Agricultural history of the Indian subcontinent
History of agriculture in the Indian subcontinent
Indian Economic Geography
Indian Geography
ভূগোল সম্পর্কিত যে কোনো লেখা আমাদের পেজের মাধ্যমে সবার কাছে পৌছেদিতে আপনারা ও এগিয়ে আসুন
Agricultural history of the Indian subcontinent
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
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| History of agriculture in the Indian subcontinent |
Indian agriculture began by 9000 BCE as
a result of early cultivation of plants, and domestication of crops and
animals. Settled life soon followed with implements and techniques being
developed for agriculture. Double monsoons led to two harvests being reaped in one
year. Indian products soon reached the world via existing trading networks and
foreign crops were introduced to India. Plants and animals—considered essential
to their survival by the Indians—came to be worshiped and venerated.
The middle ages saw irrigation channels
reach a new level of sophistication in India and Indian crops affecting the
economies of other regions of the world under Islamic patronage. Land and water
management systems were developed with an aim of providing uniform growth. Despite
some stagnation during the later modern era the independent Republic of India
was able to develop a comprehensive agricultural programme.
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| Grand Anicut dam on river Kaveri (1st-2nd Century CE) is one of the oldest water-regulation structures in the world still in use. |
Early history
Wheat, barley and jujube were
domesticated in the Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE. Domestication of sheep and
goat soon followed. This period also saw the first domestication of the elephant.
Barley and wheat cultivation—along with the domestication of cattle, primarily
sheep and goat—was visible in Mehrgarh by 8000-6000 BCE. Agro pastoralism in
India included threshing, planting crops in rows—either of two or of six—and
storing grain in granaries. In the period of the Neolithic revolution (roughly
8000-5000 BCE.), agriculture was far from the dominant mode of support for
human societies. But those who adopted it, have survived and increased, and
passed their techniques of production to the next generation. This
transformation of knowledge was the base of further development in agriculture.
By the 5th millennium BCE agricultural communities became widespread in Kashmir.
Zaheer Baber (1996) writes that 'the first evidence of cultivation of cotton
had already developed'. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th millennium BCE-4th
millennium BCE. The Indus cotton industry was well developed and some methods
used in cotton spinning and fabrication continued to be practiced till the
modern Industrialization of India.
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A variety of tropical fruit such as mango
and muskmelon are native to the Indian subcontinent. The Indians also domesticated
hemp, which they used for a number of applications including making narcotics,
fiber, and oil. The farmers of the Indus Valley, which thrived in modern-day Pakistan
and North India, grew peas, sesame, and dates. Sugarcane was originally from tropical
South Asia and Southeast Asia. Different species likely originated in different
locations with S. barberi originating in India and S. edule and S. officinarum
coming from New Guinea. Wild Oryza rice appeared in the Belan and Ganges valley
regions of northern India as early as 4530 BCE and 5440 BCE respectively. Rice
was cultivated in the Indus Valley Civilization. Agricultural activity during
the second millennium BC included rice cultivation in the Kashmir and Harrappan
regions. Mixed farming was the basis of the Indus valley economy. Denis J.
Murphy (2007) details the spread of cultivated rice from India into South-east Asia:
Several wild cereals, including rice,
grew in the Vindhyan Hills, and rice cultivation, at sites such as
Chopani-Mando and Mahagara, may have been underway as early as 7000 BP. The
relative isolation of this area and the early development of rice farming imply
that it was developed indigenously....Chopani-Mando and Mahagara are located on
the upper reaches of the Ganges drainage system and it is likely that migrants
from this area spread rice farming down the Ganges valley into the fertile
plains of Bengal, and beyond into south-east Asia.
Irrigation was developed in the Indus
Valley Civilization by around 4500 BCE. The size and prosperity of the Indus civilization
grew as a result of this innovation, which eventually led to more planned
settlements making use of drainage and sewers. Sophisticated irrigation and
water storage systems were developed by the Indus Valley Civilization,
including artificial reservoirs at Girnar dated to 3000 BCE, and an early canal
irrigation system from circa 2600 BCE. Archeological evidence of an animal-drawn
plough dates back to 2500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilization.
