small-scale farming
Local plot cultivation
Small-scale farming is agriculture practiced on limited acreage, typically by families or individuals rather than corporations.
The term implies modest operations—often under a few hundred acres—where farmers may grow diverse crops or raise livestock without industrial methods.
Small-scale farms frequently serve local markets or sustain the farming household itself: Small-scale farming persists in regions where terrain prevents mechanization.
- intercroppingSimultaneous multi-crop cultivation
- drip irrigationSlow-release watering method
- hand toolsUnpowered grip-operated devices
- crop rotationAlternating field plantings yearly
- raised bedsElevated soil enclosures for planting
family farm · backyard garden · market garden · biodiversity · agrarian reform · farmer cooperatives · mulching · smallholding · seed saving · soil health · composting · heritage breeds · medicinal plants · fair trade · greenhouses · water conservation · permaculture · growing season
- aquaculturefish farms, aquaculture, fish farm, fish ponds, shrimp farms
- ethnobotanyayahuasca, peyote, coca, coca leaf, cannabis
small-scale farmingindustrial agriculture
Large-scale mechanized farming
factory farming · agribusiness · industrial farming · corporate farming · plantation agriculture