Ancient vs. Modern Agricultural Practices: A Comparative Analysis of Techniques, Sustainability, and Efficiency

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_35How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Indian agriculture; ancient farming practices; Green Revolution; sustainability; agricultural efficiency; crop rotation; tank irrigation; mechanisation; agroecology; traditional ecological knowledge; hybrid agricultural systems

Abstract

This paper analyses the history of Indian farming practices, comparing ancient methods to contemporary methods in terms of technique, sustainability, and efficiency. While prior scholarship has examined ancient Indian agriculture and the Green Revolution largely as separate episodes, few studies have systematically compared the two across the dimensions of technique, sustainability, and efficiency, and fewer still have incorporated emerging models such as Sikkim’s organic transition as a bridging case; this study addresses that gap. Based on Vedic traditions and local innovations such as tank irrigation and crop rotation, ancient Indian farming pursued ecological balance and community resilience, though it supported far smaller populations and remained vulnerable to recurring famine. Conversely, contemporary practices spurred by the Green Revolution introduced mechanisation, chemical inputs, and high-yielding varieties, turning India into a food-sufficient country at considerable environmental and social cost. Drawing on a descriptive-comparative historical methodology that combines archaeological and archival evidence, government statistics, and peer-reviewed literature with three case studies (Indus Valley agriculture, Punjab’s Green Revolution, and Sikkim’s organic transition), and informed by agroecology and sustainability science frameworks, this research assesses the trade-offs between productivity and sustainability and considers emerging trends such as precision and regenerative agriculture. The study recommends a hybrid framework that combines indigenous knowledge with contemporary technologies to address food security, climate change adaptation, and rural livelihoods (Chakrabarti, 1995; MSSRF, 2012).

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yamini Kaushik
AU  - Boola Choudhary
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
TI  - Ancient vs. Modern Agricultural Practices: A Comparative Analysis of Techniques, Sustainability, and Efficiency
BT  - Proceedings of the Anubhuti 4.0: Discourses in Indian Knowledge Systems – Pathways of Culture, Inclusion, and Sustainability (ICIKS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 524
EP  - 543
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_35
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_35
ID  - Kaushik2026
ER  -