Diversification and Specialisation of Punjab in Growing Various Crops: A District Level Approach

The paper examines the nature and extent of crop diversification, crop specialization and inter-district diversity in cropping pattern in the most advanced agricultural state Punjab during the period of 2000–01 to 2014–15. The study has used the index of crop diversification, location quotient, crop versatility and district versatility index for analysis. The study has revealed that both wheat and rice crop is grown by all the districts, so none of the district was found to be very highly specialised or very less specialised than state. However, for cotton and maize, four districts acquired specialization. The district versatility results shows that Hoshiarpur is the more versatile district and Patiala is less versatile district in 2014–15. The insights from the paper suggests that the government should enhance region-specific diversification on the basis of district specialization along with infrastructure and assured marketing of new crops through contract farming and supermarkets procurement.