Sam Panthaky / AFP vía Getty ImagesFarmers separate husks from their wheat harvest in a field on the outskirts of Dholka, in the Indian state of GujaratSam Panthaky / AFP vía Getty Images
Residents of the town of Vadnagar in the northwest Indian state of Gujarat have mitigated the effects of fluctuating monsoon rainfall by diversifying their agricultural crops. Based on archaeological excavations, analysis of 74 sediment samples, and identification of 562,236 carbonized seeds, scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, India, established an uninterrupted sequence of seven successive cultures in the region between the first century BC and the nineteenth century AD. During the medieval period (500 to 1300 AD), there was enough water to maintain agriculture dominated by large-grain cereals, such as rice, which are part of the group known as C3 plants. Later, in the postmedieval period (1300 to 1850 AD), the predominant crops were small-grain cereals, such as millet and sorghum from the C4 plant group, which are more resistant to drought. This suggests local populations adapted to a reduction in monsoon rainfall. The conclusions indicate that Indian farmers in arid areas of the northwest knew how to select crops better adapted to periods of greater aridity or rainfall that still characterize the region (Quaternary Science Advances, January; India Today, January 31).
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