Subsistence farming

Subsistence farming is a mode of agriculture in which a plot of land is held (though not necessarily owned) by a single family, which produces only enough food to feed itself. Good weather can allow the subsistence farmer to produce a surplus, which can be sold or bartered, but this usually does not occur. Thus, the family is left almost entirely without implements or other goods that it cannot produce by itself.

This condition may be brought about by socioeconomic conditions preventing an expansion of farming plots. Alternatively, its cause may be a combination of marginal soil and a lack of good tools, in which case it is simply beyond the family's manpower capability to farm more land.

This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by fixing it.