What is pastoral farming?

rearing animals. Arable is crops. Pastoral is animals.

A family grows food only for itself. What type of farming is this?

subsistence. Nothing, or very little, is sold.

What is a monoculture?

a single crop grown over a large area. One crop, a lot of land.

What does intensive farming aim for?

a high yield from each piece of land. Large inputs are used to get large outputs.

Why do pests spread easily in a monoculture?

every plant is the same crop, so the pest has unlimited food. Nothing stands in the pest's way.

What makes food production sustainable?

it leaves the land able to grow food for future generations. Enough food now, without spoiling the land for later.

Types of agriculture · Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management

In plain words

A family with two goats and a vegetable plot is farming. So is a company with 10 000 hectares of wheat and a fleet of harvesters. The words in this unit are the labels that tell such farms apart.

7 things to know

Arable farming is growing crops. Pastoral farming is rearing animals. Mixed farming is doing both on the same farm.
Subsistence farming produces food for the farmer's own family, with little or nothing left to sell. Commercial farming produces crops or animals to sell for profit.
Intensive farming aims for a high yield from each piece of land, by putting in a lot of labour, machinery, fertiliser and pesticide.
Monoculture is growing a single crop over a large area. It is efficient, because one set of machines and one method suit the whole farm.
Monoculture has costs. Pests and diseases spread easily through one crop. The same nutrients are removed from the soil every year. There are few habitats, so biodiversity is low.
One farm can carry several labels. A large wheat farm is arable, commercial and intensive, and it is a monoculture.
Sustainable food production means producing enough food for people now, by methods that leave the land able to grow food for future generations.

Worked example

A farmer grows only maize, on 500 hectares, using fertiliser and machinery, and sells the whole crop. Classify the farm.

Only crops are grown: it is arable.
The crop is sold: it is commercial.
High inputs are used to get a high yield: it is intensive.
A single crop covers a large area: it is a monoculture.

Tips and tricks

Subsistence and commercial describe why the food is produced. Arable and pastoral describe what is produced. A question may want one label of each kind.
Monoculture is not a general word for bad farming. It means one crop over a large area, and no more than that.

6 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Types of agriculture: 6 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What is pastoral farming?
- growing crops
- rearing animals (the answer)
- growing trees
- growing one crop only
Arable is crops. Pastoral is animals.
A family grows food only for itself. What type of farming is this?
- commercial
- intensive
- subsistence (the answer)
- monoculture
Nothing, or very little, is sold.
What is a monoculture?
- a farm with crops and animals
- a farm that uses no chemicals
- a very small farm
- a single crop grown over a large area (the answer)
One crop, a lot of land.
What does intensive farming aim for?
- a high yield from each piece of land (the answer)
- the lowest possible use of machinery
- a wide variety of wildlife
- food for one family only
Large inputs are used to get large outputs.
Why do pests spread easily in a monoculture?
- the soil is too wet
- every plant is the same crop, so the pest has unlimited food (the answer)
- no pesticides are allowed
- the fields are too small
Nothing stands in the pest's way.
What makes food production sustainable?Stretch
- it leaves the land able to grow food for future generations (the answer)
- it uses the most fertiliser
- it gives the highest yield this year
- it grows only cash crops
Enough food now, without spoiling the land for later.

6 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 7 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Types of agriculture

Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 7 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

Define arable, pastoral and mixed farming.[3]
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Arable farming is growing crops. Pastoral farming is rearing animals. Mixed farming is growing crops and rearing animals on the same farm.
I got this one
State two differences between subsistence farming and commercial farming.[2]
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Subsistence farming feeds the farmer's family, and commercial farming produces food to sell. Subsistence farms are usually small with few inputs, and commercial farms are usually larger and use more machinery and chemicals.
I got this one
Explain one disadvantage of monoculture.[2]
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Pests and diseases spread easily, because every plant is the same crop. (Or: the same nutrients are used each year, so the soil becomes exhausted. Or: biodiversity is low, because there are few habitats.)
I got this one

Answers: Types of agriculture

1. Arable farming is growing crops. Pastoral farming is rearing animals. Mixed farming is growing crops and rearing animals on the same farm.
2. Subsistence farming feeds the farmer's family, and commercial farming produces food to sell. Subsistence farms are usually small with few inputs, and commercial farms are usually larger and use more machinery and chemicals.
3. Pests and diseases spread easily, because every plant is the same crop. (Or: the same nutrients are used each year, so the soil becomes exhausted. Or: biodiversity is low, because there are few habitats.)