Krshi Vijnana (कृषिविज्ञानम्)

Krshi Vijnana (Samskrit: कृषिविज्ञानम्) refers to the science of agriculture. Agriculture, farming and domestication of animals is one of the most ancient occupations of man. Agriculture came to be practiced when man gave up his nomadic habits and settled down in a place which had favorable climate and topography. Initially depending on wild roots, fruits, and seeds for his sustenance, man eventually adopted the practice of tilling the land to grow crops. Although when the ancient man starting farming practices is not completely ascertainable, evidence of agricultural practices in ancient Bharat are available from the worlds oldest texts, the Vedas. Agriculture is the foundation of human civilization.

It has been documented that early inhabitants of Bharatakhanda took to farming as their chief occupation supported by the archaeological evidence found in Indus Valley excavations. Discovery of charred rice grains, presence of wheat in the excavations present oldest records of developed agricultural practices.

Introduction

Video Courtesy : Prof. D.P. Mishra, Dept. of Aerospace Engg, IIT Kanpur

Food is the basic requirement of every living being on earth and our ancient texts have proclaimed that even devatas relay on food, which is offered sacredly in the form of havis.

अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसंभवः । यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ॥ (Bhag. Gita. 3.14)

All creatures (life) comes into being from Anna (food), and this food arises with the help of rain. Through yajnas we get rain, thus yajna gives rise to activity or karma.

Agricultural activities were thus designed to ensure food supply from rains as well as to maintain ecological sustainability; farmers over ages developed holistic scientific knowledge to ensure that goal.

A few perspectives about why ancient Bharat's people have given highest importance to agriculture is presented below

• India has 52% of cultivable land as compared to the world average. (unfortunately it is decreasing)
• Sunshine hours is quite high as compared to world average
• India has all the 15 major climatic regions
• Endowed with 10 Biodiversity regions
• Abundance of many species of flora and fauna
• Large livestock population
• Large number of rivers and water bodies

Apart from the above ecological perspectives, one may note that agriculture has great impact on the economy and growth of the country.

Over due course of time due to the human interventions of mostly abuse and misuse of the modern science and technology, all the above factors are rapidly depleting. In modern times overcrowding and population increase has lead to encroachment into the natural habitats, taking over of fertile agricultural lands for human habitation and economic activities along with insensitivity to ecological balance has led to disastrous climatic changes in a very short period of time.

Modern Agriculture

In a stark contrast to the traditional agricultural practices, modern systems of agriculture use genetically engineered and/or hybrid seeds of single crop variety, technologically driven implements and equipments such as tractors, shredders, spreaders etc, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and water to produce large amounts of single crop. A few characteristics of modern agriculture include the following

• It has higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural area
• It has higher use of inputs such as capital, labor, fertilizers, pesticides, plant growth regulators, and mechanization for higher crop yields per unit land area. Many gadgets and implements are needed and higher electricity and fuel costs are involved.
• Indiscriminate usage of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and other such chemicals destroy the ecological balance hurting the other agronomy dependent creatures such as bees, birds, snakes, and frogs.
• Hazards of air, water, earth pollution are rampant and world environmental activists have been fighting with governing bodies to bring these levels down.
• It involves mostly single crop cultivation which is not always advantageous ecologically and economically.
• Storage of grains (air-conditioned godowns, preservatives etc) also involve high costs, increasing the price of food production further.
• It demands detailed analysis of growing conditions including weather, soil, water, weeds and pests.
• An individual or small community effort is gradually turned into an mechanized industry whose terms and conditions are now dictated by a few rich individuals controlling this modern system. Days are not far off when a farmer is an employee in his own farm and has to buy his own produce in such conditions for his family needs.
• It relies on innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale logistics. What was originally in-line with natural processes now involves industrial scale technical education.
• It involves large data collection and analysis technology.
• Ease of trading practices and taxing system of farmers has to undergo an enormous change to bring down the cost of agricultural produce both of domestic and foreign exports.