Vedic period – Post Maha Janapadas period (1500 BCE – 200
CE)
Gupta (2004) finds it likely that
summer monsoons may have been longer and may have contained moisture in excess
than required for normal food production. One effect of this excessive moisture
would have been to aid the winter monsoon rainfall required for winter crops.
In India, both wheat and barley are held to be Rabi (winter) crops and—like
other parts of the world—would have largely depended on winter monsoons before
the irrigation became widespread. The growth of the Kharif crops would have
probably suffered as a result of excessive moisture. Jute was first cultivated
in India, where it was used to make ropes and cordage. Some animals—thought by
the Indians as being vital to their survival—came to be worshiped. Trees were
also domesticated, worshiped, and venerated—Pipal and Banyan in particular.
Others came to be known for their medicinal uses and found mention in the
holistic medical system Ayurveda. The Encyclopedia Britannica—on the subject of
agriculture of the later Vedic period—holds that:
In the later Vedic texts (c. 1000–500
BC), there are repeated references to iron. Cultivation of a wide range of cereals,
vegetables, and fruits is described. Meat
and milk products were part of the diet; animal husbandry was important. The
soil was plowed several times. Seeds were broadcast. Fallowing and a certain
sequence of cropping were recommended. Cow dung provided the manure. Irrigation
was practiced.
The Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE) categorized
soils and made meteorological observations for agricultural use. Other Mauryan
facilitation included construction and maintenance of dams, and provision of
horse-drawn chariots—quicker than traditional bullock carts. The Greek diplomat
Megasthenes (c. 300 BC)—in his book Indika— provides a secular eyewitness
account of Indian agriculture:
India has many huge mountains which
abound in fruit-trees of every kind, and many vast plains of great fertility. .
. .The greater part of the soil, moreover, is under irrigation, and
consequently bears two crops in the course of the year.. . . In addition to
cereals, there grows throughout India much millet . . . and much pulse of
different sorts, and rice also, and what is called bosporum [Indian millet]. .
. . Since there is a double rainfall [i.e., the two monsoons] in the course of
each year . . . the inhabitants of India almost always gather in two harvests
annually.
Early Common Era – High Middle Ages (200–1200 CE)
The Tamil people cultivated a wide
range of crops such as rice, sugarcane, millets, black pepper, various grains, coconuts,
beans, cotton, plantain, tamarind and sandalwood. Jackfruit, coconut, palm, areca
and plantain trees were also known. Systematic ploughing, manuring, weeding,
irrigation and crop protection was practiced for sustained agriculture. Water
storage systems were designed during this period. Kallanai (1st-2nd century
CE), a dam built on river Kaveri during this period, is considered the as one
of the oldest water-regulation structures in the world still in use.
Spice trade involving spices native to
India—including cinnamon and black pepper—gained momentum as India starts
shipping spices to the Mediterranean. Roman trade with India followed as detailed
by the archaeological record and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Chinese
sericulture attracted Indian sailors during the early centuries of the Common
Era. Crystallised sugar was discovered by the time of the Guptas (320-550 CE),
and the earliest reference of candied sugar come from India. The process was
soon transmitted to China with traveling Buddhist monks. Chinese documents
confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 CE, for obtaining
technology for sugar-refining. Each mission returned with results on refining
sugar. Indian spice exports find mention in the works of Ibn Khurdadhbeh (850),
al-Ghafiqi (1150), Ishak bin Imaran (907) and Al Kalkashandi (fourteenth century).
Noboru Karashima's research of the agrarian
society in South India during the Chola
Empire (875-1279) reveals that during the Chola rule land was transferred and
collective holding of land by a group of people slowly gave way to individual
plots of land, each with their own irrigation system. The growth of individual
disposition of farming property may have led to a decrease in areas of dry
cultivation. The Cholas also had bureaucrats which oversaw the distribution of
water—-particularly the distribution of water by tank-and-channel networks to
the drier areas.
Late middle Ages – Early Modern Era (1200–1757 CE)
The construction of water works and
aspects of water technology in India is described in Arabic and Persian works. The
diffusion of Indian and Persian irrigation technologies gave rise to an irrigation
systems which brought about economic growth and growth of material culture. Agricultural
'zones' were broadly divided into those producing rice, wheat or millets. Rice
production continued to dominate Gujarat and wheat dominated north and central
India. The Encyclopedia Britannica details the many crops introduced to India
during this period of extensive global discourse:
Introduced by the Portuguese,
cultivation of tobacco spread rapidly. The Malabār
Coast was the home of spices, especially black pepper that had stimulated the first
European adventures in the East. Coffee had been imported from Abyssinia and
became a popular beverage in aristocratic circles by the end of the
century. Tea, which was to become the
common man's drink and a major export, was yet undiscovered, though it was
growing wild in the hills of Assam. Vegetables were cultivated mainly in the
vicinity of towns. New species of fruit, such as the pineapple, papaya, and
cashew nut, also were introduced by the Portuguese. The quality of mango and
citrus fruits was greatly improved.
Land management was particularly strong
during the regime of Akbar the Great (reign: 1556-1605), under whom scholar-bureaucrat
Todarmal formulated and implemented elaborated methods for agricultural
management on a rational basis. Indian crops—such as cotton, sugar, and citric
fruits—spread visibly throughout North Africa, Islamic Spain, and the Middle
East. Though they may have been in cultivation prior to the solidification of
Islam in India, their production was further improved as a result of this
recent wave, which led to far-reaching economic outcomes for the regions
involved.
Colonial British Era (1757–1947 CE)
Few Indian commercial crops—such as
Cotton, indigo, opium, and rice—made it to the global market under the British Raj
in India. The second half of the 19th century saw some increase in land under cultivation
and agricultural production expanded at an average rate of about 1 % per year
by the later 19th century. Due to extensive irrigation by canal networks Punjab,
Narmada valley, and Andhra Pradesh became centers of agrarian reforms. Roy
(2006) comments on the Influence of the world wars on the Indian agricultural
system:
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| Sutlej Valley from Rampur ca. 1857. A number of irrigation canals are located on the Sutlej river. |
Agricultural performance in the
interwar period (1918–1939) was dismal. From 1891 to 1946, the annual growth
rate of all crop output was 0.4 %, and food-grain output was practically
stagnant. There were significant regional and intercrop differences,
However, nonfood crops doing better
than food crops. Among food crops, by far the most important source of stagnation
was rice. Bengal had below-average growth rates in both food and nonfood crop
output, whereas Punjab and Madras were the least stagnant regions. In the interwar
period, population growth accelerated while food output decelerated, leading to
declining availability of food per head. The crisis was most acute in Bengal,
where food output declined at an annual rate of about 0.7 % from 1921 to 1946,
when population grew at an annual rate of about 1 %.
The British regime in India did supply
the irrigation works but rarely on the scale required. Community effort and private
investment soared as market for irrigation developed. Agricultural prices of
some commodities rose to about three times between 1870 -1920.
A rich source of the state of Indian
agriculture in the early British era is a report prepared by a British
engineer, Thomas Barnard, and his Indian guide, Raja Chengalvaraya Mudaliar,
around 1774. This report contains data of agricultural production in about 800
villages in the area around Chennai in the years 1762 to 1766. This report is available
in Tamil in the form of palm leaf manuscripts at Thanjavur Tamil University,
and in English in the Tamil Nadu State Archives. A series of articles in The
Hindu newspaper in the early 1990s authored by researchers at The Centre for
Policy Studies [21] led by Shri Dharampal highlight the impressive production
statistics of Indian farmers of that era.
