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Are you hearing about monocropping for the first time? Monocrop agriculture is about sowing one crop every year in a similar piece of land, and not choosing to adopt practices such as rotation of other kinds of crops or even choosing to grow several crops on the same field, commonly known as polyculture.

What is monocropping in agriculture?

Besides that, in monocropping, some of the common and also popular crops that are always preferred across the globe include:

• Soybeans
• Wheat
• Corn

The above listed are some of the three most planted crops through the monocropping methods.
The techniques for monocropping enable farmers to have regular crops all over their fields.

Again, farmers always choose to only grow some of the crops that are profitable alone and use the same seed, same diseases and pest regulation methods, similar machinery, and also similar planting method throughout the whole field which have increased the chances of heightening the entire field profitability.

Farmers who prefer its adoption say that it’s a method of farming that results in higher yields as compared to choosing to rotate other crops every year. As much as the claim in regards to profitability may prove to be true, the consequences involved in it will also sooner or later turn out to be very devastating than the benefits in relation to environmental safety and care.

The agricultural and ecological practice of monocrop agriculture

Monocropping and also the Loss of Diversifying in both Culture and Food

Lots of biodiversity across the world happens in areas that are densely populated, and monocropping limits cultural diversity.

Besides that, it in terms of economic scale simply proves that very few families undergo lots of financial burdens for those that insist to stay leading to the extinction of many local cultures across the globe. All that limit and reduction in diversity is simply a result of lack and failure to adopt food diversity.

For instance, industrial fish cages or farms found in the West African country of The Gambia consist of polluted rivers and ocean, damaged wild fish stocks, and also denied local fishing communities of their livelihoods and also Gambians of their original diet.

Across the globe, 50% of the human diet consists of simply three crops which are wheat, rice, and maize resulting in diet imbalances and malnutrition. Even though it claimed that it leads to profitability and better living, several people across the globe who practice this kind of farming have remained to be among those suffering from food insecurity and add to those experiencing world hunger.

Monocropping and Climate Change

As much as it is practiced it triggers yearly inputs of chemical fertilizers to manage soil depletion. The chemicals used merged together with the yearly plowing using heavy machinery divide and also break down all the soil components that are considered to be the best for healthy crops.

Are you aware that the use of chemical fertilizers and also wasteful irrigation have increased the chances of runoffs that damage water ecosystems and also pollute waterways? Just like a low diverse landscape invites a limited species of birds and also beneficial insects, monocropping similarly makes it difficult to fight harmful pests and diseases and also increases the need for fungicides and pesticides.

Methane emissions a possible greenhouse gas from fertilizer manufacturing are estimated to be 3.5 times higher than the U.S EPA’s estimations of all the methane emissions from all industries all over the United States.

Apart from all those, it also adds to climate change by making it difficult for agricultural systems to adapt to it, hence making them more vulnerable to pest infestations, blights, invasive species, droughts, and extreme weather.

Monocropping disadvantages

Higher yields at reduced costs seem so good and also with the increasing costs and increasing population, it can turn out to be the ultimate solution to combat the increasing food security problems across the globe.

However, the long-term and final impacts of monocropping are very dangerous making monoculture farming a threat. Below are some of the long-term effects:

Damage to soil quality

When you choose to only grow one kind of crop on your land, it results in intensive farming across the field. When planting such crops yearly in the same way, triggers depletion of the soil nutrients.

The depletion of these soil nutrients more so nitrogen further leads to soil weakness and also the inability to accommodate the healthy growth of crops. Besides nutrient depletion, it also damages the natural soil components of the soil due to the increased use of fertilizers.

Increased use of Fertilizers

It simply means that farmers have to equip the soil with more and more primary nutrients to be capable of growing crops at the same ability. Higher demands of nutrients are done through the use of the increased amount of fertilizers. The fertilizers also have their own impacts on the environment.

Susceptibility to Pests

When a farmer chooses monocropping, then he or she needs to be ready to fight weeds and pests since this farming method is vulnerable to such attacks hence the need for the use of more pesticides to prevent and fight them.

This method also simply involves crops that are similar or clones of one another, this means that if it happens that one crop is susceptible to pests, then, others will also act the same way.