Ramifications of such models of agriculture such as widespread pollution of air, water and food are visible on the entire ecosystem. As much as modern outlook with technology and education is required, it has be used minimally with caution. A dire need for research on traditional agricultural practices to find out the ethos behind it and adopt it in the modern times has become the need of the hour.

A number of classical texts related to agricultural science are available namely, Kautilya's Arthashastra, Patanjali's Mahabhasya, Krishi-Parashara, Varahmihira's Brhat Samhita, and Surapala's Vrikshayurveda are some of the manuscripts that contain valuable information about different aspects such as agricultural implements, selection of seeds, land preparation, pest control, storage, plant nutrients, grafting, soil selection, plant propagation, diseases and plant protection, mixed cropping, crop rotation, intercropping, shifting cultivation, terrace farming etc. India's traditional agriculture has proved to be sustainable by maintaining the country's fertility and biodiversity over centuries.

Agricultural Processes

Broadly the processes which are performed by a farmer include the following eight steps from crop selection to harvesting.

1. Crop selection
2. Land preparation
3. Seed selection
4. Seed sowing
5. Irrigation
6. Crop growth
7. Fertilizing
8. Harvesting

A few areas where traditional knowledge of farming is available includes prediction of rainfall, farming systems, tillage, mixed cropping, crop rotation, crop protection, terrace farming, agricultural implements. An indepth study of these processes show how our ancient farmer has a holistic education in various sciences compared to the modern day scientist.

Prediction of Rainfall

The systematic study of meteorological science was made by our ancient astronomers and astrologers. Agriculture is totally dependent on rainfall. This fact was first realised by Indians. Hence they started gauging the sky for rainfall prediction. Parashra gave the techniques of rainfall prediction and agricultural practices for crop production. Garg invented the science of astrology. Arybhata measured the time period of different planets and distance from earth. Varahmihira (600 AD) studied weather prediction and measurement of rainfall, touching zenith in the meteorological science. The hypotheses given by ancient scientists are simple and costly apparatus were not used. Observations coupled with experience over centuries developed meteorology (Varshney, 2007).

The methods used by local and indigenous people for forecasting rainfall and other weather conditions on the basis of bio-indicator and the phenology of plants and behaviour of animals is coined as a new term – Presage biology. The production and application of local forecasts are deeply localized, derived from intimate interactions with a micro-environment whose rhythms are intertwined with the cycles of seasonal changes. Local indicators and local knowledge systems can not be replaced with scientific knowledge, because they are holistic and specific to local situations, providing farmers and others with the ability to make decisions and prepare for the coming agricultural year. Mechanisms for integrating both traditional and scientific weather forecast systems would reduce uncertainties and improve farm management, as well as provide a basis for integrating scientific forecasts into existing decision processess of farmers (Acharya, 2011). Local people from Bhor and Mahad region used bio-indicators as well as Almanacs (Panchang) to predict the weather for a very long time and used different methods, some of which proved very effective and successful.

Agricultural implements

The tools and implements used are of a primitive nature throughout the Bhor and Mahad region of Maharashtra State. Traditional farm tools and implements for self sustenance have been developed and modified through experience over generations to meet emerging socio-economic and farming challenges. The type of soils and topographic conditions largely influence the type, size and shape of particular tillage tools/implements. (Plate – IV.5).

The following is a list of local tools/implements found in Bhor and Mahad regions of Pune and Raigad district of Maharashtra. 1) Plough 2) Yoke 3) Harrow 4) Hoe 5) Petari 6) Maind 7) Threshing pole 8) Broom 9) Sickle handle 10) Bullock cart

1) Plough: Tillage is the basic operation in farming. It is done to create favourable conditions for seed placement and plant growth. This is done mainly with a plough. A full history of the evolution of plough is not available. Farmers have been using plough since time immemorial. The primitive model might have been a crooked twig or a branch of a tree. The basic components of the plough are a shoe, a share, a body, a handle and a beam. The joint between the shoe and the body is purposely avoided with a view to make the plough more rigid and robust, so that the implement can work on gravely soils with stones and other obstacles which are encountered during the course of ploughing (Plate – IV.6).

