<h1><strong>DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE</strong></h1> CONTENT <ol> <li>Definition of Agriculture</li> <li>Importance of Agriculture to the Individual</li> <li>Importance of Agriculture to the Society</li> <li>Importance of Agriculture to the Nation</li> <li>Types of Agriculture based on Levels of Production: Subsistence & Commercial Agriculture</li> </ol> <br> <h2><strong>Definition of Agriculture</strong></h2> Agriculture can be defined as the art and science which deals with the growing of crops and rearing of animals for man’s use. <h2><strong>Importance of Agriculture </strong></h2> Agriculture plays an important role in the development of all nations. It used to be the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and that of other developing countries. The importance of agriculture can be grouped into three categories: <h2><strong>Importance of Agriculture to the Individual</strong></h2> <ol> <li><strong>Provision of food:</strong> This is the <strong>most</strong> important contribution of agriculture to man because food is required for our survival. People need food in order to live. Farm animals also need food. The food could be meat, eggs, and milk from farm animals and products from many different crops such as yam, rice, maize etc.</li> <li><strong>Provision of shelter materials:</strong> This help to protect man from adverse weather conditions and predators. Agriculture is a source of materials used in building houses. Materials such as timbers and leaves are used in building houses.</li> <li><strong>Provision of materials for clothing</strong>: Agriculture provides fibre, silk and cotton from plants for textile production, hides and skins as well as wool from sheep for clothing, shoes, belts and bags.</li>

<h1><strong>TYPES OF AGRICULTURE BASED ON THE LEVELS OF PRODUCTION</strong></h1> CONTENT<strong> </strong> <ol> <li>Meaning and Characteristics of Subsistence Agriculture</li> <li>Meaning and Characteristics of Commercial Agriculture</li> </ol>   <h2><strong>Subsistence Agriculture</strong></h2> <h3><strong>Meaning of Subsistence Agriculture</strong></h3> Subsistence agriculture is defined as the type of agriculture which involves the production of crops and animals by a farmer to feed himself and his family. He produces food for the consumption of the family with little or nothing left for sale. <h3><strong>Characteristics of Subsistence Agriculture</strong></h3> <ol> <li>It requires small capital/finance.</li> <li>Mixed cropping is mostly practiced.</li> <li>There is limited used of agro-chemicals e.g. pesticides and fertilizers.</li> <li>Unimproved varieties of crops and breeds of animals are used.</li> <li>There is little or no surplus for sale.</li> <li>It involves the used of crude/traditional tools such as hoes, machetes/cutlasses.</li> <li>It involves mainly the production of food crops.</li> <li>It is done on small scattered land.</li> <li>It uses family/unskilled labour.</li> <li>Yield/output is low.</li> </ol>