This document provides a history of agricultural development in ancient India. It discusses how hunting and gathering gradually transitioned to settled agriculture beginning around 10,000 years ago. Early forms of agriculture included shifting cultivation and root crop farming. Agriculture advanced with the domestication of crops and animals. By ancient civilizations like Harappa, crops like wheat, barley, and rice and animals like cattle and water buffalo were domesticated. Agricultural practices continued developing through Buddhist, Gupta and medieval periods in India. The basic elements of crop production are also outlined as land, labor, capital and organization.

2. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN
ANCIENT INDIA, AGRICULTURE IN CIVILIZATION ERA
Prof. Shivaji R. Suryavanshi
Asst. Professor of Agronomy,
Dr. D.Y. Patil College of Agriculture,
Talsande.

3. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN ANCIENT INDIA, AGRICULTURE IN
CIVILIZATION ERA

4. Ancient Agriculture : With the paucity of hard
evidences, we may not exactly know the origins of our
cultivated plants, their diffusion paths & ancient
agricultural systems, inspite of numerous publications.
The tending of plants occurred long before the
beginning of agriculture, usually assigned as some
10000 years ago. The transition from hunting and
gathering to settled farming was a gradual process,
extending far back into the Paleolithic and occurred at
different rates in widely scattered regions.

5. Table :Stages from Gathering to Commercial Farming
Mankind did not
spontaneously wake up
one day in the Neolithic to
a pattern of open fields.
People had been tending
plants for a considerable
time before someone
tossed seed into a prepared
seed bed or pushed
cuttings into moist soil.

6. Stage Characteristics
Gathering Wild plants in native stand
Protection of
preferred plants
Wild plants in native stand,
volunteer plants around camps.
Gardening Transplanted seedlings, roots,
cuttings of wild plants, planting
of seed crops
Subsistence
farming
Trees, Shrubs, herbs and
grasses, usually grown in
polyculture assemblages under
shifting agricultural conditions.
Subsistence and
cash cropping
Polyculture common in tropics
and cash crops often grown in
separate fields.
Commercial
farming
Polyculture still common but
trend is towards monocropping.

7. Shifting Cultivation : The primitive form of agriculture was
shifting cultivation. Camps, rather than cleared fields, served as
sites for incipient (initial) agriculture. Discarded plants & other
domestic waste around perimeter of camps enriched the soils for
spontaneous sprouting of seeds, tubers and stems.

8. Hunting & gathering used to be main source of food.
Opportunistic plants growing in nutrient rich soil around camps
are likely to have been larger and thus more noteworthy than
plants of comparable age growing away from camp sites.

9. Women, unwanted plants
(weeds).prolonged association with semi-
domesticated plants eventually nurtured
the idea of planting. The idea of planting
surely arose long before the Neolithic, but
humans only began cultivating plants when
the returns exceeded those that could be
achieved by gathering.

10. Root Crop Agriculture : The fertile crescent of Tigris
and Euphrates basins is often cited as earliest
agricultural site due to archeological record. It appears
that root crop agriculture predates seed farming as
tuberous crops are easier to care for and harvesting can
be staggered.

11. Cuttings or corms could be easily dipped into the ground
after harvest of the ancestors of Colocasia esulenta (taro)
Xanthosome agittifolium (cocoyam), Ipomea batatas &
other tuber bearing plants. Cereals and pulses are
unlikely to have been the first domesticated crops.

12. The earliest fields were probably in alluvial areas between thick
forest and grass land. It would have been easier to cultivate
them with primitive tools such as stone axes and wooden
digging sticks after felling smaller trees and burning the debris.

13. Early fields were modest as hunting and gathering still provided
considerable portion of food requirement. As the population grew,
hunting and gathering could not meet their food requirement.
It is estimated that most efficient hunting and gathering can
hardly support one person per square kilometer while pastoral life
(shepherds life) can support three person and agriculture about a
hundred.

14. There was gradual increase in field size with domesticated plants and animals. At present,
thescopeforincreasingareaunderprofitablefarmingislimitedinmanycountries.Intensive
farming with adequate inputs is transforming subsistence agriculture to commercial one in
manycountries.

15. HISTORY OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE
The history of agriculture and civilization go hand in hard
as the food production made it possible for primitive man to
settle down in selected spots leading to formation of society and
initiation of civilization.
Jarmo (Iraq) and other ecologically similar locations become centres of
agricultural evolution from where it is spread to many countries including India.

