Negative Effects of Urbanization on Agriculture in Punjab

This research proposal focuses on the negative effects of urbanization on agriculture in Punjab, India. It discusses the loss in crop production, the impact on the economy, and the loss of agricultural land. The study aims to understand the percentage of agricultural production loss in Punjab due to urbanization and the reasons behind farmers selling their lands. The research will use a quantitative survey and data analysis to gather insights.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Background..................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review............................................................................................................................3
Effects of Urbanization on Agriculture.......................................................................................3
Loss in Crop production affected Punjab....................................................................................4
Urbanization causing loss of agricultural land in Punjab............................................................4
Research Aims/ objectives...........................................................................................................5
Research Questions......................................................................................................................5
Literature Gap..................................................................................................................................6
Methodology....................................................................................................................................6
Research Design..........................................................................................................................7
Study population/sampling..........................................................................................................7
Instruments for collecting data....................................................................................................9
The data analysis..........................................................................................................................9
The ethical consideration.................................................................................................................9
Key Outcomes and limitation........................................................................................................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................11

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Research Topic - How Urbanization has negative effects on the agriculture production in
Punjab(India)
Background
The urbanization is the primary reason behind the economy of a country. However, India
is also in the race and investing majorly in the urbanization in every state. The urbanization has
various positive outcomes but the negative impacts on the agricultural field. In the recent years,
Punjab is going through the urbanization which is ultimately reducing the agricultural activities.
The The rapid growth in the economy has underpinned the urbanization. Since time immemorial,
Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian economy. It has provided livelihood to more
than 70 % of the total population (Maparu& Mazumder, 2017).
At present it is contributing to 20 % of GDP. In the whole world, India is considered to
be the second largest populated country after China being the first. The present study is
concerned about the negative effects of rapid urbanization on Indian agriculture, especially on
Punjab(Datta, 2015). As per the latest reports, the goals of 100 smart cities has included the cities
like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar have been included from Punjab. The government of India
has planned various plans for the urban management. At the same time, the rural population has
decreased from 72.19 % to 68. 84% from 2001 to 2011. The smart cities are aimed to be
prepared by the industrial policy development with greater infrastructure facilities. The lands are
being taken by the industrialists for developmental projects. The country is developing for sure
but the fertile lands are being lost. The major reason behind the urbanization in Punjab is the
migration of people due to less agricultural opportunity and primary sector job. The production
has been reduced as compared to the early years. The study will find out how much loss has
happened in the crop production and which crops are affected of Punjab (Indiaspend.com 2019).

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Literature Review
Effects of Urbanization on Agriculture
The rapid urbanization brings huge changes in the demand of the agricultural products.
The changes are both in the diets and the demands in the urban population. It has brought the
changes and persists in driving the changes in meeting the demands. The population is rising
and the demand of food production is also rising. There has to be enough food to feed everyone
on earth. It can bring huge change in how the farmers, the corporations and the companies
benefit from that. The urbanization might also bring huge changes in the rural food security
along with the urban areas(Liaqut et al., 2019). The urbanization in the modern age is founded on
the higher productivity which is extracted from the service sector and industrial activities. In
Punjab, it is the “pull factor “which motivates the rural people to move to the urban lands.
Notably, in a particular country, there is a highly urbanized area producing greater amount of the
urban production, there has to be a significant labor force to the agricultural lands in order to
feed the civilization. That geographical area where there is abundance of natural agriculture
becomes urbanized earlier (Abid et al., 2016).
Taken for example, Amritsar, Chandīgarh, Bhatinda are the most updated cities of
Punjab.At the same time, these areas are the first to be losing their lands to the modern
development and urbanization (Mukthar et al., 2018). It has been shown that agriculture helps in
the economic growth of a country in three ways such as supplying the food in the urban areas,
supplying the foreign exchange from the agricultural export and supplying the surplus labor to
the industrial sector along with supply in the savings for the industrial investment (Gill, 2015).
The most considerable question is how the agriculture of the country will be affected by the

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current growth in the population. The change in the agricultural producers along with the
distribution and marketing change will have a shift in the employment across the food system.
Source- Indiaspend.com (2019)
Loss in Crop production affected Punjab
When the relationship between the urbanization and its effects on Punjab’s agriculture is
examined, it is found that heavy migrations from the rural areas to the urban areas have caused
huge changes in the utilization of the land. The lands have been rapidly converted to the urban
areas, the cities ,the larger houses leaving significant impact on the total crop production of the
state(Abid et al., 2016). The unsuitability of weather along with the loss of proper land and soil
has caused decline in the economy based on agriculture. Apart from this, the farmers and many
dwellers have left for the cities in order to receive an elevated standard of life. This phenomenon
called urbanization has left only 40 % people in Punjab to uphold and protect agriculture and

