Why Punjab Stands Out In Farmers Agitation ? | Explained
The intensifying protest against the new farm laws have been undeniably led by Punjab farmers. The question is raised, why Punjab stands out in farmers agitation.
Here is the quick background. While there are many strong agrarian states in India, prosperity in Punjab came much before the economic liberalization. Punjab got the most benefit from the minimum support price ( MSP ) .
Among the eight states that contribute 70% of India’s agriculture produce, Punjab farmers stand out by wide margin. Almost all farmers in Punjab take two crops in a year and their fertilizer use is also substantial. Hence, they do well in terms of productivity.
More importantly, water stress is most acute in three states : Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab. As a result, while Punjab farmers till about 5% of farmland in India, they produce nearly 11% of crop output. Clearly, they produce much more from per unit of land than their peers , resulting in pressure on most resources that go into farming.
But, farmers in Punjab are more equally distributed in terms of class. Simply put, the middle class of farmers is considerably strong. In other agrarian states, most farmers are small landholders and a small proportion is either a medium or large farmer. This could well explain the tenacity of Punjab farmers in the protest.
To conclude, the recent farm law is strongly impacting the Punjab farmers than any other state of India.
