Which farming system aims to maximize yield per unit of land through high inputs of labor and capital?

• A. Intensive Agriculture
• B. Plantation Agriculture
• C. Market Gardening
• D. Truck Farming

Answer: (A)

Intensive agriculture is about squeezing the most output from a given area by pouring in large amounts of labor and capital. It uses irrigation, fertilizers, high-yield varieties, pest management, machinery, and often multiple cropping within a year to push yields per hectare as high as possible. This approach is chosen in places where land is scarce or valuable, and the goal is to maximize production on each unit of land.

Plantation agriculture focuses on growing a few crops on large estates for export, prioritizing scale and uniformity over the per-hectare yield achieved through heavy inputs across a small plot. Market gardening and truck farming involve producing vegetables or fruits for local markets, usually on smaller plots near urban areas, with intensive practices but not defined by the broad aim of maximizing land yield through high inputs in the same way as intensive agriculture.