History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s5.23

v1.c24.s5.23

The pithy sayings circulating under the name of Khanā contain much traditional information which can be applied to the close of the ancient period. Khanā suggests knowledge of the system of rotation, especially when she observes ‘My worthy cultivator, plant radish towards the end of the third season of the year, sow mustard towards the end of autumn, and if you mind to take money, sow maize in the following month of Caitra’ (IHQ, VII, p. 24). There is evidence to show that people recognised two, and sometimes even a third, crop season. But two crop seasons do not necessarily establish the practice of rotation of crops, though the cultivation of three crops will imply the implementation of the system, even if rudimentary. The advancements made in the knowledge of soil, seeds and seasons would have helped the cultivator discover the benefits of rotation of crops. But, in the last analysis, much depended on the properties of the field, and the resources and the needs of the cultivator. In the inscriptions of later periods we have terms referring to fields which yielded a crop in Śarada only or in Grīṣma only, or, in some cases, both in Śarada and Grīṣma49; apparently the practice of rotation of crops was not common.