Intensive subsistence farming system utilizes a small area of land but with a high input of labour and sometimes capital on unit land. Scale of intensive subsistence farming is usually small, with the purpose of self-survival rather than maximizing profits.
Crops raised are normally consumed locally. The small scale and low capitol input of intensive subsistence farming system greatly limits availability of technology such as machineries. Results in general ineffectiveness of such system. Like most subsistence farming systems, intensive subsistence farming are usually found in relatively less developed areas with inexpensive labour, where the land may be fertile but unsuitable for extensive agricultural activities due to adverse environmental factors like a mountainous terrain or economic factors such as high land value.
The irrigated rice farming in Nepal is an example of this system. Nepal is situated in warm subtropics with plentiful summer rainfall, but the climate and topological feature varies greatly in different area of this country. …