16. Neolithic Agricultural Revolution in Western India : Western Asia
(Israel, Jordan Iraq etc.) is considered to be the birth place of
agricultural revolution, where wild ancestors of wheat and barley
and domesticated animals like goat, sheep, pig and cattle are found.

17. • The period from 7500-6500 B.C. was in real
sense the discovery of agriculture. Polished
stone axe and sickle were used for the
cultivation of crops like wheat, barley, rice,
maize and millets. Domesticated horse and ass
were used as draught and transport animals.
Maize, Potato and Wheat, were domesticated
in 4400, 3500, 3400 B.C., respectively.

18. The period from 300-1700 B.C. marked the
spread of agricultural revolution to Egypt &
subsequently to Indus valley. The scene of this
revolution was in countries between rivers Niles
and Gangas.

19. • Man invented plough to be used with the help of
oxen. Stone implements were supplemented with
copper and bronze.

20. • Mohenjodaro to Harrappa territory was the
centre of agricultural revolution in Indus
Valley. It was that Indus valley civilization
that spread to Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujrat and Madhya
Pradesh. Harappans raised bread wheat,
barley, sesame, peas, melons, cotton, rape
and mustard. Cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep,
camel, ass, dog, and cat have special mention
in the list of domesticated animals.
Harappans agriculture also spread to Andra
Pradesh, Karnataka & adjoining areas.

21. • About 1800-1600 B.C., Aryan migrated to India
and overwhelmed the Harappans. Horses were
the main domesticated animals beside cattle.

22. Agriculture was very important profession
during Vedic age (1500-1000 B.C.). Use of iron
implements, particularly iron ploughs became
prevalent.

23. Besides barley, wheat, beans, sesame,
millets and rice find frequent reference
in Vedas written during the period.

24. • Buddhist period (600 BC) marks the
importance of trees. It can be called as period
of Arboriculture (forestry) and Horticulture.
During that period, Superintendents of
Agriculture used to look after the agricultural
progress. Two annual harvests-winter (wheat
and barley) and summer (rice and millets)
were common.

25. • Suitability of different lands to different
crops was mentioned.
• Farming operations from ploughing to
harvest of crops were systematically
followed.
• Safflower, linseed and mustard were also
under cultivation besides rice, wheat and
millets.
• Irrigation from rivers, lakes and reservoirs
was practiced and water rate was one-
fifth of the produce.

26. Agricultural Development in South India :
• During the first century of Christian era
and 300 A.D., the most important
development in agriculture was irrigated
cultivation of rice in South India. Cauvery
river was the most important source of
irrigation water. Cultivation of rice, finger
millet, sugarcane, pepper and turmeric
was quite common.

27. • After 300 A.D., Gupta period
contributed significantly to the
progress of agriculture. Amarkosha
written during the period of
Chandragupta II contains
information on soil, irrigation,
implements, classification of soils
and land use and use of manures.
Rice transplantation was practiced.

28. • Crops such as wheat, barley, rice,
peas, pulses, spices, vegetables
(onion, gourd, cucumber, pumpkin),
sugarcane, cotton, pepper,
cardamom, mustard, cloves, ginger,
turmeric, beetle-nut, tamarind,
sesame, linseed, indigo etc. were
grown. Mango, jackfruit and
coconut were most common.

29. • During Kanuj empire to Harsha (606-647
A.D.), a rice variety of large grains with
extra ordinary fragrance called rice of
grandees was grown in Magadha.

30. • Pomegranates and sweet oranges were
grown every where. History of Agriculture
from ninth to eleventh century is evident
from Krishi Parashara written by Parashara
(950-1150 A.D.).

31. • It explained the existing classification of
land use, manuring, crop rotation,
irrigation, tillage, implements, crop
protection and agricultural meteorology.
Anantaraja sagar (Porumamilla tank) in
Cuddapah district of A.P. was built in
1367 by Vijaynagar King. In 1521
Krishnadevaraya did lot of work to
improve irrigation to dry lands about
Vijaynagar.

32. • He constructed the dam and channel of
Korragal and the Basavanna channel
both which are still in use and of great
value to country. Rice, wheat, sorghum,
barley, beans, greengram, horsegram etc.
were grown in the area. During the same
period (1336-1646 A.D.), Bahamanis
constructed several canals such as
Utpalpur, Nandashaila, Bijbhira etc.

