subsistence farming

noun

farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing

• Hypernyms: ↑farming, ↑agriculture, ↑husbandry

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noun or subsistence agriculture

1. : farming or a system of farming designed to provide all or essentially all the goods required by the farm family usually without any significant surplus for sale

primitive farming is normally subsistence farming

— compare general farmer, mixed farming, monoculture

2. : farming or a system of farming that produces a minimum and often inadequate return to the farm operator : economically marginal farming — compare sharecropper

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1. farming whose products are intended to provide for the basic needs of the farmer, with little surplus for marketing.

2. farming that brings little or no profit to the farmer, allowing only for a marginal livelihood.

Also, subsistence agriculture.

[1935-40]

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subsistence farming noun

Farming in which land will yield just enough to support the farmer and his or her dependents, leaving little or nothing to be sold

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Main Entry: ↑subsist

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subsistence farming UK US noun [uncountable]

the activity of growing just enough food to live on, but not enough to sell

Thesaurus: general words for farming, and types of farming_hyponym

Derived Word: subsistence farmer

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subsistence farming,

farming that produces only the minimum amount of food necessary to sustain the farmer and his family, with little or no surplus: »

A settled community now enjoys a cash crop instead of the insecurity of crude subsistence farming (Manchester Guardian Weekly).