Monocropping farms are also more than just farms but appear to be home to pests since the kind of food or crops that they eat are grown at a given time and also every year hence attracting more pests.

With all that happening, risks of economic loss among farmers that practice monocropping since when one crop was to go bad, then, the entire crops will also be affected resulting in a massive loss of profit in the whole farm due to devastated agricultural production.

More use of Pesticides and herbicides

As detailed above, since monoculture crops have higher chances of getting infested by pests and weeds, then, there will be increased usage of pesticides in such fields. This will also increase the farmer’s budget since pesticides will be used most of the time and in large quantities.

Damage to the Environment

Increased quantities of pesticides and fertilizers used in the fields end up in the groundwater and also flow into rivers leading to water pollution and also getting into the air and polluting the air.

Another major problem that is fueled by monocropping is deforestation as the need for land increases. Statistics have it that from 1970, the Amazon rainforest alone has lost more than 20% of its forest cover through this techniques.

There are also claims that there exists a high dependency on fossil fuels that may result in increased environmental problems such as global warming.

Loss of Biodiversity

Planting certain species of crops (monoculture farming) leads to a loss of biodiversity. It also limits the choices of customers since they lack a variety of products to buy.

More Susceptibility to diseases

Since crops grown using this method are always of a similar gene (same species), their general reaction or resistance to diseases are almost the same. For the above reason, whenever one crop gets affected, there are higher chances of the entire farm getting affected and being taken down by a similar disease.

Lower yields

Those who have embraced monocropping tend to believe that monoculture has more yield as compared to other forms of farming such as polyculture which is not true. According to the latest research conducted, this is not true but just a belief.

Monocrop agriculture benefits

Specialized and Consistent Crop Production

Maximizing one kind of crop across the whole field, the farmer is capable to optimize the processes such as the seeds, water requirement, harvesting methods, and many others similar across the farm. Adopting the above-described method leads to reduced cost of production and higher produce.

It will also result in reduced costs of production since the seeds, pesticides and even fertilizer will be bought in large quantities or in bulks for the same type of crop. Same crops would also state that the agricultural processes in the entire farm would be specialized and that the farmer would have to find some money for a given type of machinery.

This calls for monocropping that is more economically viable for farmers. A group of individuals who are against monoculture farming believes that it leads to lots of environmental problems and is usually less profitable as compared to organic farming.

Crops in-demand

This method favors crops that are common in the market. Farmers analyze the crops that are commercially in demand and profitable to grow such as wheat.

Perfect match of conditions

Monocrop agriculture can be leveraged to grow a group of crops that are best suited for the local climate and soil conditions of the field. This will maintain good produce for the chosen crop since the growing conditions will be adequately available.

Easy and Simple

It is said that doing the same thing or rather one thing multiple times is easier as compared to doing several things at a go. This simply means that when farmers choose to grow one kind of crop on a piece of land, it is easier and simpler for them to manage than choosing to grow several types of crops in one field.

Polyculture Farming is the main alternative

This is opposite to monoculture since it is a type of agriculture where several species of crops are grown in the same field and at the same time imitate the diversity of plants in nature’s ecosystems. It has also been more common among farmers tracing back all the way to the history of organic farming and conventional farming.

Polyculture Types

Some of the different types of polyculture techniques applied include:

• Inter-cropping – involves growing more than one crop adjacently, on one field
• Cover-cropping – this entails growing crops just to cover and conserve the soil

Polyculture farming is more beneficial since it has the ability to combat pests, diseases, and even weeds. This is one of the major reasons why polyculture farming is considered to entail sustainable agriculture.

Under subsistence farming, farmers produce just enough crops and/or livestock that are required for their own needs and do not have the option to earn money by selling or obtaining goods by trading their production. While most of the food on our plates today comes from large-scale farmlands spread across hundreds of acres, it is still prevalent in many parts of the world and mostly in developing or under-developed countries of Asia and Africa.

When humans first began growing crops instead of foraging for food, the foods they grew were entirely for self-consumption and thus, in a way, subsistence-farming was the first form of agriculture that led humans to settle in one place.