33. • Babur laid the foundation of mughal
dynasty in India. Except for gardens and
flowers and provision of irrigation
facilities particularly in South India, there
was nothing special about agricultural
development. The quest for spices
resulted in introduction of new world
plants to India by Portuguese during
1498-1580. Groundnut, tobacco, potato,
cashew, guava, pineapple, chillies etc.
were introduced.

34. • Much progress was not there during
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
However, Shahjahan restored the West
Jammu canal which had been dug by Shah.
Eastern Jammu canal was probably
constructed during Mohammed Shah
period. As regard the peasantry during
Mughal period, it was in most stretched
condition. They became disinterested in
cultivation because of large sum (tax ziziya)
extracted from them. The peasants fled from
many areas.

35. Agriculture During British Rule and in Free India
• Land ownership was given to small groups of
people to collect rent from individual farmers
and pay to the Government, a system known
as Zamindari system. There was also Rytwari
system in which the rulers used to collect
rents directly from farmers who had been
settled on the land. Farmers had no security of
possession of land and hence not interested in
land development. Irrigation schemes were
initiated in major river deltas for raising
additional revenue.

36. • A separate Department of Agriculture was
created at national level in 1871. Some of the
provinces (now states) also created
independent agricultural departments.
Facilities for agricultural education were
started at Coimbatore in 1878 and Pune in
1890. After the Great Famine of 1876-77, a
famine commission was appointed in 1880. Dr.
J. A. Voelcker, consultant chemist to Royal
Agriculture Society submitted report on
improvement of Indian Agriculture in 1891.

37. • In the first decade of twentieth
century, the Imperial (now Indian)
Agricultural Research Institute was
set up in 1905 at Pusa (Bihar) (now
at Delhi). Subsequently agricultural
colleges were started at Coimbatore,
Pune, Nagpur and Kanpur.

38. • Royal Commission (1926) repot was accepted
in 1928. Department of food was created in
1942. In order to meet the food requirement,
Grow more food campaign, Food Policy
Committee. Famine Enquiry Committee and
Fertilizer Production Programmes were
initiated January 1946, ‘Statement of
Agriculture and Food Policy in India’ was
issued with ten objective to promote welfare
of the people and to secure a progressive
improvement to agriculture through research
institutes and commodity committees.

39. BASIC ELEMENTS OF CROP PRODUCTION
AND FACTORS AFFECTING IT
• Basic Elements of Crop Production :
• “Production is process where by
some goods and service called inputs
are transformed in to other goods
and service called output which in
turn creates utilities:

40. • Basic elements of crop production are follows
• A) LAND
• B) LABOUR
• C) CAPITAL
• D) ORGANISATION

41. • A) LAND
• Land stands for all natural resources
which yield an income. It represents
those natural resource which are useful
and scarce.
• It is nature’s gift and fixed in quantity.
• Geographical supply of land can not be
increased but economic supply can be
increased by putting land under intensive
and higher use.

42. • It is indestructible` and permanent.
• It is immovable and immobile.
• Land has enormous variability in its
structure and fertility.
• Institution of property exists in land
as it can be divided and sold like any
other property.

43. • B) LABOUR :
• Any work whether manual or
mental which is undertaken for
monetary consideration is called as
labour.

44. • Without the help of labour, no land can
be productive.
• Labour is inseparable from the human
being as it is a living thing.
• In short run, labour supply cannot be
adjusted with demand.
• Change in price affect labour cost. A fall
in wage (price) below a certain point may
increase the supply in the long run.

45. • C) CAPITAL :
• Wealth which is used in producing
further wealth is called as capital.
Capital is not original factor of
production. It is man made. All
capital is necessarily wealth but all
wealth is not necessarily capital.

46. • Characteristics of capital :
• Capital is productive
• It is yield income
• Capital is prospective in the sense
that we postpone the present use of
it for further in anticipation of
reward.

47. • Forms of capital :
• Fixed capital : Land, building etc.
• Working capital : Fertilizer, wages
etc.
• Sunk capital : Purchase of textile
machinery

48. • D) ORGANIZATION :
• The role of organization or enterprise is
coordinating and correlating the other factors
of production. The three main functions of an
organizer or entrepreneur are :
• Organizing
• Risk taking or uncertainty bearing
• Innovating