-Not only provide food

-also provide raw materials or natural resources that can be used to manufacture products

e.g. harvested grapes used as a raw material for production of wine

-Shifting cultivation (Not tested, Oh yeah!)

-Wet Rice cultivation

-Plantation agriculture

-High-tech farming

-farms that produce crops for their own consumption is known as subsistance farming

-while production of crops on a large scale is known as commercial farming

-which include land, labour, materials and capital used by farmers

-type of crops produced by the farm

Agricultural Types – Wet Rice Cultivation
• It is the growing of rice in flood fields. Rice can also be grown on terraces on hill slopes.

• 90 per cent of the world’s rice is grown in Asia while the other main rice-growing countries are Egypt, Italy, Spain, Brazil and the United States of America.

• Wet rice, or padi, is mostly grown in Asia because the high temperatures and rainfall are suitable for its growth.

Characteristics
1. Subsistence farmers, mainly for own consumption as it is their staple food.
2. Practice monoculture, growing of one main crop. They may grow vegetables and fruits to supplement their income.
3. Small Size. Varies from half to 2 hectares.
4. Labour intensive because there is a lot of work to be done from ploughing, transplanting of seeds, harvesting, threshing, winnowing and packing. (About 2 ½ times more than the cultivation of other cereals)
5. Level of technology is low for traditional wet rice cultivation.

Purpose
-It is practised as a form of subsistence farming as well as commercial farming.

Inputs
-Land: The size of the farm is generally small. Flat land with clayey soil is most ideal for such farming.
-Capital: It requires higher levels of capital than shifting cultivation. Machinery is used for ploughing and harvesting crops and canals need to be built to irrigate fields.
-Labour: Much labour is required and this comes from either family labour or hired labour. Much of the work such as planting and weeding is usually done by hand. Low walls known as bunds are built to flood the fields. Animals such as water buffaloes may be used to plough the land.

Produce
-High output per unit area.
-Main crop is wet rice.

Agricultural Types – Plantation Agriculture
• It is a form of commercial farming where crops are grown for sale.

• Plantations are found mainly in countries such as Malaysia and India which have tropical climates. These countries usually experience high annual temperatures and receive high annual rainfall.

• Plantation agriculture started in the colonial past in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Most plantations are now owned by local governments or big companies.

Characteristics
1. The crops are grown for sale so they are usually large. Sizes can vary from 40 hectares to over 1000 hectares.
2. It is capital intensive.
3. Modern technology is adopted in the production of crops. The use of high-yielding seeds (HYVs), chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
4. Many plantation crops are perennial crops, with an economic life that extends over many years. Egs such as rubber, oil palm, tea, coffee and cocoa.
5. They are usually grown in neat rows.

Purpose
-It is a form of commercial farming. Some crops are sold as raw materials to manufacturing industries.

Inputs
-Land: Plantations take up large areas of land.
-Capital: A large amount of capital is invested in the infrastructure, fertilisers and pesticides.
-Labour: A very large labour force is required to tend to the crops and work in processing factories.

Produce
-Total output is high but its output per unit area is usually low because a plantation covers a wide area of land.
-Usually one main crop is grown. Examples include rubber, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar cane, oil palm, cocoa and tobacco.

Agricultural Types – High-Tech Farming
• High-tech farming uses modern machinery and farm chemicals to obtain maximum yield from a given plot of land or a group of animals.

• It is practised in countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom and Singapore.

Fruit and Vegetable Farming
• Crops in a hydroponics farm are cultivated in troughs filled with a nutrient solution and are grown under carefully controlled conditions with the help of computers.
• Plants in an aeroponics farm have their roots suspended in the air, with a nutrient solution being sprayed onto the roots. The air is cooled to simulate conditions found in temperate regions.
Animal Farming
• In cattle farming, cows are housed in special stalls, fed a special diet at exact times and milked by machines daily at appointed times.
• For egg farming in a modern chicken farm, hens are fed a special diet blended by computerised machines, and eggs are collected efficiently by conveyor belts.

Characteristics
1.Large capital is required.
2. Highly skilled labour to carry out research and development to increase crop yield and improve the quality of the output.
3. Less dependent on physical factors. Farmers use soilless culture, tissue culture and the use of computers to automate farm activities.
4. Farms are Intensive to maximize productivity
5. Usually located near large urban centres /cities

Purpose
-It is a type of commercial farming and is important in countries with high population density and limited land area, as it enables maximum output on a small plot of land.

Inputs
-Land: Small land area is required as crops are grown closer together.
-Capital: Huge investments are required due to the use of the latest technology, farm chemicals and cost of research and development.
-Labour: The need for human labour is reduced as high-tech farms are highly mechanised.

Produce
-The output per unit area is higher than traditional farming.
-Food such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products and eggs are produced.