Editing Agriculture (section)

== Types ==
[[File:Reindeer herding.jpg|thumb|[[Reindeer]] herds form the basis of pastoral agriculture for several Arctic and Subarctic peoples.]]
{{Stack|[[File:Unload wheat by the combine Claas Lexion 584.jpg|thumb|[[Harvest]]ing wheat with a [[combine harvester]] accompanied by a tractor and trailer]]}}
[[Pastoralism]] involves managing domesticated animals. In [[nomadic pastoralism]], herds of livestock are moved from place to place in search of pasture, fodder, and water. This type of farming is practiced in arid and semi-arid regions of [[Sahara]], Central Asia and some parts of India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Blench |first=Roger |title=Pastoralists in the new millennium |publisher=FAO |date=2001 |pages=11–12 |url=http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/eps.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201000745/http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/eps.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Manuring a vegetable garden.jpg|thumb|Spreading manure by hand in Zambia]]

In [[shifting cultivation]], a small area of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the trees. The cleared land is used for growing crops for a few years until the soil becomes too infertile, and the area is abandoned. Another patch of land is selected and the process is repeated. This type of farming is practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. This practice is used in Northeast India, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon Basin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shifting cultivation |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/swidden |publisher=[[Survival International]] |access-date=28 August 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829015112/http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/swidden |archive-date=29 August 2016}}</ref>

[[Subsistence farming]] is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone, with little left over for transport elsewhere. It is intensively practiced in Monsoon Asia and South-East Asia.<ref>{{cite book |author=Waters, Tony |title=The Persistence of Subsistence Agriculture: life beneath the level of the marketplace |publisher=Lexington Books |date=2007}}</ref> An estimated 2.5&nbsp;billion subsistence farmers worked in 2018, cultivating about 60% of the earth's [[arable land]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=<!--no byline--> |date=7 March 2018 |title=Chinese project offers a brighter farming future |department=Editorial |journal=Nature |volume=555 |issue=7695 |page=141 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-02742-3 |pmid=29517037 |bibcode=2018Natur.555R.141. |doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Intensive farming]] is cultivation to maximize productivity, with a low fallow ratio and a high use of inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticide and automation). It is practiced mainly in developed countries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9042533 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705221311/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9042533 |url-status=dead |title=Encyclopædia Britannica's definition of Intensive Agriculture |archive-date=5 July 2006}}</ref><ref name="bbcFactSheet">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/biology/livingthingsenvironment/4foodandsustainabilityrev5.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503035007/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/biology/livingthingsenvironment/4foodandsustainabilityrev5.shtml |url-status=dead |title=BBC School fact sheet on intensive farming |archive-date=3 May 2007}}</ref>