Mixed farming

Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Primary Activities"

Meaning

Mixed farming is a type of commercial farming where crops are grown and livestock (farm animals) are reared on the same farm, and both get equal importance. It is found in the highly developed parts of the world. It is a model of sustainable farming because crops and animals support each other and the soil stays fertile. UPSC often tests it through "which is NOT a feature" questions and by asking you to match it with its regions.

Explanation

What is grown and reared

• Crops: wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder crops (crops grown to feed animals) and root crops such as turnips and beet.
• Animals: cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry.
• How crops and animals support each other:
• Many of the crops become animal feed.
• Animal dung goes back to the fields as manure.

• So each part of the farm helps the other.

• Farm size is moderate.

• Farms are smaller than the huge wheat farms of the prairies or steppes.
• They are much bigger than subsistence plots (small plots where a family grows food mainly for itself).

How the soil stays fertile

• Crop rotation (different crops grown one after another on the same field, season by season):
• Cereals use up nitrogen from the soil.
• Legumes and fodder crops put nitrogen back.
• Changing the crop also breaks the life cycle of pests and diseases.

• So the soil stays fertile and the field never has to be left empty.

• Intercropping (two or more crops grown together on the same field at the same time):

• Crops with deep roots and crops with shallow roots take food from different layers of the soil.

• The ground stays covered, so less soil is washed away.

• Chemical and green manures:

• Green manure means growing a crop such as clover and then ploughing it back into the soil to enrich it.

Conditions it needs

• High capital spending (a lot of money put into the farm):
• Farm machinery.
• Buildings such as barns, sheds and silos (tall stores for fodder and grain).

• Chemical and green manures.

• Skilled and well-trained farmers who can manage crop work and animal work together.

• Good access to city markets through roads and railways.
• Because it needs all of this, mixed farming is found only in highly developed regions.

Where it occurs

• North-western Europe: UK, France, Germany, the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and Denmark.
• Eastern North America: north-eastern USA and south-eastern Canada, including the Corn Belt.
• Parts of Eurasia.
• Temperate parts of the southern continents: for example the Argentine Pampas, South Africa and south-eastern Australia.
• The US Corn Belt is a classic example of mixed farming:
• It lies on the north-central plains of the USA and runs from western Ohio to eastern Nebraska [2].
• Its core states are Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska.
• It suits farming because it has deep, dark prairie soils called mollisols (soils rich in humus, the dark matter from rotted plants), hot and wet summers, and flat land that machines can work easily.
• Maize and soybeans are grown mainly to feed hogs (pigs) and cattle, so crops and livestock are tied together.
• Iowa's main farm products are corn (maize), soybeans, hogs and cattle. Iowa usually ranks first in US corn output [2].
• Nearly 80% of the USA's corn and soybeans come from the Midwestern Corn Belt [3].
• The USA is the world's largest maize producer, with more than 40% of world corn output. China, the European Union and Brazil come next [4].

Don't confuse with

• Monoculture: a single crop is grown on a field year after year, as on plantations or extensive wheat farms. Mixed farming spreads its output across many crops and animals.
• Dairy farming: this is specialised rearing of milch animals (animals kept for their milk). It is both capital intensive and labour intensive and has no off-season. Mixed farming gives equal weight to crops and to several kinds of livestock.
• Crop rotation vs intercropping: both are methods used in mixed farming. In crop rotation, different crops are grown one after another on the same field. In intercropping, two or more crops are grown at the same time on the same field.
• Mediterranean agriculture: this is specialised commercial farming of citrus, grapes, olives and figs. It depends on a climate type (Köppen Csa/Csb), not on how developed a region is. Mixed farming depends on capital, skill and markets, so it is found only in developed regions.

Prelims Hooks

• Mixed farming gives equal importance to crops and livestock. "Monoculture" is NOT one of its features.
• Mixed farming regions: NW Europe, eastern North America, parts of Eurasia, and the temperate southern continents (Pampas, South Africa, SE Australia). It is not found in less developed tropical regions.
• Its typical features are high capital spending, skilled farmers, crop rotation, intercropping, and chemical and green manures.
• Green manure means growing a crop such as clover and ploughing it back into the soil.
• Corn Belt: it runs from western Ohio to eastern Nebraska, and its core states are Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska. Iowa leads the USA in corn [2]. The maize is mostly used to feed hogs and cattle.
• The USA is the largest maize producer, with more than 40% of world output, followed by China, the EU and Brazil [4].

Mains Points

• Why mixed farming is found only in developed regions:
• It needs heavy capital for machines, buildings and manures.
• It needs skilled farmers and good road and rail links to city markets.

• So it is concentrated in temperate developed regions such as NW Europe and eastern North America (GS-I).

• A sustainable farming model:

• Crop rotation, intercropping, green manure and recycling of dung keep the soil fertile without leaving fields empty.

• It offers lessons for India's soil-health and crop-diversification efforts, for example moving away from rice-wheat monoculture in Punjab and Haryana (GS-III).

• Crops and livestock together reduce risk:

• In the US Corn Belt, maize and soybeans feed hogs and cattle, so the farmer earns from both crops and animals.
• The Corn Belt supplies nearly 80% of US corn and soybeans [3]. This shows how linking crops with livestock, along with fertile soils and machines, can make a region very productive.

Related concepts

• Crop rotation
• Intercropping
• Corn Belt
• Dairy farming
• Mediterranean agriculture
• Viticulture

Read more

• Mixed farming, dairy farming and Mediterranean agriculture