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thee economic base of India (Bhatt& Kukal, 2015). The negative impacts of urbanization can be
measured in terms of environmental, economic, cultural and social parameters.
Urbanization causing loss of agricultural land in Punjab
The urban expansion significantly covers the rural lands especially the agricultural lands.
It has been fund in most of the low and middle income countries like India that the absence of
any land –use plan causes the urban areas to expand haphazardlyas suggested byRani et al.
(2016). The expansion is shaped by the areas of different households, the public and enterprise
sector activities for building legally or illegally. There can be some regulation on this haphazard
expansion but again there are the influences of real estate interests and politicians. This
unregulated expansion drives many serious consequences as found by Pandey and Seto, (2015).
Notably, the urban centers sometimes expand in the most productive land they need highly fertile
soils. Taken for example, In India, the most fertile land is the lands of Punjab (Bhatt&Kukal,
2015). The loss of the agricultural land due to the urban expansion is often exaggerated but it is
also true that in India, which is depended on the green economy is affected negatively upto
greater extent(Naseer& Pandey, 2018).
Literature Gap
Although the previous researches have shown a detailed description on the relationship
of urbanization and agriculture in the global context along with the context of India, there are
few research gaps in studying urbanization and its negative impacts specifically in Punjab. The
past literature shows that rapid urbanization has resulted in the loss of the agricultural lands in
India (Naseer& Pandey, 2018). However, there is need of deeper study and analysis of the
productive areas of Punjab with loss data along with measurement of the loss due to

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urbanization. The study will focus on Amritsar district with the population of almost 1. 3 million
as per the 2017 census. The study will analyze the production of the area and compare with the
past production. It will examine the correct rates of the urbanization and how much land is sold
to the industrialists. It will be helpful in filling the research gaps.
Research Aims/ objectives
 The aim of the research proposal is to understand the percentage of agricultural
production loss in Punjab due to urbanization in the past 3 years .
 The proposal also aims at understanding the reason behind the farmers’ selling their
lands, to know what problems the famers faced due to urbanization.
 It will also focus on the economic condition of Punjab affected by the rapid urbanization.
Research Questions
Research Question 1- How much loss in the crop production and which crops are affected
of Punjab?
Research Question 2- What are the problems the farmers faced due to urbanization?
Research Question 3- What is the total loss in the income of the farmers and why they
sold their lands?
Research Question 4- How the economy of Punjab affected through urbanization?
Methodology
The research will be based on the data collected from both the secondary sources such as
crop production report, industry report, land fertility report and other previous studies on the
topic and the primary sources too. Regarding the primary sources, the study will conduct a

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quantitative survey around 100 farmer families of Amritsar. The collected data will be collected
through questionnaire forms circulated among the sample. The data will be analysed and
presented through charts, diagrams and graphs.
H0-The rapid urbanization in Punjab is not creating reduction of land and affecting the
agriculture as a whole.
H1- The rapid urbanization in Punjab is creating reduction of land and affecting the agriculture
as a whole.
Research Design
The study will be based on a quantitative survey around 100 farmer families of Amritsar.
The questions will be divided into both the open ended and close ended ones. Among the various
types of research designs, three designs are the most important. These are the analytical, the
explanatory and the exploratory. The analytical research is used when there is need for the
understanding on the topic and its evaluation in a descriptive manner. The exploratory research
design aims to know the concepts at the beginning of the research. The explanatory research is
that particular type of research which is used for the establishment and development of the social
connection among different variables. Therefore, in this research, the analytical research design
will be used. This particular research design will be suitable because there will be extended view
of the existing theories. The details regarding the topic of concern will be best captured by the
analytical research design. As there are few sub divisions of the analytical research, this
particular study will conduct the philosophical research. It is that type of research where there is
the fundamental nature of the reality, nature of knowledge and existence. It will be the study of

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the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or the experience. The other two
research designs will be rejected.
Study population/sampling
Amritsar is the administrative headquarter of the Amritsar district and situated in the
Majha region of Punjab. As per the reports of 2011, it is one of ten Municipal Corporations in the
state. As per the provisional reports of India, Census 2011, Amritsar’s population is 1,132,383 in
which 531,375 are female and 601, 008 are male. The entire population of the city s 1,132, 382 ,
the urban /metropolitan population is 1,183,549 in which there are 555,129 are female and
628,420 are males.
Source - Census2011.co.in. (2019).
The city is located 217 km northwest of state capital Chandigarh and also 455 km northwest of
New Delhi. The city is mainly based on its fertile agricultural fields and the farmers who look
after it. Almost 97% of the cropped area is irrigated. The urban part of Amritsar is 221 km
square and is considered to be the 3rd biggest urban district. The research will make the best use
of the farmers of Amritsar that is one of the most fertile lands of Punjab. People from the farmer

