🌾 Intensive Subsistence Farming

📍 1. Practiced in High Population Density Areas

• 🏡 This type of farming is commonly found in densely populated regions where land is limited.
• 🌍 It is prevalent in countries like India, China, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asian nations.
• 🚜 Farmers maximize agricultural output to meet the food demands of a large population.

🏋️‍♂️ 2. Labour-Intensive Farming

• 👨‍🌾 Requires continuous and intensive manual labor due to the small size of landholdings.
• 👩‍🌾 Family members actively participate in plowing, sowing, weeding, and harvesting.
• 🚫 Minimal use of modern machinery due to small and fragmented farms.

💉 3. Use of High Biochemical Inputs and Irrigation

• 💧 Irrigation systems such as wells, tube wells, canals, and tanks are widely used.
• 🌾 High-yielding variety (HYV) seeds are planted to increase productivity.
• 🌿 Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides are extensively used to enhance soil fertility and protect crops.
• ⚡ Multiple cropping is practiced, meaning two or more crops are grown on the same land within a year.

⚖ 4. Challenges Due to Land Fragmentation

• 📜 The right of inheritance results in the continuous division of land into smaller plots.
• 📉 Over time, the landholding size becomes uneconomical for commercial farming.
• 🚜 Despite small landholdings, farmers strive for maximum output using intensive farming techniques.

📈 5. Enormous Pressure on Agricultural Land

• 🌱 In the absence of alternative employment opportunities, people rely solely on farming for survival.
• 📊 Land is cultivated without allowing time for natural regeneration, leading to soil degradation.
• 🔄 Continuous farming without proper land management causes declining soil fertility and reduced productivity over time.