Farming is the major contributor of livelihood for about 70 % of people as a result of which many types of farming techniques are implemented depending on the weather conditions, type of land, availability of resources and the in-demand crops of the region for their use as well for exporting.
Different types of Farming
Subsistence farming
One of the earliest types of farming which was initiated is subsistence farming which involves small scale farming where the produce is used for the consumption of the farmers and those living within the community. There is no excess produce left for selling in areas outside of the cultivated region and the income earned is just enough to sustain the livelihood of the farmers. In this type of farming, the cultivated land is small and the farming tools used are not much advanced as large scale production is not required. The most commonly cultivated crops by using the method of subsistence farming include cereals, rice, oilseeds, pulses and vegetables.
Commercial farming
Commercial farming is done on a large scale and involves the use of more advanced farming techniques like irrigation systems, fertilisers, use of insecticides, sowing high yielding seeds and use of crop supplements to obtain a healthy harvest. The produce obtained from commercial farming is sold in the markets and it is highly lucrative. Commercial farming involves crops such as rice, cotton, jute and sugarcane. Drought conditions sometimes affect commercial farming as lack of continuous water supply may cause large scale crop damage and loss. Nowadays, drones and sensors are employed to monitor farming and to harvest pest-resistant produce for more commercial benefits.
Organic farming
Organic farming is an extremely popular type of farming where high-quality crops are cultivated without the use of synthetic fertilisers, chemicals and other types of crop additives. The basic principle behind organic farming is crop rotation where different types of crops are cultivated in the same area according to the favourable seasons in a sequential method which helps in preserving soil fertility in comparison to the other conventional methods of farming which may often lead to soil erosion. Some of the benefits of organic farming include energy conservation, optimal use of resources, soil enrichment and minimal environmental damage.
The most important aspect of organic farming is to maintain healthy crops as there is no use of chemicals. To provide optimal nutrients to the soil and to prevent an infestation from pests, organic farmers use green manures which are a combination of sesbania, cowpea, green gram, lime and compost. Bio fertilisers such as rhizobium, azotobacter and azospirillum are also used to improve the produce.
Shifting farming
This primitive and unproductive method of farming which is mainly implemented in hilly regions involves the cultivation of a piece of land for a few years and after crop harvest, the land is cleared by burn methods and the farmers shift farming to a new piece of land.
Crops mainly cultivated by this method of farming are food grains and cash crops. This is not an ideal method of farming as it leads to soil erosion and also causes deforestation.
Plantation Farming
Plantation farming involves the cultivation of a single cash crop for production and sale. Most common examples of crops cultivated by plantation farming include tea, coffee, rubber, cotton, coconut, cashew, hemp, sugarcane, jute and spices. Large estates are utilised in plantation farming and they implement the latest agricultural techniques in this type of farming as it involves large scale production of crops. Many of the crops that are produced by this method are exported as they adhere to all the international quality standards.
Intensive Farming
This type of farming employs big amounts of expenditure and involves huge labour in comparison to the land on which cultivation is carried out thereby maximizing the yield per unit area. Crops like rice, wheat and sugarcane are grown using intensive farming.
Extensive Farming
This type of farming involves the use of lesser expenditure and labour in comparison to the cultivated land size thereby giving rise to lower yield per unit of land as a result of which a large area of land is required for the desired crop production.
Dryland Farming
Dryland farming is mainly done in those regions which get less than 9 inches rainfall throughout the year. Wheat, ragi, bajra, moong, gram, corn, beans, sunflower and watermelon are some of the crops cultivated using this method of farming.
Wetland Farming
This type of farming is done on the lands that are water-saturated as they protect from floods, give access to food chain support and carbon sequestration. Rice, jute and sugarcane are some of the wetland crops cultivated.
Mixed Farming
This method of farming involves the cultivation of crops along with the rearing of animals. Millet, cowpea and sorghum are some examples of crops which are cultivated using mixed farming. Advantages of mixed farming include re-utilisation of resources and reduced economies of scale. Some of the external factors which have an impact of mixed farming include weather patterns, market prices and technical upgradation. The internal factors which affect mixed farming include soil characteristics and the availability of resources.
Integration of both crops and animals in mixed farming occurs on the same farm and the crop residues of one are re-utilised by the other. The manure that is obtained from animals on the farm is used to improve soil fertility and the income generated from the sale of animal products is an additional advantage.
Dairy Farming
Dairy farming involves the farming of livestock to obtain milk. Maize, jowar, bajra, cowpea are some of the commonly used feed for the livestock and the farm management involves the proper disposal of farm waste like dung and urine which are essential for the maintenance of farm hygiene.
Terrace Farming
This method of farming is mostly done on hills and mountains where the cultivated land is cut out in the shape of terraces along the slope to prevent soil erosion and the plants grown in this way include pulses, paddy, potatoes, quinoa, oilseeds, millets, vegetables, fruits, saffron, buckwheat, black cumin, maize and wheat.
