Agriculture is one of the oldest professions and was developed about ten thousand years ago and has subsequently undergone significant progress. India and Egypt were the pioneers in this field and brought in planned cultivation into the food growing activity which were hitherto gathered from the wild. Development of land, sowing of seeds, irrigation, growing the crop and harvesting of the produce became a system.

Over a passage of time other developments took place like rotation of crops, fertilizers drip irrigation, use of pesticides, etc made strides in the agricultural industry. Research and study of soil conditions, reclamation of land, organic farming and intercrop cultivation are some more features that made its mark. Biotechnology has largely brought about improvements which were hitherto unknown and the last hundred years witnessed sea changes.

From the early bullock drawn yoke till the modern day tractors and harvesters is a long cry. Mechanization and transportation have made a big difference in the farmers lives and modern farming methodologies are on the rise. With the invention of pump sets and bore wells, and construction of waterways farming has been taken inland which earlier was carried out on river banks.

Rice, barley and wheat were widely grown as staple crop in India by the year nine thousand BC and breeding of goats and sheep followed soon after. Wild animals like elephants were also domesticated and their power harnessed for carrying out cumbersome jobs. The growing of cotton came in around the fifth millennium BC.

The cultivation of rice set in around the Asian countries including India by the year eight thousand BC and has been the staple food for the peoples of these nations. Another innovation during the year four thousand five hundred BC is the irrigation technology found around the Indus Valley civilization and which was the forerunner to others to follow. It was even before that the animal drawn plough was invented here.

With the onset of the twentieth century giant strides were observed on the mechanization of farming and science driven methodologies and resources have paved way to modern farming techniques leading to increased outputs and better genre of produce on scales which were previously impossible.