PRIMITIVE SUBSISTENCE FARMING

PRIMITIVE SUBSISTENCE FARMING

Introduction

India is an agriculturally important country. Two-thirds of its population is engaged in agricultural activities. Agriculture is a primary activity, which produces most of the food that we consume. Besides food grains, it also produces raw material for various industries.

Moreover, some agricultural products like tea, coffee, spices, etc. are also exported.

Types of farming

Agriculture is an age-old economic activity in our country. Over these years, cultivation methods have changed significantly depending upon the characteristics of the physical environment, technological know-how, and socio-cultural practices. Farming varies from subsistence to commercial type. At present, in different parts of India, the following farming systems are practised.

Primitive Subsistence Farming

This type of farming is still practised in a few pockets of India. Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/ community labour. This type of farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.

It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their families. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. This type of shifting allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes; land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs. It is known by different names in different parts of the country.

It is jhumming in north-eastern states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland; Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar district of Chhattishgarh, and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Jhumming: The ‘slash and burn’ agriculture is known as ‘Milpa’ in Mexico and Central America, ‘Conuco’ in Venzuela, ‘Roca’ in Brazil, ‘Masole’ in Central Africa, ‘Ladang’ in Indonesia, ‘Ray’ in Vietnam.

In India, this primitive form of cultivation is called ‘Bewar’ or ‘Dahiya’ in Madhya Pradesh, ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Pama Dabi’ or ‘Koman’ or Bringa’ in Odisha, ‘Kumari’ in Western Ghats, ‘Valre’ or ‘Waltre’ in South-eastern Rajasthan, ‘Khil’ in the Himalayan belt, ‘Kuruwa’ in Jharkhand, and ‘Jhumming’ in the North-eastern region.

Figure 4.1:

Rinjha lived with her family in a small village at the outskirts of Diphu in Assam. She enjoys watching her family members clearing, slashing and burning a patch of land for cultivation. She often helps them in irrigating the fields with water running through a bamboo canal from the nearby spring. She loves the surroundings and wants to stay here as long as she can, but this little girl has no idea about the declining fertility of the soil and her family’s search for fresh a patch of land in the next season.

Activity:

Can you name some industries based on agricultural raw material?

Can you name some such types of farmings?

Can you name the type of farming Rinjha’s family is engaged in?

Can you enlist some crops which are grown in such farming?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE FARMING

INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE FARMING

This type of farming is practised in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour- intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.

Though the ‘right of inheritance’ leading to the division of land among successive generations has rendered land-holding size uneconomical, the farmers continue to take the maximum output from the limited land in the absence of alternative sources of livelihood. Thus, there is enormous pressure on agricultural land.

Activity:

Can you name some of the states of India where such farming is practised?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

COMMERCIAL FARMING

COMMERCIAL FARMING

The main characteristic of this type of farming is the use of higher doses of modern inputs, e.g. high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity. The degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies from one region to another. For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha, it is a subsistence crop.

Plantation is also a type of commercial farming. In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area. The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry. Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant labourers. All the produce is used as a raw material in the respective industries.

In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc., are important plantation crops. Tea in Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states. Since the production is mainly for the market, a well- developed network of transport and communication connecting the plantation areas, processing industries and markets plays an important role in the development of plantations.

Figure 4.2: Banana plantation in Southern part of India

Figure 4.3: Bamboo plantation in North-east

Activity:

Can you give some more examples of crops which may be commercial in one region and may provide subsistence in another region?

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK