Why Punjab Still Lacks a Farm Policy

Punjab’s Agricultural Policy 2023 was drafted by an expert committee, discussed with stakeholders and later recommended for implementation by a Punjab Vidhan Sabha committee, but the State still lacks a clear implementation roadmap.

Punjab Agricultural Policy 2023

• An 11-member Agricultural Policy Formulation Committee was constituted in January 2023 under Sukhpal Singh.
• The draft policy was submitted to the Punjab government on October 13, 2023 after examining around 1.02 lakh stakeholder suggestions.
• It proposes at least 30% water saving, restrictions on long-duration paddy and promotion of crop diversification.
• Alternatives to the wheat-paddy cycle include cotton, maize, sugarcane, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and horticulture.
• It proposes one-time debt settlement, crop and livestock insurance, and pension support for eligible small farmers and farm labourers.
• The policy also seeks 13 Centres of Excellence, stronger seed research, market institutions and agricultural extension.
• It proposes strengthening 3,523 multipurpose cooperative societies, organic and natural farming, dairy, mechanisation and modernisation of land-lease laws.
• Grid-connected solar systems for agricultural tubewells are proposed to reduce both groundwater extraction and the farm-power subsidy burden.

Fresh Push in 2026

• A 13-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha Committee on Agriculture and Allied Activities, headed by MLA Gurpreet Singh Banawali, examined the policy.
• After 16 meetings, the committee unanimously recommended implementation in its report submitted on March 12, 2026.
• The committee suggested that implementation could be phased rather than undertaken all at once.

Major Hurdles

• Fiscal burden: Debt relief, pensions, insurance, research and water-conservation measures require substantial public expenditure.
• Diversification challenge: Wheat and paddy enjoy relatively assured procurement, while alternative crops need comparable price support, markets and infrastructure.
• Centre-State coordination: Some recommendations require financial or policy support from the Union government.
• Implementation gap: The State has yet to clearly specify budgets, timelines, departmental responsibilities, measurable targets and accountability mechanisms.

Punjab’s problem is no longer the absence of policy proposals, but the absence of a clear, funded and time-bound implementation framework for the Agricultural Policy 2023