systems and by using chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
The chemical fertilizers that are used in industrialized
agriculture often add inorganic nutrients to the soil to
increase yield and plant size. The use of pesticides is also
common in industrialized agriculture, and most pesticides
help increase yield by killing pests that are harming or
consuming the crops. Another farming technique that is used
in industrialized agriculture is the method of growing
monocultures, which is when a single crop is planted on a
large scale. Although planting monocultures can increase
overall yield, this method of farming is also more susceptible
to disease and causes a reduction in the dietary variation of
consumers.

Subsistence Agriculture
Although industrialized agriculture is necessary to feed the
growing human population, there is another type of
agriculture that is regularly practiced today. Subsistence
agriculture is when a farmer lives on a small amount of land
and produces enough food to feed his or her household and
have a small cash crop. The goal of subsistence agriculture is
to produce enough food to ensure the survival of the

individual family. If there is excess food produced, it is sold

locally to other families or individuals.
Subsistence agriculture varies a great deal from industrialized
agriculture in terms of the farming methods used. This type
of agriculture is very labor-intensive because all of the work is
done by humans and animals and only hand tools and simple
machines are used to work the land.

Various types of Agricultural Regions of India are as

follows:
An agricultural region is defined as an area having homogeneity in
relief, soil type, climatic conditions, farming practices, crops
produced and crop association.
India is a vast country and is endowed with diverse geographical
conditions which are bound to bring in regional variations in
agriculture.
Several scholars have attempted to delineate the agricultural
regions of India. Prominent among them are E. Simkins (1926), D.
Thomer (1956), M.S. Randhawa (1958), L.D. Stamp (1958), Chen
Hang-Seng (1959), O.H.K. Spate and A.T.A. Learmonth (1960),
Ramchandran (1963), F. Siddiqui (1967), O. Slampa (1968), Miss
P. Sengupta (1968), R.L. Singh (1971) and Jasbir Singh (1975) The
scheme suggested by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research
(ICAR) is simple and comprehensive and is reproduced here. It is
based on the predominance of crops and crop associations.
Accordingly India can be divided into following agricultural
regions:

1. Rice-Jute-Tea Region:
This vast region includes lowlands, valleys and river deltas in the
states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, West
Bengal, Orissa, northern and eastern Bihar parts of Jharkhand
and Chhattisgarh and Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh.
The rainfall vanes from 180 to 250 cm. Rice are the predominant
crop due to fertile alluvial soils, abundant rainfall and high
summer temperatures. Jute is mainly grown in the Hugli basin of

West Bengal but some areas have been brought under jute
cultivation in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Orissa and Tarai region
of U.P. Tea is mainly grown in Assam, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri
areas of West Bengal and Tripura. Sugarcane and tobacco are
grown in Bihar. Coconut is grown in coastal areas. Mango,
pineapple, betal leaves, bananas, jack fruits, and oranges are the
main fruit crops.

2. Wheat and Sugarcane Region:

This region comprises Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,
Western Madhya Pradesh and north eastern Rajasthan. Most of
the areas have rich fertile alluvial soils with some parts having
black and red soils. Rainfall is moderate, large part of which is
caused by south-west monsoons in summer. Some rainfall is
caused by western disturbances in winter.
Irrigation is a vital input in drier areas. As its name indicates, this
region is dominated by wheat and sugarcane cultivation. The main
wheat belt of India extends over Punjab, Haryana, Ganga-Yamuna
doab of Uttar Pradesh and north-eastern Rajasthan. Sugercane is
mainly grown in Uttar Pradesh and contiguous parts of Bihar.
Rice, pulses and maize are the other important crops.

3. Cotton Region:
It spreads on the regur or black cotton soil area of the Deccan
plateau, where the rainfall varies from 75 to 100 cm. Obviously,
cotton is the main crop but jowar, bajra, gram, sugarcane, wheat,
etc. are also grown.

4. Maize and Coarse Crops Region:

Western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat are included in this
region. The rainfall is scanty and is normally below 50 cm.
Agriculture is possible only with the help of irrigation. Maize is
mainly grown in the Mewar plateau where wheat and ragi are also
produced. In the southern part, rice, cotton and sugarcane are
grown. Bajra and pulses are grown throughout the region.

5. Millets and Oilseeds Region:

This region includes areas of poor soils and broken topography in

Karnataka plateau, parts of Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra

Pradesh and eastern Kerala. The rainfall varies from 75 to 125 cm.
The millets include bajra, ragi and jowar while the oilseeds grown
are groundnut and caster. Pulses are also grown. Mangoes and
bananas are important fruit crops.

6. Fruits and Vegetable Region:

This region extends from Kashmir Valley in the west to Assam in
the east. The rainfall varies from 60 cm in the west to 200 cm in
the east. Apple, peach, cherries, plum, apricot are grown in the
west while oranges are important in the east. Besides, rice, maize,
ragi potatoes, chillies and vegetables are also grown.

http://cdn.yourarticlelibrary.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/12/clip_image00253.jpg
There are many different types of agricultural activity
including:
commercial farming, e.g. dairy farming in Worcestershire, cereal
crops in France (EU) and plantation agriculture, e.g. west coast of
Malaysia for oil palm and tea
subsistence farming, e.g. shifting cultivation in the Amazon
Basin of Brazil and Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia
intensive farming, e.g. market gardening in the Vale of
Evesham, flowers and bulb cultivation in the Netherlands and wet
rice cultivation on the Ganges Plain of India
extensive cultivation, e.g. cereal growing in Norfolk, sheep
farming in Australia.
KEY POINT: Subsistence farmers grow crops and rear
animals mainly for their own use.
Case Study I: Shifting cultivation in an LEDC