Arable Farming
Arable cultivating includes developing of yields just in warm atmosphere. It is practiced on delicately flat or level land with profound, fertile soil. It is significant that the land is neither too wet nor dry. Land ideal for developing yields should be genuinely protected and reasonable for utilization of apparatus. In the UK, this sort of cultivating is basically received in the east and south.
Pastoral Farming
Pastoral cultivating is the act of raising creatures just in cold and wet atmospheres not ideal for developing harvests. Land with steep inclines and helpless soils can’t uphold the utilization of machinery nor give the supplements crops need to develop. Just heather and grasses can develop on that sort of land.
Stronger winds on the steep slopes can likewise effectively damage crops. Hence, they are ideal for raising creatures such as sheep. In the UK, highland areas in the west and north take into consideration for pastoral farming. Sheep can simply graze on hilly areas and feed on the kind of grass growing in such areas.
Mixed Farming
Mixed cultivating includes developing of harvests and raising of animals on a similar land piece. The two kinds of cultivating, pastoral and arable uphold one another and increment farm yield. This kind of cultivating lessens the danger of making misfortunes because of helpless climate conditions. For example, if the harvests are not doing well, animals on the farm are as yet a decent wellspring of food and cash.
Moreover, animals give the manure farmers need to improve soil fertility for harvests to develop and expand yield.
Subsistence Farming
Subsistence cultivating is the act of developing harvests and raising creatures for individual use. It is done on a limited scale with the focal point of taking care of the farmer’s family. It tends to be work concentrated regarding labour being used, however practically no apparatus or innovation is utilized. Resource ranchers are resolved to act naturally adequate.
Commercial Farming
Commercial farming is the practice for making a profit. It includes the raising of creatures as well as developing of yields for an enormous scope to build creation and benefits. Innovation and hardware are utilized with a couple of labourers to work them. This sort of cultivating frequently includes monoculture, the developing of a solitary kind of money harvest, for example, blossoms or espresso.
Extensive and Intensive Farming
Extensive cultivating or cultivation includes land culturing with a point of expanding yield. Farmers increment the size of land for development to improve yield without changing different elements. Then again, escalated cultivating includes expanding capital and work on a similar land parcel being developed to build yield
Nomadic Farming
Nomadic cultivating includes ranchers moving with their animals starting with one spot then onto the next looking for field and water. It is like patrol cultivating and frequently rehearsed in dry and semi-bone-dry zones.
Various areas across the world back various animals under this kind of cultivating. They incorporate camels, sheep, cows, jackasses, goats and ponies. As a kind of resource cultivating, it furnishes families with food.
Sedentary Farming
Sedentary cultivating includes ploughing similar real estate parcel for a long time. In contrast to travelling cultivating, land is utilized for all time for developing harvests or raising creatures. With its sources in the Americas and Eurasia, the training is accepted to have begun in 10,000 B.C.E.
Trackers and foragers initially got comfortable America in 20,000 B.C.E. what’s more, by 7,000 B.C.E; horticulture had spread to South America. This kind of cultivating encouraged the advancement of early developments.
Poultry Farming
Poultry cultivating includes the raising of turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs. As indicated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S trades about 18% of all its poultry meat. It tends to be polished in enormous or limited scope ranches. In any case, there is expanding interest for neighbourhood poultry benefited from characteristic field
Fish Farming
Another name of Fish farming is called as aquaculture. It is the act of bringing fish up in enormous numbers in huge tanks or fish lakes. In spite of the fact that cultivated fish, as per Grist, have an awful standing, appropriately oversaw fish ranches are perfect, maintainable and yield protein of high calibre.
Cultivating includes raising creatures and developing harvests for crude materials and food. It is a significant piece of horticulture, which started millennia prior. Be that as it may, neither the specific time the training started nor its age is known. Cultivating prompted the ascent of the Neolithic Revolution. It was a time when individuals relinquished travelling chasing for city settlements.
The Fertile Crescent, navigating the Levant, the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, is accepted to be the place where horticulture and training of plants and creatures was first drilled. Nations, for example, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Syria and Jordan make up the zone that was once known as the Fertile Crescent.
Individuals previously developed yields, for example, grain and wheat. In spite of the fact that they occupied with agribusiness, they actually gathered most nourishments from nature. Changes in soil fruitfulness and the climate might have driven individuals to start cultivating. Not at all like chasing and assembling food from the wild, can cultivating take care of more individuals on a similar size of land.
Different components decide the kind of cultivating a rancher can embrace. HR, for example, distance to the market and work, and actual factors, for example, soil and atmosphere decide the best sort of cultivating for some random zone. Ranchers need to pick cultivating types reasonable for their special nearby actual climate. They should likewise guarantee that their produce would sell in the neighbourhood market.