1998 (8) TMI 37

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....are, after several operations carried out in the land, viz., cutting, gootying and inarching for the plants, transplanted in suitable containers, including pots and kept in the green house or in shade, and the trees were grown on the land directly. The assessee, during the relevant assessment years, viz., 1978-79 to 1982-83, was carrying on the business of a nursery under the name and style of "Soundaraya Nursery". It had extensive farm land of 10 acres in Vengaivasal village on the outskirts of Madras city as well as 41 grounds in Nandanam, Madras, and various types of fruit plants, flower plants, vegetable plants and seedlings were grown. The method of propagation of the large varieties of plants grown by the assessee has been extensiv....

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....ud-grafting, saddle-grafting, side grafting, cleft grafting, etc. 4. Cutting : This is done for some ordinary plants like bougainvillea, lantana, etc. A cutting is taken and planted in seed beds mainly of sand. After rooting (which takes several months), the plant is transferred to pots. 5. Hybridisation : Here pollen is transferred from the plant to the stigma of the other. Seeds from hybridised flowers are then planted. New varieties of flowers may develop. Several dozen attempts have to be made before one is successful." Soundarya Nursery have developed 32 new varieties of hibicus alone. A new variety developed called cossandra soundarya is popular, not just in India, but also in the U.S.A. The Tribunal, after considering all....

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.... held therein that agriculture in its primary sense denotes the cultivation of the field and is restricted to cultivation of the land in the strict sense of the term, meaning thereby tilling of the land, sowing of the seeds, planting and similar operations on the land and these are basic operations, which require the expenditure of human skill and labour upon the land itself. The apex court further held that besides the basic operations, the subsequent operations would also be comprehended within the terms of agriculture, and such subsequent operations are illustrated as weeding, digging the soil around the growth, removal of undesirable undergrowth and all operations which foster the growth and preservation of the same not only from insect....