International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development
2025, Vol. 8, Issue 11, Part E
An assessment of conventional farming practices in Punjab's agricultural sector
Sujal Sithta, Kavya Homchyan, Reagon Rapta and Gurshaminder Singh
Agriculture sits at the heart of Punjab’s economy—and let’s be honest, it’s a big piece of India’s food security puzzle too. But the region’s deep reliance on just rice and wheat has created a whole host of problems: groundwater is vanishing, soil nutrients are all out of whack, and costs keep climbing. In this study, we took a closer look at what’s really happening on the ground. We spent time in five villages—Barauli, Fatehpur Jattan, Doom Cheri, Dhollan Majra, and Tole Majra—talking to 80 farmers with land of all sizes. We asked about how they grow their crops, use fertilizers and pesticides, manage water, check their soil, and deal with leftover crop residue.
When we dug into the numbers, some patterns stood out. Most farmers stick with rice, wheat, maize, and sugarcane. Nearly all of them use way more chemical fertilizers and pesticides than the Punjab Agricultural University recommends—only 40% follow the guidelines, and nobody checks their soil. Chemical pest control is everywhere, but hardly anyone uses cultural or biological alternatives. The water table is dropping under the feet of 83% of these farmers, and 70% say they can’t get enough urea. On average, farmers here have about 25 years of experience, and both small and large landholders make up the majority. Sure, there’s some use of machines, but new technology hasn’t really caught on. All in all, most farmers are stuck in traditional, chemical-heavy mono-cropping, and there’s not much crop variety. If we want to make farming sustainable here, we need to push for more crop diversity, better soil care, and a bigger focus on integrated, precision-based approaches.
Sujal Sithta, Kavya Homchyan, Reagon Rapta, Gurshaminder Singh. An assessment of conventional farming practices in Punjab's agricultural sector. Int J Agric Extension Social Dev 2025;8(11):364-370. DOI: 10.33545/26180723.2025.v8.i11e.2652
