A History of Agriculture in India v1.c19.s10: Increase in Population
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c19.s10
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Increase in Population
v1.c19.s10.1
Technological innovations which lead to an increase in food production and its secure supply also result in an increase in population. More people are required for agriculture than for hunting and fishing. Kosambi estimates that the most efficient hunting and food-gathering can hardly support one person per square kilometre, pastoral life can support three, but agriculture about a hundred.
v1.c19.s10.2
Grahame Clark estimates the population of England and Wales at 250 human beings in upper Palaeolithic, 4,500 in Mesolithic, 20,000 in the Neolithic, and about 40,000 in the second millennium B.C. during the Bronze Age. No estimates are available for India, but there is no doubt that in the Harappan area the new techniques of plough cultivation and irrigated farming led to a substantial increase in population.