When trade started, humans began to shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming thereby selling the surplus amount of what they produced in exchange for other necessities. However, as the human race evolved and the human population exploded, thanks to the increased food supply through farming, land available to a farmer became limited.

In the current agricultural system, companies hold vast areas of farmlands while farmers with limited land do not even have enough to meet their own needs. So farmers have been finding ways to intensify their farming practices to increase production. This form of farming is now known as intensive-subsistence farming.

Types of Subsistence Farming

It in itself can be categorized into two types namely Primitive-Subsistence farming and Intensive-Subsistence Farming.

1. Primitive subsistence farming

It is called primitive subsistence farming because it follows an approach called ‘shifting-cultivation’ or ‘slash and burn technique’ similar to our primitive ancestors. Under this, patches of land from forests or grasslands are cleared by felling the trees, burning with fire, and preparing the soil.

The land is used for a few years until its fertility runs low, at which point a new area is cleared and farming is shifted to that location.

Moreover, as shifting cultivation has gradually reduced due to its negative impacts on the environment, primitive-subsistence agriculture is still present in other forms such as homestead farming in which small gardens or tiny plots of lands are used to grow vegetables and crops using the manures and bio-waste produced by the farmer as fertilizers.

2. Intensive subsistence farming

Intensive-subsistence farming however mainly results from a single cause, that land is limited. And as land is passed on from one generation to the next, it is fragmented into smaller plots to divide among the offsprings of the farmers.

So it goes on getting smaller and smaller until it cannot produce enough to even satisfy the needs of a single family and the farmer uses intensive practices to fulfill production.

In which areas is Intensive subsistence farming practiced?

For an area to have intensive subsistence agriculture, it has to have suitable conditions in terms of light and rainfall. The location should have continuous sunlight coverage most of the year and should have a significant monsoon season.

Checking both those requirements, the monsoon parts of Asia in countries like China, India, the Philippines, and many parts of South East Asia are renowned for their practices in intensifying their farmland production.

Many rural areas of China have hills beautifully carved into terraces that grow different varieties of crops all year round. The need for intensifying agricultural production comes from having a higher population.

In more developed countries of Europe and America, intensive subsistence farming is often practiced in the countryside households having small landholdings and is not uniformly distributed to a certain place.

What are some characteristics of intensive-subsistence agriculture?

1. Very small landholdings

The small size of the landholdings of the farmers is the primary feature of the intensive-subsistence agricultural system. The entire arable land will be subdivided into numerous small plots of lands each belonging to a separate farmer.

As a result, they are managed separately by individuals trying to produce just enough to feed themselves. This becomes very uneconomic to run since you can’t afford any inputs on the farms due to the lack of capital.

Depending on the location, the average size of the land can vary anywhere from a quarter of an acre to a few acres i.e. (0.25 – 10) acres.

2. Farming is very intensive

The intensity of farming can be seen both in temporal and spatial terms in the farms. What it means for the land is that as much area of it as possible will be used for farming leaving only a few ridges as footpaths in the plains and tightly packed terraces will be constructed in hilly areas.

Even marginal lands like swamps and dry lands will be made arable by draining the water and irrigating the land respectively.

Also, the land will not be left barren at any time of the year with a new crop replacing the previous one as soon as it is harvested. Other intensive techniques like multi-cropping on several layers are also often practiced.

3. Much hand labor is entailed

A farmer practicing intensive subsistence farming will always try to use hand labor as much as possible rather than using machinery and power tools to keep the costs low. The general understanding is that machines cost money while their own hands don’t.

So even though tractors are available for tillage, they gravitate towards the old methods of using animals like buffaloes and handmade wooden plows and spades. Harvesting is also done using sickles as are all other post-treatments according to the crop.

In fact, Intensive-subsistence agriculture is identified as having very low production per labor and high production per land. However, as technology progresses, the machinery is getting more affordable, and intensive subsistence farmers in some places like India, Japan, and China are starting to hire machines whenever accessible and affordable.

4. Use of animal and plant manures

The use of animal and plant manures as a characteristic of intensive subsistence farming is also related to the lack of money to afford chemical or artificial fertilizers by the farmer. But this is a good thing since bio-fertilizers made from kitchen waste, human excreta, farm waste, plants, and animal dung doesn’t affect the soil and the environment.

