Water and Seeds

Class 7 Social Science · Chapter 13: The Story of Indian Farming · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 13.4

Learn

Much of India's farming is rain-fed, depending on the monsoon; the rest is irrigated. Indians long built clever water systems: kuhl channels in the Himalayas, kund tanks in Rajasthan, ahar–pyne in Bihar, khadin fields in the Thar, eri tanks in Tamil Nadu, community phad canals in Maharashtra and bamboo drip irrigation in the Northeast. The Kallanai dam on the Kaveri, built about 2,000 years ago, still works. Modern drip and sprinkler irrigation save water as groundwater falls.

Good seeds mean good harvests. Families traditionally saved seeds of their best plants and shared them. The Arthaśhāstra describes treating seeds before sowing; today a mix called beejamrit, made from cow dung, cow urine, lime and soil, is used the same way. India also had an early seed drill that dropped seeds in neat rows. Now many farmers buy hybrid seeds from companies; these give high yields but seeds from the crop often cannot be replanted, so they must buy again every season.

Explore: traditional or modern?

1. Sort each method.

Remember

• India has old water systems like kuhl, kund, ahar, khadin, eri, phad and the Kallanai; drip and sprinklers save water today.
• Farmers once saved their own seeds; many now buy seeds each season.

Quick check

Farming that depends mainly on the monsoon is …

1. rain-fed
2. hydroponic
3. irrigated by canals
4. greenhouse

Think about it

Why might a village choose to keep its own seed bank?

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.