Which one of the following characteristics is not a feature of intensi...
Understanding Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
Intensive subsistence agriculture is characterized by high labor input on small plots of land, primarily in densely populated regions. However, not all features of this agricultural practice align with every characteristic often attributed to it.
Key Characteristics of Intensive Subsistence Agriculture:
- Small Farm Size:
Farmers typically cultivate small areas of land, necessitating intensive management to maximize yield.
- Manual Labor Dominance:
The agricultural activities are predominantly carried out by hand, reflecting low mechanization levels.
- Soil Fertility Management:
To maintain soil fertility, practices like the use of farmyard manure and crop rotation are common, as chemical fertilizers may be limited or expensive.
Why High Labor Productivity is Not a Feature:
- Per Capita High Labor Productivity:
The key point of distinction is that while intensive subsistence agriculture employs a large amount of labor, the per capita productivity is often low. This is because the output per worker remains modest, primarily due to reliance on traditional farming techniques, limited technology, and small landholdings.
- Labor Input vs. Output:
Although labor-intensive, the results do not yield high productivity per individual farmer, contrasting sharply with commercial agriculture where mechanization and scale lead to higher outputs per laborer.
In conclusion, while intensive subsistence agriculture is labor-intensive, it does not guarantee high labor productivity per capita, making option 'A' the correct answer.
Which one of the following characteristics is not a feature of intensi...
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture: This type of agriculture is largely found in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia. Basically, there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture.
(i) Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation: This type of agriculture is characterised by dominance of the rice crop. Land holdings are very small due to the high density of population. Farmers work with the help of family labour leading to intensive use of land. Use of machinery is limited and most of the agricultural operations are done by manual labour. Farm yard manure is used to maintain the fertility of the soil. In this type of agriculture, the yield per unit area is high but per labour productivity is low.
(ii) Intensive subsidence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy: Due to the difference in relief, climate, soil and some of the other geographical factors, it is not practical to grow paddy in many parts of monsoon Asia. Wheat, soyabean, barley and sorghum are grown in northern China, Manchuria, North Korea and North Japan. In India wheat is grown in western parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and millets are grown in dry parts of western and southern India. Most of the characteristics of this type of agriculture are similar to those dominated by wet paddy except that irrigation is often used.
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