So this is one of the good aspects of this form of farming practice since even though it puts pressure on the soil and land, the addition of nutrients in the form of manures and bio-fertilizers tries to balance it out.

However, like machinery, chemical fertilizers have increasingly become affordable to most farmers due to reductions in prices and government assistance. As a result, in many parts of the world, the tables have turned and intensive subsistence agriculture is now recognized for its excessive usage of harmful insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers to maximize output.

This compromises the sustainability of the farm. So the use of animal and plant manures should be promoted which makes the farm self-sustaining and ensures food security to the farmers.

5. The dominance of paddy and other food crops

While paddy is the most grown crop in the intensive-subsistence agricultural system, several other food crops are also extensively grown and they vary according to location and its climate, soil, and topography.

For example, wheat, soybeans, and barley are majorly grown intensively in subsistence farms of northern parts of china, japan, and Korea and also parts of India like Punjab. In areas where rainfall is not adequate, food crops like millet and gorghum are grown.

Maize is also often included in the crop rotation at one time of the year. Peas and other vegetables are often integrated with plants like maize.

6. Lack of Credit Services for Farmers

Farmers are often faced with financial difficulties in these systems of farming, especially because of the lack of financial services and credit facilities. This is because intensive-subsistence farming is mostly rainfed which makes it susceptible to failure.

Moreover, since no surplus remains of the production for selling, there is no way for farmers to repay their credit if they have no other source of income.

Intensive subsistence farming and precision agriculture

For many years, subsistence agriculture and precision agriculture have belonged to the opposite sides of the spectrum. But with technological advancements, the gap is starting to be steadily reduced.

First of all, the importance of subsistence farming in ensuring food safety is being increasingly recognized. Along with this, research and experiments have proven the effectiveness and viability of precision agriculture tools and techniques in small intensively farmed subsistence farmlands, especially on those existing in clusters.

The concept of precision farming comes down to the scale of variability that exists within a plot in terms of nutrient availability, soil type, moisture, topography, and other factors. It has been noted that variability can occur in very small plots.

The technology which has driven precision agriculture is becoming more widely accessible. The Soil Data Analytics and Yield data service offered by GeoPard is one such example of a sophisticated and capable precision agriculture tool being accessible and affordable even on farmlands owned by several small landholders.

It helps to discover the promising combination of agricultural and technological fields and improve agronomic decisions of small farmers so that their subsistence need for food can be ensured and the intense stress on their lands can be reduced to ensure sustainability.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is shifting cultivation intensive or extensive?

Shifting cultivation is an extensive form of farming that involves clearing and cultivating different plots of land over time. It requires substantial land area and involves rotating crops across various fields to maintain soil fertility.

While it demands a large amount of land, it does not involve intensive inputs like fertilizers or machinery. Instead, it relies on natural resources and traditional farming practices, making it a unique and less resource-intensive method of agriculture.

2. Which of the following is classified as a type of intensive farming?

One type of farming classified as intensive is greenhouse farming. In this method, crops are grown in controlled environments like glass or plastic structures.

The use of advanced technology, such as temperature and humidity control, artificial lighting, and irrigation systems, allows for year-round cultivation and optimized crop production.

This intensive approach maximizes yield and minimizes resource wastage, making it a popular choice for growing high-value and delicate crops.

3. What is a subsistence farmer?

A subsistence farmer is an individual who practices farming primarily to meet the basic needs of themselves and their family. They cultivate small plots of land using traditional and labor-intensive methods, relying on their own physical effort and simple tools.

The crops grown are typically consumed by the farmer and their family, with minimal surplus for trade or sale. It is often associated with rural areas and is driven by self-sufficiency rather than commercial profit.

4. Which one of the following characteristics is most unique to intensive subsistence agriculture?

The most unique characteristic of intensive subsistence agriculture is its high labor input per unit of land. Farmers practicing intensive subsistence agriculture work intensively on small plots of land, utilizing manual labor and traditional farming techniques to maximize the productivity of their limited resources.

