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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 October 2011
The art of agriculture has been practiced from time immemorial and has been an integral part of human activity. The earliest agriculture was copied from nature and even today, some thinkers advocate following nature in farming and calling it ‘Nature farming’. Agriculture was a way of life everywhere. It thrived well in places with plenty of soil fertility. Along with the prosperity of agriculture, art, culture and literature prospered. Wars were waged to occupy prosperous fertile lands. India was one of the worst victims of foreign invasion because it had more than 50 per cent of arable fertile land in its geographical area and was bestowed with plenty of sunshine, favourable climate and adequate rainfall.
Ancient agriculture did not depend on external inputs. People went in search of fertile land, instead of fertilizing the infertile land from inputs brought from outside. Indian agriculture and animal husbandry was practiced in households as a way of life.
The application of science in agriculture is comparatively a modern development. There was no organised agricultural research, just about 200 years ago. All knowledge about cultivation in India was handed down from generations. Modern agriculture in India began with the introduction of western education in agriculture, starting with the creation of the Department of Agriculture in 1881, the Imperial Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) at Pusa, Bihar and Regional Research Stations at Coimbatore, Pune and Phalmpur (Howard, 1926).
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