History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s3.t3.2

v1.c24.s3.t3.2

A significant development in regard to sowing was the practical realisation of the quantity of seed required for sowing in a particular field. Pāṇini (V.1.45-46) provides for the formation of terms to refer to fields according to the quantity of seed sown in them. These and other distinctive terms are found in the Amarakośa (II.9.10) also. The literary references are confirmed by epigraphic records, which, in mentioning the fields (kṣetram) granted, specify the quantity of seed required to sow them¹⁷. The cultivator was also required to know how seeds of a particular type were to be sown, thickly or sparsely (Medhātithi on IX.330)