This labor-intensive approach allows them to achieve high yields and sustain their livelihoods in areas where land availability is scarce. Unlike extensive agriculture, which relies on larger land areas, intensive subsistence agriculture focuses on maximizing output within a limited space through diligent labor and efficient farming methods.

5. Difference between subsistence farming and commercial farming?

The main difference between subsistence and commercial farming lies in their primary goals and scale of operation.

It is practiced to meet the immediate needs of the farmer and their family, with the surplus being minimal or absent. It focuses on self-sufficiency rather than profit and typically involves small plots of land and traditional farming methods.

In contrast, commercial farming aims at generating profit by producing crops or raising livestock for sale in the market. It involves larger land areas, modern agricultural techniques, and the use of machinery and commercial inputs to maximize yield and profitability.

6. Where is intensive subsistence wet rice dominant practiced?

Intensive subsistence wet rice farming is predominantly practiced in regions of Asia, particularly in densely populated countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. These areas have favorable climatic conditions, such as high rainfall and fertile soils, that are suitable for rice cultivation.

The practice involves the labor-intensive cultivation of rice in flooded paddy fields, where farmers employ techniques like terracing, irrigation, and crop rotation to optimize rice production and sustain their livelihoods. This farming method has been developed and perfected over centuries, making it a dominant agricultural system in these regions.

7. Difference between intensive and extensive farming?

Intensive farming and extensive farming differ in terms of their scale, inputs, and productivity. Intensive farming involves maximizing output on a smaller land area by utilizing high inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, and advanced technology.

In contrast, extensive farming involves cultivating larger land areas with lower inputs and reliance on natural resources. It focuses on extensive land use rather than maximizing output per unit of land. Extensive farming is commonly associated with livestock grazing or large-scale crop cultivation, while intensive farming is prevalent in commercial crop production and greenhouse farming.

Polyculture in agriculture is best defined as the practice of planting several kinds of crop species on the same piece of land and at the same time. Choosing to adopt polyculture tries to imitate the diversity found in the natural ecosystems. Another name for polycropping is intercropping, and this is the opposite of monoculture whereby only one species of crop and even animals are kept together.

Polyculture farming: methods, advantages, and disadvantages

Besides that, polycropping is also perceived to be capable of minimizing pests, diseases, and even weeds and also limits the use of pesticides across the farm. Non-legumes together with intercrops of legumes have higher chances of adjusting the produce on low-nitrogen soils through biological nitrogen fixation.

As opposed to that, it also can lower crop yields through competition among mixed-species for resources such as water, nutrients, and also light. Apart from that, it further complicates the handling of the entire farm since different species possess conflicting growth pace, harvest needs, and also days to maturity.

Monocultures also are considered to be amenable to mechanization. Due to the above-described reasons, several farmers in large-scale agriculture prefer to adopt monocultures and manage them through crop rotation to include diversity in this kind of farming.

Polycropping farming methods

1. Multiple cropping

This farming technique is also known by some as double-cropping. It simply involves the growth of crops on the same piece of land through a single growing season. Immediately the crops are harvested, you will need to plant the next crops as fast as possible or if possible, then immediately.

The newly grown crops continue after the harvests are done at the end of the growing season. Main crops that are grown in multi-cropping systems are arable crops, fiber, and even vegetables. Small or ordinary farmers tend to use polycropping since they can efficiently use the fertilizer, water, and land.

2. Relay cropping (modified double-cropping)

This is an altered version of double cropping. It is not the same since your crops are grown before the harvest of your initial crops. In other words, all of the crops will have to share a section of the growing season, aiding to adjust the solar radiation and also the present heat for all of the crops.

As you read this, relay cropping is gaining momentum as several farmers across the world specialize in planting corn for seed, winter wheat crops, and even soybean.

3. Intercropping

It is the growth of several crops whereby two or even more different crops will cover the same piece of land simultaneously. Here, you first grow the main crop. You then proceed by growing the second crop in the spaces left.

Usually, farmers who use this method do use a minimum of two different crops at the same time. Another name for intercropping is agroforestry because smaller crops are always grown below those that grow higher. This method is suitable in places that have a low amount of land available for farming.

Crops are also grown in an organized style or even mixed randomly. The most suitable crop species for this method are the legumes. This is because they insert atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, aiding lower the use of fertilizer.

