AGRICULTURE IN PUNJAB
Most of the Punjab is an alluvial plain, bounded by mountains to the North. Despite its dry conditions, it is a rich agricultural area due to the extensive irrigation made possible by the great river system traversing it. The main sources of irrigation in Punjab are canals and tube wells. The two main crops cultivated in Punjab agriculture are Kharif and Rabi. The Kharif crops of Punjab comprise of maize, cotton, rice, sugarcane, pulses (grams excluded), bajra, peas, jowar, and vegetables such as gourd, onions, and chillies. The Rabi crops of Punjab include gram, barley, wheat, fodder crops, potatoes, oil seeds, and winter vegetables. The agriculture in Punjab is extremely intensive in terms of land, assets, energy, nutrients, agricultural components, water, and so on.
Punjab led the country’s Green Revolution of the 1960s and earned for itself the distinction of becoming India’s ‘bread basket’. The Green Revolution introduced a new technology of production in agriculture.The technology consisted of a package of inputs, such as, high-yielding varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, weedicides, machines like tractors, threshers, pumpsets/motors, combine harvesters/ reapers and others. The proper usage of these inputs required an assured irrigation system, a peasantry with the will and capacity to adopt the new technology and a government willing to lend its support and investment. All these conditions were present in Punjab. Simultaneously, the government invested massively in rural development, ranging from irrigation works, drainage of rain water, and reclamation of land to solve the problem of land salinity. High-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat from the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) Mexico, were introduced leading to bumper crops. The availability of assured irrigation for fertile lands provided a conducive environment that enabled a dynamic peasantry to accept innovations in seed technology. Several farmers already possessed the immediate capacity (supported by the government) to make the necessary investments in the new technology. These initial innovators were immediately imitated by other farmers, irrespective of the size of their holdings, when they observed the sudden jumps in per hectare yield. The impact was dramatic. Between 1965-66 and 1970-71 the per hectare yield of wheat doubled, from 1104 kg per hectare in 1965-66 to2238 kg in 1970-71 and in 2005-06 it has reached to 4210Kg. The Green Revolution has been the backbone of Punjab’s development.
Some of the dams which provide Punjab water and electricity are :
1.Bhakra Dam Ranjit Sagar
2.Located on River Satluj Ravi
DETAILS OF CAPACITY OF VARIOUS CANALS IN Punjab
Punjab has more than 4 million hectares of well-irrigated land, with a cropping intensity of 186%. With a mere 1.5% geographical area of the entire country, Punjab produced about 22.61% of the country's wheat (15.5 MT), 10.78 % of rice (9.1 MT) and 12.4% of cotton (1.19 thousand bales) in the year 2000-01. In the year 2001-02 Punjab contributed 51.2% of wheat and 32.9% of rice to the central pool. Punjab houses India's largest tractor population and has the highest per hectare fertilizer consumption (177 Kg/Hec ).
Crop Distribution in Punjab:
Most of the Punjab is an alluvial plain, bounded by mountains to the North. Despite its dry conditions, it is a rich agricultural area due to the extensive irrigation made possible by the great river system traversing it. The main sources of irrigation in Punjab are canals and tube wells. The two main crops cultivated in Punjab agriculture are Kharif and Rabi. The Kharif crops of Punjab comprise of maize, cotton, rice, sugarcane, pulses (grams excluded), bajra, peas, jowar, and vegetables such as gourd, onions, and chillies. The Rabi crops of Punjab include gram, barley, wheat, fodder crops, potatoes, oil seeds, and winter vegetables. The agriculture in Punjab is extremely intensive in terms of land, assets, energy, nutrients, agricultural components, water, and so on.
Punjab led the country’s Green Revolution of the 1960s and earned for itself the distinction of becoming India’s ‘bread basket’. The Green Revolution introduced a new technology of production in agriculture.The technology consisted of a package of inputs, such as, high-yielding varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, weedicides, machines like tractors, threshers, pumpsets/motors, combine harvesters/ reapers and others. The proper usage of these inputs required an assured irrigation system, a peasantry with the will and capacity to adopt the new technology and a government willing to lend its support and investment. All these conditions were present in Punjab. Simultaneously, the government invested massively in rural development, ranging from irrigation works, drainage of rain water, and reclamation of land to solve the problem of land salinity. High-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat from the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) Mexico, were introduced leading to bumper crops. The availability of assured irrigation for fertile lands provided a conducive environment that enabled a dynamic peasantry to accept innovations in seed technology. Several farmers already possessed the immediate capacity (supported by the government) to make the necessary investments in the new technology. These initial innovators were immediately imitated by other farmers, irrespective of the size of their holdings, when they observed the sudden jumps in per hectare yield. The impact was dramatic. Between 1965-66 and 1970-71 the per hectare yield of wheat doubled, from 1104 kg per hectare in 1965-66 to2238 kg in 1970-71 and in 2005-06 it has reached to 4210Kg. The Green Revolution has been the backbone of Punjab’s development.
Some of the dams which provide Punjab water and electricity are :
1.Bhakra Dam Ranjit Sagar
2.Located on River Satluj Ravi
DETAILS OF CAPACITY OF VARIOUS CANALS IN Punjab
Punjab has more than 4 million hectares of well-irrigated land, with a cropping intensity of 186%. With a mere 1.5% geographical area of the entire country, Punjab produced about 22.61% of the country's wheat (15.5 MT), 10.78 % of rice (9.1 MT) and 12.4% of cotton (1.19 thousand bales) in the year 2000-01. In the year 2001-02 Punjab contributed 51.2% of wheat and 32.9% of rice to the central pool. Punjab houses India's largest tractor population and has the highest per hectare fertilizer consumption (177 Kg/Hec ).
Crop Distribution in Punjab:
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