Republic of India (1947 CE onwards)
Special programmes were undertaken to
improve food and cash crops supply. The Grow More Food Campaign (1940s) and the
Integrated Production Programme (1950s) focused on food and cash crops supply respectively. Five-year plans of India—oriented towards
agricultural development—soon followed. Land reclamation, land development, mechanisation,
electrification, use of chemicals—fertilisers in particular, and development
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| Bhakra Dam (completed 1963) is the largest dam in India. |
of
agriculture oriented 'package approach' of taking a set of actions instead of
promoting single aspect soon followed under government supervision. The many
'production revolutions' initiated from 1960s onwards included Green Revolution in India, Yellow Revolution
(oilseed: 1986-1990), Operation Flood (dairy:
1970-1996), and Blue Revolution (fishing: 1973-2002) etc. Following the economic reforms of 1991, significant
growth was registered in the agricultural sector, which was by now benefiting
from the earlier reforms and the newer innovations of Agro-processing and Biotechnology.
Due to the growth and prosperity that
followed India's economic reforms a strong middle class emerged as the main
consumer of fruits, dairy, fish, meat and vegetables—a marked shift from the earlier
staple based consumption. Since 1991, changing consumption patterns led to a
'revolution' in 'high value' agriculture while the need for cereals is
experienced a decline. The per capita consumption of cereals declined from 192
to 152 kilograms from 1977 to 1999 while the consumption of fruits increased by
553 %, vegetables by 167 %, dairy
products by 105 %, and non-vegetarian products by 85 % in India's rural areas alone. Urban areas experienced
a similar increase.
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| Indian Agriculture |
Agricultural exports continued to grow
at well over 10.1 % annually through the 1990s. Contract farming—which requires the farmers to produce crops for a
company under contract—and high value agricultural product increased. Contract farming led to a decrease
in transaction costs while the contract farmers made more profit compared to the non-contract workforce. However,
small landholding continued to create problems for India's farmers as the
limited land resulted in limited produce and limited profits. Some Indian
farmers. The 1991 reforms also contributed to a rise in suicides by indebted farmers
in India following crop failures (e.g.
Bt cotton). Various studies identify the important factors as the
withdrawal of government support, insufficient or risky credit systems, the
difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor agricultural income, absence of
alternative income opportunities, a downturn in the urban economy which forced non-farmers
into farming, and the absence of suitable counseling services.
Since independence, India has become
one of the largest producers of wheat, edible oil, potato, spices, rubber, tea,
fishing, fruits, and vegetables in the world. The Ministry of Agriculture
oversees activities relating to agriculture in India. Various institutions for
agriculture related research in India were organised under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (est. 1929). Other organisations such as
the National Dairy Development Board
(est. 1965), and National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development (est.
1982) aided the formation of cooperatives and improved financing.
The contribution of agriculture in
employing India's male workforce declined from 75.9 % in 1961 to 60 % in 1999–2000. Dev (2006) holds that 'there
were about 45 million agricultural labor households in the country in
1999–2000.' These households recorded the highest incidence of poverty in India
from 1993 to 2000. The green revolution introduced high yielding varieties of
crops which also increased the usage of fertilisers and pesticides. About
90 % of the pesticide usage in India is
accounted for by DDT and
Lindane (BHC/HCH). There has been
a shift to organic agriculture particularly for exported commodities.
During 2003-04, agriculture accounted
for 22 % of India's GDP
and employed 58 per cent of the country's workforce. India is the
world's largest producer of milk, fruits,
cashew nuts, coconuts, ginger,
turmeric, banana, sapota, pulses,
and black pepper. India is the second largest producer of groundnut, wheat,
vegetables, sugar and fish in the world. India is also the third largest
producer of tobacco and rice, the fourth largest producer of coarse grains, the
fifth largest producer of eggs, and the seventh largest producer of meat.
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