Question

Give geographical reasons:

Extensive agriculture is a commercial type of agriculture.

Answer 1

In agricultural economics, extensive agriculture pertains to a method of crop production that utilises minimal labour and capital relative to the size of the farmland. The crop yield in extensive agriculture is mainly determined by the land’s natural fertility, location, weather conditions, and water supply. Since extensive agriculture generates lower yields per land unit, it requires a substantial land area for commercial use. Extensive farming has several benefits, particularly its environmental friendliness compared to intensive agriculture. This method requires minimal input and preserves a significant portion of the natural ecosystem in a given area without costly or complex protection measures. The following are the system’s three key features:

1. Agricultural farms are large, covering hundreds of hectares.
2. Machines perform most agricultural tasks involving only a few human hands.
3. The majority of the crops are exported because there is a production surplus.

Answer 2

1. The size of the farms in extensive commercial agriculture is very large.
2. Since the total population in these areas is low, farming is practised using large amounts of capital and modern agricultural methods.
3. Extensive commercial agriculture is also referred to as monoculture (single-crop farming).
4. Grain crops like wheat and maize are grown on a commercial basis over vast areas, and this surplus production is sold in international trade.
5. In some regions, extensive commercial farming and large-scale livestock rearing are carried out as integrated activities.
6. All agricultural operations from sowing to harvesting are done with the help of machinery.
7. In this type of farming, the per-hectare yield is low, but the total overall production is very high.
8. Abundant production of wheat and maize is taken in temperate grasslands such as the Prairies, Pampas, Steppes, Veldts, and Downs.
9. In the Pampas grasslands of South America, animal husbandry is practised alongside these crops, and meat is exported.
10. Extensive commercial grain farming also faces certain problems, such as the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increasing dependence on modern technology, and the high requirement of capital.