The agriculture industry of India provides jobs to more than 50% of the country’s workforce and adds to national income by about 16%. An Indian farmer, depending on factors such as region, climate, soil type, crops growing, and access to water, uses varied kinds of farming. Staying informed on the main types of farming in India can guide you to better your production and generate more income. Herein, we will investigate the multitude of agricultural patterns in India.
Whether you are a traditional crop farmer, a horticulturist, a dairy farmer, a poultry farmer, a fishery owner, or a modern hydroponic farmer, knowing the several forms of farming will help you increase productivity and chances of good performance.
As an Indian farmer, choosing the best methods to adapt to your available resources and environment is important. Starting from the next part, you will learn about all the farming models that are available in India, and subsequently, you will be able to choose the option that suits your context and goals.
Here’s the list of top types of farming techniques in India:
In subsistence farming, the farmer grows the food crops mainly used by their household for consumption and not for selling. It involves cultivating small pieces of land and its limited resources and manual labor for family needs. Subsistence farming, which has predominantly been established in the rural, remote areas of the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, is the most prevalent form of subsistence agriculture.
The main crops are rice, wheat, pulses, maize, millet, and vegetables, which offer essential nutrition. Challenges include overdependence on rainfalls, absence of irrigation, poor soil fertility, and limited access to the market and technology. Although the output is low, subsistence farming provides for your family’s fundamental food needs when other options are unavailable.
Often, farmers generate profits from their crops in commercial farming. It is characterized by big-scale farming using contemporary gear, irrigation, and production technologies, leading to increased harvests. The main commercial crops are sugarcane, cotton, spices, fruits, and vegetables, which are also grown in certain areas to bring them in the surplus and sell them at markets.
You may focus on cash crops suited to your region and land. Commercial farming requires investments but generates steady income through high-value produce sales. Adopting improved inputs and practices raises productivity and farm earnings. It engages you more deeply in the agriculture value chain beyond essential production.
Here, you specialize in cultivating specific high-value crops or products like flowers, aromatic plants, organic fruits and vegetables, etc. It requires expertise in that crop’s unique inputs and care. For instance, floriculture involves growing flowers in greenhouses using controlled conditions. Growing medicinal crops requires following strict quality standards.
Focusing on niche, high-demand crops raises incomes through premium pricing. But it also demands more significant investments in targeted land preparation, equipment, irrigation, and market linkages. As a specialized farmer, you leverage your skills for that crop and access niche markets through tie-ups. It enables earning higher margins.
Organic farming employs eco-friendly methods with no use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Building soil health is done with compost, manure, and green manure. Crop rotation, intercropping, and organic pest control lead to a balance of biodiversity and resilience.
Though yields may be lower initially, organic produce earns premium prices. With certification, organic farming enables access to niche domestic and export markets. It also conserves resources and the environment.
In precision agriculture, you leverage technology to optimize inputs and boost productivity. GPS, sensors, robotics, and data analytics allow micro-level monitoring and automated care.
Guidance systems, variable rate applicators, and AI boost efficiency. Though it needs more investment, precision farming improves yields, reduces waste, and enhances farm profits.
Urban farming is an agricultural undertaking combining crops and livestock production within and around towns. Vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and others can be grown hydroponically with indoor greenhouses or rooftops.
Localized production reduces transport needs, provides fresh produce, and recycles waste. Though spaces are more minor, urban farming makes agriculture viable in cities through innovation.
In dairy farming, you breed cows, buffaloes, goats, or sheep and produce milk from them. India is known as the most significant world milk producer. Top-grade animal foddering, breeding, housing, and animal medicine boost milk yields.
Dairying provides regular income but necessitates daily tending of livestock. Milk is sold to cooperatives or processed into dairy products.
As a farmer, you can rotate crops by utilizing the succession planting method of different crops on the same fields. It enhances the fertility of the soil since every plant leaves a different set of nutrients as it grows. Switching crops, such as legumes, with cereals replenishes nutrients. It disturbs the cycle of pests and diseases.
Planning rotations to alternate deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants also optimizes soil nutrient use. Though crop choices are limited by season, systematic rotation enhances yields and soil health.
In dryland farming, you grow crops as a monoculture in arid lands with the base of surface rainfall. It is based on various soil and water conservation methods such as tilling, bunding, and mulching. Millets, pulses, and oil seeds are drought-tolerant crops that can cope with less moisture in the soil.
Supplemental irrigation from tanks and wells provides backup during dry spells. Lower input costs can offset lower yields. With resilient practices, dryland farming makes agriculture viable in India’s rain-scarce areas.
You alternate growing cereals with forage legumes and grasses in the same field. The legumes like clover fix nitrogen naturally when plowed back. Their deep roots also improve soil structure.
Feed and soil have improved for livestock and following season grain crops with the forage. This eco-friendly agricultural system produces less fertilizers, food, and feed demand.
In wetland farming, you cultivate aquatic crops in seasonally or permanently flooded lands. Paddy farming in flooded rice fields is common in India’s coastal regions. Wetlands also allow the growing of water-loving produce like lotus, chestnut, and makhana.
You adapt practices to soils, water depth, and duration. Wetland farming harnesses flooded conditions but requires managing water levels.
In cooperative farming, you pool land and resources with other small farmers to jointly undertake activities like purchasing inputs, machinery use, and marketing. Sharing costs and risks allows access to technology that is unaffordable individually.
By collectively bargaining and selling, cooperatives also help farmers get better prices. Cooperation thus benefits through economies of scale.
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In India, ‘small farmers’ and ‘marginal farmers’ refer to the size of one’s land holding in classification. You are a smallholder farmer with a farm size of between two and ten acres. However, if you are employed as a smallholder farm, your operational plot size is less than 2 acres.
With a smaller land size, marginal farmers have a limited scope for crop variety and scale of production. Marginal farmers find it difficult to adopt large machinery and cannot access institutional credit. Due to farming on smaller plots, they face higher input costs per unit.
Marginal farmers mainly produce for self-consumption rather than commercial sale. As a marginal farmer, you may need to supplement your income with wage labor.
As a small farmer with more acreage, you benefit from economies of scale in investing in irrigation, machinery, seeds, fertilizers, etc., which lowers per-unit costs. You have a greater capacity to produce a marketable surplus by increasing productivity.
Regarding the number of total farmers in India, as per the data, there are almost 4 crore to 15 crore farmers whose primary or secondary source of income is agriculture.
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If you read this and are engaged in any farming types, you must know about Krishispray. From the agriculture equipment list, you can get premium-quality spray pumps, sprayers, nozzles, and more from Krishispray. The most promising part of purchasing from Krishispray is getting the best after-sales service and a robust dealer network across India in case of any concern.
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India’s agriculture is defined by massive diversity in farming techniques across different regions and agro-climatic conditions. As an Indian farmer, you need to understand the pros and cons of different types of farming in India to determine the optimal model that aligns with your environment, resources, and goals.
Whether subsistence or commercial, conventional or organic, India offers opportunities to meet food security and profitability needs if you implement sustainable practices, the key is choosing strategies that boost productivity while conserving our farming heritage and resources.
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