Which of the following is the chief characteristic of 'mixed farming'?

Answer: (c) Rearing of animals and cultivation of crops together.

Mixed farming means growing crops and rearing animals together on the same farm. Fodder crops are an important component, and equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry.

• ✓ (c) This is the defining feature of mixed farming. Crop cultivation and animal husbandry get equal emphasis, and fodder crops are grown to feed the livestock.
• ✗ (a) Growing both cash crops and food crops concerns only the choice of crops. It has no animal-rearing element, so it does not describe mixed farming.
• ✗ (b) Growing two or more crops in the same field is mixed cropping (or intercropping). Mixed farming is different because it combines crops with livestock.
• ✗ (d) Option (c) correctly states the chief characteristic, so 'none of the above' is wrong.

Remember · Mixed farming = crops + livestock on the same farm, with equal emphasis on both. Mixed cropping = several crops in one field. Do not confuse the two.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Fundamentals of Human Geography, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error