Page 13 - Science India August 2022

AGRICULTURE
Systematic
Colonial
Decimation
of India’s
Agricultural
Superiority
It’s a heart-rending story of how the British destroyed India’s thriving agricultural economy and left it gasping for breath by the time they quit in 1947
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
n Ambica Vankamamidi
Irrigation marvels and innovations in agriculture were a part of India’s agrarian economy from ancient ages. The Kallanai Dam on river Kaveri built around 2,000 years ago by Kari- kala Chola is one of the oldest water regulation structures in the world that is in use even today. Indus Valley had excellent water storage and drainage systems, water conservation of Dhola- vira through 16 reservoirs, artificial lake by King Bhoja of Bhopal are just a few engineering geniuses of ancient India.
Two Sanskrit works on our ancient agricultural techniques, Balaramakrsh- isasthram and Basava’s Krishisasth- ram, written in the 16th or 17th cen- tury were traced by Jogi Raju, a farm manager working for a zamindar in
AUGUST 2022 SCIENCE INDIA 13