What is subsistence Agriculture?
Subsistence agriculture can be defined as the type of agriculture in which farmer produce food to feed himself and his family only.In other words subsistence agriculture is a system of farming where a farmer plant,cultivate and rear animals to provide food for the family.
Characteristics of Subsistence Agriculture
(I) It is practiced by small scale farmers.(ii) Subsistence Farming requires a very small land to start up.
(III) Subsistence Farmers need no specialization
(iv) They require a very little capital to start up.
(v) There is no or little use or agro-chemical e.g insecticide, pesticides , fertilizer etc.
(vi) They depend on depend mainly on rainfall.
(vii) Subsistence farmers practice mixed cropping system.
(viii) Subsistence farmer deals with unimproved varieties of crops and breeds of animals.
(ix) It provides only basic needs of the family.
(x) The return of subsistence agriculture is relatively small.
(xi) It doesn't require machine but family labour.
(xii) They provides food crops and little cash crop.
Problems of Subsistence Agriculture
There are some problems associated with Subsistence Agriculture which includes;1. Inadequate Capital - This leads to low farm holding and the inability for farmers to but farm input like seeds and others.
2. No surplus for sale - This make farmer poor since there is no one for them to sell as he will not be able to generate some money to expand his farm size.
3. Crude tools are used - When tools like hoe,axe, cutlass are used, they result in. The low yield of farm product comparing to farmers using tractors, plough ,harrows etc.
4. Pest and Disseases - In subsistence farming pests and diseases are not controlled die to illiteracy and leads to low farm yield.
5. Small farm land - Due to small farm, subsistence farmer won't have the ability to produce in large quantities and which leads them to be more poorer.
6. Low level of specialization - The subsistence farmers always involve themselves in mixed cropping which will make them have low yield because some plant go against themselves.
7. Family Labour is unreliable - Since children are migrating to urban from rural area, able men to work for family is no longer available to work.
8. Illiteracy of Subsistence Farmers - Subsistence farmers has little bit no formal education, resulting in them not to be able to read the written instruction and unable to adopt modern family techniques.
Commercial Agriculture
What is Commercial agriculture?Commercial agriculture is the type of agriculture in which farmers produce in large quantities in order for him to to sell and make money.
Characteristics of Commercial Agriculture
1. Commercial agriculture involves a very huge money to set up.
2. Commercial agriculture use hired labour to work.
3. Commercial farmers keeps records.
4. Commercial agriculture uses agro-chemicals such as fertilizer, pesticides, insecticide to improve product.
5. Rich farmers are mainly the ones that practice commercial farming.
6. Irrigation and drainage system is used in commercial agriculture.
7. Commercial agriculture uses machines.
8. Commercial Agriculture needs large number of lands.
9. Commercial agriculture are based on planting mainly one crop.They don't practice missed cropping in commercial agriculture.
10. Improved varieties of crops and animals breeds are used in commercial agriculture.
Advantage of Commercial Agriculture
Commercial agriculture has a lot of advantages which includes;1. Provision of Quality Products - Most product obtained from commercial agriculture are relatively of high quality.
2. Provision of Cheap Product - As a result of bulk or mass production of products, farmer sell at a very cheap price because they are produced in large amount.
3. Encouragement of Research Works - Since commercial farmer want more improvement in their products, researcher also try to do some research to make their products better.
4. Commercial Agriculture increase yield - As a result of chemicals used such as fertilizers etc and large area of land, this increase the yield of crops.
5. Provision of work - Since commercial Agriculture are mechanised, they need some people to operate the machine for them and some others to work manually.
Problems of Commercial Agriculture
Everything that has advantage much also have some disadvantages too. Commercial agriculture has the following problems;1. High cost of Spare parts - The spare parts of machinery like tractor,harvester are relatively very expensive to buy.
2. Soil erosion - The practice of commercial agriculture can lead to soil erosion due to the use of heavy machineries.
3. Inadequate skilled manpower - Farm machineries needs skilled manpower to operate but nowadays there is short of supply of skilled man power.
4. Inadequate technical know-how - Inadequate technical know-how on farm machinery has made commercial agriculture difficult.
5. High capital of investment - Commercial farmers invest much on machineries and other inputs that makes commercial Agriculture more difficult.
6. Unfavorable land tenure system - Unfavorable land tenure system doesn't allow commercial agriculture to be practised.
7. Inadequate supply of improved varieties of crops and animals
8. Improper application of farm inputs - The application of of herbicides , fertilizers etc used for commercial agriculture could affect man and its environment by imposing some health hazard on people.
9. Inadequate Storage Facilities - The storage facilities in commercial farming is really inadequate which has been making some farmers waste their produce in large quantities due to market lot moving fast.
10. Inadequate marketing channels - Inadequate marketing channels for agriculture are inadequate in which farmers can't market their goods very well.
11. Too much tax - Commercial farmers pay much tax with no subsides in input which makes commercial agriculture hard to practice.
Difference between subsistence Agriculture and commercial agriculture
1. In subsistence agriculture, a small area of land is cultivated while a large area of land is cultivated in commercial agriculture.2. Crude tools are used in in subsistence agriculture while complex and modern tools are used in commercial agriculture.
3. Production in subsistence farming mainly for family consumption while in commercial agriculture they are produced mainly for sale or export.
4. In subsistence agriculture, mixed cropping is usually practiced while mono cropping is usually practiced in commercial agriculture.
5. Commercial agriculture needs storage facilities while in subsistence agriculture doesn't need storage facilities.
6. Subsistence requires little money to start up while commercial agriculture need huge amount of money
7. The return in subsistence agriculture is low while in commercial agriculture, the return is always high.
8. Pest and diseases are controlled in commercial agriculture while pests and diseases are not controlled in subsistence agriculture.
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