Vanaspati: Plants and Plant-Life as in Indian Treatises and Traditions c6.t3.49

c6.t3.49

The earliest mention of Agriculture occurs in a hymn¹ of the Rigveda which definitely shows us that India was peculiarly fit for Agriculture which was then the staple industry of the country, the sole source of the supply of food and the universal occupation of the people. The northern India being very fortunate in supply of water owing to the existence of a net work of rivers, yielded crops with ease and in abundance; and the cream of the population, the highest section of the race, namely, the Brahmin *Rishis*, regarded agriculture as a holy and dignified occupation.