Subsistence farming and intensive farming are two types of farming systems, but there are a lot of differences between the two. Subsistence farming is a farming system whereby a farmer grows food crops to meet his needs and that of his family. Crops planted and livestock being reared by a farmer are meant to be consumed by the farmer and his family. The main reason behind this farming system is not so that farmers can take farm produce to the market and sell.
This can only be done if at the entire farm produce is in excess. On the other hand, intensive farming is a farming system that requires a lot of agricultural operations with a high level of inputs so that more agricultural produce can be gotten. In other words, intensive farming is a farming system that is practiced on a large scale. Unlike subsistence farming that doesn't require too much of farm inputs, more farm inputs are needed for intensive farming.