🌧️ Why farms diversify
Farm incomes can be low or can change a lot from year to year. A second income stream protects the farm if one product sells badly or one harvest fails.
Sustainable Rural Living » Farm Diversification: GM and Specialist Crops
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: 5.3 Rural environments (a) diversification of farming
- What farm diversification means and why farms do it
- How GM crops can give a farm a new income stream
- How specialist crops and food can add value
- The benefits and problems of each choice
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Unlock This CourseWhat is farm diversification?
Farming can be a risky way to earn a living. Prices change, bad weather can ruin a harvest, and a farm that sells only one product can lose a lot of money in a bad year. Many farmers now look for other ways to earn money from their land and their skills.
This is called diversification. In this lesson we look at two ways to do it: growing GM crops and growing specialist crops and food. Organic farming and recreation and leisure come in the next lesson.
Key terms:
- Diversification: adding new activities to a farm to generate new income streams.
- Income stream: a regular source of money coming in.
- GM crop: a crop whose genes have been changed in a laboratory to give it a useful feature.
- Specialist crop: an unusual crop, grown in smaller amounts, that can be sold for a higher price.
💰 What farmers hope for
More money, steadier money and more jobs. A farm that earns more can keep its workers and its family on the land, which helps the rural area stay alive.
GM crops
Scientists can take a useful gene from one living thing and put it into a crop plant. The new plant is a GM (genetically modified) crop. Farmers may choose GM crops that resist pests, put up with weedkiller, or cope better with dry weather.
Example: Bt cotton in India
Bt cotton has a gene added that makes the plant produce a protein that harms some insect pests. Farmers in India grow it, and the aim is fewer crop losses and less spraying of insecticide. Cotton is also sold for cash, so a good crop gives the farmer an income.
✅ Possible benefits
Higher crop yields, because fewer plants are lost to pests or drought. Less money spent on sprays. More crop to sell, so a higher income.
⚠️ Possible problems
GM seed can cost more than ordinary seed, and farmers may have to buy new seed each year. Some people worry about effects on wildlife and other plants, so the crops are debated and are banned or controlled in some countries.
Specialist crops and food
Instead of competing on price with huge farms, a farmer can grow something unusual and sell it for more. Specialist crops are often sold directly to customers, in farm shops, at markets or online, so the farmer keeps more of the money.
- Specialist crops: lavender grown for oil and gifts, or grapes grown on English vineyards for wine.
- Specialist food: cheese, ice cream, jam or cured meat made on the farm and sold with the farm's name on the label. Turning a raw product into food is called adding value.
- Cut flowers: in Kenya, flowers are grown and flown to Europe, bringing in money and jobs.
👍 Benefits
Higher prices, new customers, new jobs in making and selling, and a farm that stands out from others.
👎 Problems
Start-up costs for equipment and shops, new skills to learn, and a smaller market. If the crop fails or fashion changes, the farmer may lose money.
Worked example
A farm sells 100 tonnes of wheat at a low price. The farmer plants one field with lavender and uses part of the barn as a farm shop selling lavender oil and jam. Now the farm has three income streams: wheat, lavender and the shop. Each one brings in money in its own way. If wheat prices fall, the other two still bring in money.
Common mistakes
- Saying diversification only means farming something else. It means adding new income streams, and the farm usually keeps some of its old activities.
- Writing that GM crops are simply good or bad. Give a benefit and a problem.
- Forgetting to say why it helps the farm: more money, safer money or more jobs.
Exam-style question
(a) What is meant by farm diversification? [2 marks]
(b) Explain one benefit and one problem of growing GM crops. [4 marks]
Model answer
(a) Adding new activities to a farm (1) so that it earns money from more than one source (1).
(b) Benefit: GM crops can resist pests (1), so fewer plants are lost and the yield and income are higher (1). Problem: GM seed can cost more than ordinary seed (1), so the farmer may spend a lot before earning any more money (1).
Exam tip
For an "explain" question, give the point and then a because. Writing "pest resistance, so fewer plants die, so income rises" earns both marks.