Question

What changes took place in agriculture around this time?

Answer 1

Hint: The domestication of plants and animals, as well as the creation and diffusion of techniques for raising them effectively, are all documented in the history of agriculture. Agriculture began separately in several places of the world, and it encompassed a wide variety of species. As autonomous origin centres, at least eleven different locations of the Old and New World were involved.

Complete answer:
Vaishyas were the people of the third varna. Farmers, ranchers, and traders were among those who took part. During the Mahajanapadas, farmers were involved in agriculture. They had to pay taxes on crops that were just a sixth of what was produced. This was known as Bhaga or sharing. Dasas and dasis, slave men and women, and landless agricultural labourers known as kammakaras did the majority of the work on the farms.

Around this time, agriculture underwent two big changes. The first is that increased usage of iron ploughshares resulted in higher grain yields. An iron ploughshare may turn over heavy, clayey soil better than a wooden ploughshare.

The second reason is that people started farming paddy. Rather than throwing seeds on the ground, which would sprout into plants, saplings were cultivated and then planted in the fields. As a result of this, production increased because many plants survived.

Slave men and women known as daasas and daasis, as well as bound labourers known as kammakaras, were employed to work in the fields because the procedure needed a lot of hard work.

Note: The Mahajanapadas were a collection of sixteen ancient Indian kingdoms. It all started when late Vedic period tribes (janas) chose to form their own territorial communities, which eventually gave rise to new and permanent settlement areas known as ‘states' or 'janapadas.'