4. Cover cropping

Just as the name goes, cover crops are grown to cover the soil. The main aim is to use them to conserve the soil’s surface from getting carried away by the wind, water erosions and also prevent the weeds from growing in the field.

Their top growths aid in covering the soil surface and their roots holding and stabilizing the soil particles. Cover crops are also widely used to generate green manure.

At the end of their growth, you may choose to till them into the soil to offer nutrients back to the soil as they also adjust your soil’s traits such as aeration and even water retention.

5. Crop rotation

Here, you plant a different kind of crop every time in a crop rotation system at certain intervals on the same field. Polycropping is important not to grow a similar type of crop on the land for two years. Waiting lets the soil regenerate between growing a similar crop. It also offers better conditions for both the crop and the soil.

Benefits of polyculture farming

1. Saving on resources

Several years back before polyculture, the primary farming technique was monoculture. This means that a given section of land was used for growing one kind of crop. For instance, corn would only be grown together with corn crops and also kales would only grow with kale crops.

The drawback with this kind of method is that a farmer would require large sections of the field to divide the crops. A complicated irrigation system would also be needed to water the crops across large tracts of land.

A farmer may also have a smaller section of land with a similar output of crops and also possess a more efficient irrigation system.

2. Plant competition

When the soil is meant for several crops, crops always grow stronger. This may appear to be counter-intuitive because people always argue that several plants eat more nutrients at a faster rate. But the crops rather seem to focus on what looks like competition over the soil.

Besides that, the roots of crops and even vegetables always grow thicker with the aim of covering as much soil as they can. With all that happening, the plants grow healthier and offer better yields. As the crops move closer to one another, their immune systems increase.

Research has polycropping that plants that belong to different species when coming closer to another, fight diseases more easily as compared to those in monoculture.

Polyculture farming disadvantages

1. Control Issues

The main drawback of polyculture is the number of control challenges one has over the crops. As opposed to a single plot where one species of the crop would grow, it involves a plot whereby several species of crops are grown.

Here, the farmer must work in a more compact space with several kinds of crops growing altogether. A farmer may also know only how to handle one kind of species and doesn’t have enough knowledge to manage the remaining others.

2. Equipment

There is some polyculture that needs an investment in some equipment to aid control of the land. This is commonly used in polyculture applications in fish farms. The farmer will have to dedicate more time and also on the infrastructure to make it work.

The plot land should be large enough, have a perfect irrigation system, and also physical and even chemical products to help support the growth.

Monoculture vs Polyculture farming methods

Monocultures consume high quantities of synthetic chemicals for handling pests and also offer nutrients to your crops. It helps get rid of lots of these synthetic inputs in your garden and escalates for a better manageable gardening system.

After some time, it finishes the soil health, unlike polycultures that heighten your soil’s health after some time. Polycropping also lowers the risks and offers you one with stable and also high-quality produce. Numerous methods can be used to introduce this system into your field.

Similarities between monoculture and polyculture agriculture

The only existing major similarity between these two methods is that you are planting some vegetation. Both of them involve the use of fungicides, fertilizers, and even pesticides. However, monoculture consumes more quantities as compared to polyculture.

Whenever you need to shift to organic farming while increasing the biodiversity of your farm, shifting towards a polyculture system is one of the best moves to make. You can also choose to use polycultures in a crop rotation or even use them as green manure to adjust your general soil’s fertility and also nutrient level.

It was used commonly across the globe tracing back to up to 70 years ago. From there, then, monocultures began spreading across the United States, Europe, and then Canada.

As much as it enable farmers to increase their harvests, polycropping also has severe impacts on the environment and also the general health of the soils. For you to estimate all your farming outcomes, then, try some of our Agricultural tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the opposite of monoculture? Why is polyculture better than it?

The opposite of monoculture is polyculture. Unlike monoculture, which involves growing a single crop in a large area, polyculture refers to the practice of cultivating multiple crops together in the same field.

Polyculture promotes biodiversity, enhances ecological resilience, and reduces the risk of crop failure. By combining different plant species, it mimics natural ecosystems and allows for beneficial interactions between plants, such as pest control, nutrient sharing, and improved soil health.