History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s5.7

v1.c24.s5.7

The only Sanskrit text, other than the Kṛṣi-Parāśara, which refers to the application of manures to cultivable land, is the Kāśyapīyakṛṣisūkti. In the section (VI) dealing with the work done at the time of the commencement of agriculture, it says that, after duly ploughing the field, the cultivator should place in it cow-dung, goat-dung, or compost (vālaga) in order to increase its fertility (verses 263-64). In section XIII, dealing with the method of cultivation to be followed for various grains, it advises that paddy seedlings are to be transplanted in a rice-field softened by ploughing and carefully manured with goat-dung and cow-dung with latā and vratati (verse 431)30. Later, in the same section, exhorting the cultivator to do cultivation twice every year, it says that “it is desirable that the second cultivation is to be done after having raised the fertility of the soil by manuring with goat-dung or cow-dung or compost etc” (verse 513) (Raychaudhari, p.68, verse 477). In section XIV, dealing with the cultivation of pulses and other grains, the cultivator is advised to apply rich manure to the root of each seedling after weeding (verse 551) (Raychaudhari, p. 69, verse 512). The section dealing with the cultivation of vegetables mentions sprinkling of small quantity of cow-dung as one of the two primary activities and adds that people know that it is for the sake of promoting the fertility of the soil.