2) Yoke: Yoke is a long wood .The yoke has a projection at the centre to which a beam of implements like plough, leveller and harrow etc. are secured by a rope. Its special character is very smooth, not harming animal while pulling bullock cart or agricultural operations like ploughing, harrowing, hoeing, etc. The length of each yoke is different depending on operations. (Plate – IV.7).

3) Harrow: It has a wooden plank to which wood/iron pegs, handle and bamboo shaft are fitted. It is used for breaking soil crust after rain and also for uprooting weeds (Plate – IV.8).

4) Hoe: The hoe is used to weed out the stumps from the ground. This is a necessary operation to remove weeds, and aerate the crop root by the thorns in between the two rows. Two bullocks are yoked to the wooden hoe for performing the operation (Plate – IV.9).

5) Petari: A wooden soil leveller is known as Petari. It is used for levelling the ploughed land.

6) Maind (Ghutta): A heavy wooden log, locally called as Maind, is pulled by two bullocks over the soil to crush the clods. Maind is made of any locally available wood.Extra weight is added to all type of planks by placing stones on it or having person(s) ride on it. As the name suggests Maind or ghutta, levellers are used for levelling land (Plate – IV.11).

7) Sickle handle: Sickle is one of the most popular multi-purpose tool that our ancestors used in agriculture. Design of the sickle is prepared for harvesting of crops like wheat, maize, barley, pulses and grass etc. Big sickle (Darat) is used to harvest fodder from trees. Gandasa (chopper) and axe are used to harvest crops like sugar-cane etc. Handle of sickle should be smooth and easy to handle (Plate – IV.12).

8) Threshing pole: On an auspicious day the threshing floor is dug and levelled carefully and then smeared with cow dung. A threshing pole or pillar is then fixed carefully. The produce of the farmer increases depending on the quality of pillar. The sage Parashra stated that the pillar should be made of Ficus benghalensis L. (Vad), Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. (Saptaparna), Gmelina arborea L. (shivan), Bomax ceiba L. (Savar) or any other tree with milky sap. The wood of Feronia elephantum Corr., Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr, Bambusa arundinace (Retz.) Willd and Cocos nucifera L. (Naral, Palm) should never be used to make the pillar by one who wishes one self well (Sadhale, 1999) (Plate – IV.13)

9) Broom: Brooms are prepared from different plant sources. The function of broom is to clean floor. While performing agricultural operations in threshing yard, the grains are separated from waste threshing material. Twigs with leaves are very useful for this operation (Plate – IV.14).

10) Bullock cart: It all began as all wood transport vehicle pulled by a pair of bullocks. Later on the wheels were clad with flat steel bars and provided with steel axle to enhance its life. Different types of wood resources are used to prepare bullock cart (Plate – IV.15).

11) Miscellaneous: Farmers are using supporting agricultural implements for different operations such as, Musala (pestle) Udukhala (mortar) Sarpa, (winnowing bastes) Dhanyakrt (Winnowing fan), Calani (Siev) etc. Similarly these implements are used in Bhor and Mahad regions made of locally available wood resources (Plate – IV.16, IV.17).

Seed treatments

The seeds are stored in wood ash. Pulses are treated with mixture of red soil and salt to prevent beetles.

Manuring

Farmers are using organic manure which is made from animal wastes. They also use green plants and other residues for getting good yield. In recent years farmers are using Urea as basic spray on rice crop.

Method of sowing

Farmers are sowing their seeds in Kharif season by broadcasting in rab fields and samplings are transplanted in puddled fields in case of rice crop. Other seeds of ground nut, cowpea, jowar etc are sown in rows and furrows by dibbling method. F) Weed control After sowing of crop within 15-20 days hand weeding is done.