SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE
versus COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE
COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE

LDCs

MDCs

food for consumption by family or local
area (goal = feed the family)

food for sale off farm often in distant
regions (goal = make $$)

IF food is sold, sold directly to consumers

food sold to large processing companies
(Kraft, General Mills)

55% of people in LDCs farmers; rely on
people or animals for work

less than 5% in farming
Labor Intensive AGRICULTURE
Capital Intensive AGRICULTURE

hand tools

uses machinery and little human labor to
produce large amounts

traditional methods

Technology-tractors, combines, irrigation,
transportation

Lower crop yields

Scientific advances-fertilizers, hybrid plants,
GPS to monitor cattle on large ranches,
satellite imagery to monitor crop progress
Higher crop yields and healthier animals


Average farm size= 2-3 acres

Average farm size= 435 acres (commercial
agriculture dominated by handful of large
farms

Family/local venture

Agribusiness, multinational corporations