ABSTRACT
Punjab is a land of small farmers and about two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture. The state of Punjab occupies an extremely important position in Indian agriculture. India’s transition from a food-importing country to not only self-sufficiency in food grains but as a food exporter has been spearheaded by Punjab. The huge build-up of food stock during 2002 and the government losing substantially on export from grains resulted in an economic squeeze on the farmers’ incomes resulting from the freezing of procurement prices of wheat and paddy. One of the major indicators of rural crisis in the 1990s was the emergence of second-hand tractor markets, where farmers often sold recently purchased tractors to meet their family needs. There are no simple answers to meet the agrarian crisis in Punjab. The twin problems of conserving water and soil and improving the small farmers’ economy need coordinated efforts of different stakeholders.
