Question

“Intensive subsistence agriculture is largely practised in densely populated regions of Monsoon Asia.” Support the statement with examples.

Hint:

1. Small land holdings + high labor = Intensive Subsistence.
2. Wet Paddy is the main crop in high-rainfall Monsoon regions.
3. Yield per unit area is high, but yield per farmer is low.

Answer 1

Concept:
• Subsistence agriculture is a type of farming where the primary goal is to feed the farmer's family.

• Intensive subsistence agriculture is characterized by high output per unit of land but low output per worker, due to the extremely high population pressure on limited land.

Step 1: Impact of high population density on land holdings
In regions of Monsoon Asia, the population density is very high.
This results in the fragmentation of land holdings into very small, uneconomical plots.
Every available inch of land is used for cultivation to meet the food requirements of the large population.

Step 2: Labor and input intensity
The farming process is highly labor-intensive, relying mostly on human and animal power.
There is very little use of expensive machinery.
Farmers use large amounts of organic manure and traditional fertilizers to maintain soil fertility for multiple crops a year.

Step 3: Regional variations and examples
Intensive subsistence agriculture is divided into two types: one dominated by wet paddy and the other by other crops.
Wet paddy cultivation is dominant in areas with high rainfall, such as the Ganga-Brahmaputra plains in India, the Yangtze valley in China, and the Mekong delta in Vietnam.
In drier areas, such as North China and Western India (Punjab/Rajasthan), crops like wheat, millets, and sorghum are grown using similar intensive methods.