ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the transformation processes accompanied by the processes of agricultural modernisation in the social and economic landscape of the contemporary rural Punjab. The theoretical rationale for these artefacts of rural transformation lies in the neoclassical view that in the process of growth, the contribution of the agriculture sector to national income and employment declines automatically. The chapter describes the pattern of agricultural growth in Punjab, and deals with the structural changes in the income and employment pattern. The structural changes in the pattern of state income and employment in Punjab associated with the modernisation of agriculture are unique in comparison with the experience at the all-India level and also in comparison with states having attained the per capita level of Punjab. The commendable transformation in the quality of rural life that accompanied the Green Revolution Technology-induced prosperity in Punjab notwithstanding, there is still a large rural–urban divide in Punjab on many counts.
