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Addressing the Agrarian Crisis in Punjab
The state of agricultural markets, the agricultural market policy and regulatory reforms in Punjab are reviewed in the context of the agrarian crisis. The farmer and farm worker manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party is critically assessed. Policy mechanisms for agro-industrial development of the state are suggested.
There have been various attempts in the past to address the agrarian crisis mostly in the form of relief measures and some attempts at agricultural diversification by the state in the absence of any other institutions. But, the result has been only the perpetuation of the crisis. The much-needed agro-industrial development happens as a natural corollary of agricultural development, with some lag, as higher food/fibre demand and supply generated by agricultural prosperity and output growth respectively.
But, when a provincial economy is a part of a larger national economy which is increasingly globalising, the issue does not remain one of straightforward linearity between the two, that is, agricultural development and agro-industrial development, other than basic processing and value addition. In such a scenario, just having raw material supplies or local demand does not ensure agro-industrial development for the local regional economies such as Punjab.
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