Cultivating very large farms with relatively low inputs of labour and capital per unit of land is referred to as:

Extensive cultivation (extensive farming) is a system in which large areas of land are farmed with relatively small inputs of labour, capital, fertilisers and other resources per unit of land. Yields per hectare are fairly low, but because the farms are very large, total production and production per worker are high.

Features of extensive cultivation:

• It is practised where land is plentiful and cheap, but labour is scarce and costly.
• Farms are very large, often hundreds or thousands of hectares.
• Farming is highly mechanised, using tractors, combine harvesters and other machines, so a few workers can manage huge areas.
• Usually a single crop, especially wheat or other grains, is grown on a commercial scale (monoculture).
• Yield per hectare is lower than in intensive farming, but output per person is very high, and the surplus is exported.

Where it is practised:

• The temperate grasslands of the world, which have flat land, fertile soils and moderate rainfall:
• The Prairies of the USA and Canada.
• The Pampas of Argentina.
• The Steppes of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
• The Downs of Australia.
• These regions are known as the "granaries of the world" for their wheat production.

Intensive cultivation (the opposite):

• Small farms with high inputs of labour, capital, fertilisers, irrigation and pesticides per unit of land.
• High yields per hectare.
• Common in densely populated countries such as India, China, Japan and Bangladesh, where land is scarce.
• Indian agriculture is mostly intensive subsistence farming, with small holdings.

Other farming types:

• Mixed farming: growing crops and rearing livestock together on the same farm.
• Plantation agriculture: large estates growing a single cash crop, such as tea, coffee, rubber or sugarcane, for export, using a large labour force and capital.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Intensive cultivation uses high inputs on small plots to get high yields.
• ✗Mixed farming combines crops and livestock.
• ✗Plantation agriculture grows a single cash crop on a large estate with heavy labour use.