The quote from Sir Samuel Wadham (either above or below) is a statement of the primary importance of agriculture and farming to nations and peoples as a whole. Whilst I take the point he is making about farming being a biological activity rather than industrial activity, I believe it was given the term primary industry to show its primacy over all other forms of industry, primary meaning first in importance or original, and also, that from which all other [forms of industry] rely on and are derived from.
To be a viable nation state requires first and foremost that we be able to independently sustain ourselves with the necessities of life, food and clothing. This is the reason so many men were told in 1939-45, you cannot go to war, you are an essential industry for the war effort here at home. This included those from both primary and secondary industries. Essential; of primary importance once again.
