A mode of agriculture where a family or community grows only enough food to meet their own basic needs, with little to no surplus left over for trade. It relies heavily on manual labor, traditional tools, and minimal outside inputs like synthetic fertilizers. Success is measured by household survival and food security rather than financial profit.
Heard on the job
Before the cooperative built the processing plant, this whole valley was limited to subsistence farming.
Related terms
Subsistence crop
An agricultural crop grown primarily to feed the farmer's household.
Cash crop
An agricultural crop grown specifically to be sold for profit rather than for the farmer's own use.
Intensive farming
An agricultural system designed to maximize crop or livestock yields using high levels of inputs.