Environmental Issues, Economic Policies and Agricultural Development

Issue: Mar-Apr 2021 This paper discusses economic policies that have supported a particular kind of agricultural development in Punjab, as well as environment-specific policies, that have sought to deal with various environmental problems arising from that pattern of development. In doing so, we highlight some major environmental issues associated with economic policies in the state, including with respect to water, air, soil and climate change. We analyse why and how economic policy failures, including at the national level, adversely affect environmental quality in Punjab. The aim of this paper is to highlight these issues, as a first step towards identifying policies that may do a better job of protecting the environment.