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families will be selected for the study. The study will gain a direct review of the current scenario
of the agriculture of Punjab. The questions which will be asked to the respondents are as
follows:
1. How long have you been in the agricultural field in India ?
2. How has the face of agriculture in Amritsar changed over the last five years ?
3. Can you descrvbe the loss in the production this year ?
4. What are the possible causes of production loss ?
5. Have you lost your land due to the urbanization ?
6. How much land is left or you to irrigate ?
7. Do the lands have lost the fertilty ?
8. Why the farmers are leaving agricuture and becoming inclined towards urbanization ?
The number of people will be 100 which is an adequate sample size for getting an insightful
view coming from various perspectives. The target population will be chosen from all levels of
the society who are mostly farmers. The farmers of maize crop and wheat will be selected as the
downturn is apparent in these two crop production. The local farmers between the age group of
25-55 will be selected in order to know both the past and the present scenario. The survey
questionnaire will be circulated among the participants along with the consent form. Information
will be gained within a short period of time incurring lower costs. The research will use the
probability based sampling.

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SOURCE- Punenvis.nic.in (2019)
Instruments for collecting data
In the above picture, the map of Punjab has been given where in the extreme left below
Gurdaspur, Amritsar is situated. It is the border of Pakistan and not far from Pathankot ( Jammu
and Kashmir). The research paper will be using both the primary and the secondary data for
developing the study. The primary data will be gathered from the survey method conducted
among the 100 farmers of Amritsar. On the other hand, the secondary data will be collected from
the journal articles, news reports, newspapers along with the theory books. The statistics from
the past researches depicting the previous production of India especially of Punjab will help to
form the base of the current research. The newspaper will reveal the current political and socula

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condition of the sate and the city and the books will provide insight into the relevant theories
related to urbanization. The survey method will serve as an instrument for the collection of data.
Since, there is limited time to conduct the research and prepare the report, the survey method will
be extremely helpful. The survey method has been used by various researchers as it is fast
resulting, comparable, inexpensive and standardized. Moreover, it can easily keep the secrecy of
the respondents’ names. When the sample size is large, the survey method is beneficial. There
will be both the close ended and open ended questions in the questionnaire providing the
respondents the liberty to answer in their desired method. The information gained from the
survey method helps to gain a pictorial view of the condition.
1. Questionnaire will be developed
2. number of questions in the questionnaire will be 50- 60
3. Questions will be in regional language
4. Survey form will be in developed based on the questions
5. likert scale method will be followed
6. A space will be booked for the farmers/respondents to be gathered
7. Date and time will be informed to the farmers to participate
8. At the final day of survey questionnaires will be distributed to the farmers who will be ready
to participate
9. Once they give there response, forms will be collected from individual respondents
10. Collected data will then be used for data analysis

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The ethical consideration
In a research, there are various ethical concerns related to the activities in the agricultural
field. The ethical considerations are the most significant aspect in the research. The research will
keep all the terms and conditions related to the agricultural research. The name of the
respondents will be kept confidentially and they will not be forced for sharing their opinions and
knowledge on the topic. The data collected will only be used of the purpose of research. No
ethics will be beached and the researcher will be responsible if any ethics is not followed. The
secondary sources will be referenced and cited properly. It will help in acknowledging their
names and their contribution to the exist8ng literature.
Key Outcomes and limitation
It has provided livelihood to more than 70 % of the total population. The urbanization
might also bring huge changes in the rural food security along with the urban areas. The mist
considerable question is how the agriculture of the country will be affected by the current growth
in the population. It is the “pull factor “which motivates the rural people to move to the urban
lands. The key outcomes of the research will surely answer the research questions. It will provide
information on how can the strongest base of Indian economy be saved and what steps every
citizen of the country must take to avoid scarcity of food. Since the research will mostly be based
on the raw data collected primarily from the farmers of Amritsar, it will reveal the actual
scenario and the issues they are facing in the agricultural field due to rapid urbanization. When
the collected data will be analyzed statistically, the gap will be understood. It will help to
recommend solutions in the final dissertation to deal with the current situation. However, the

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study will be limited to Amritsar (Punjab) only which cannot clearly state the condition of the
other agriculture based areas of the country. Moreover, there are time constraints too along with
the availability of the resources. Apart from this, the data can be insufficient sometimes.
Therefore, the entire research must be designed in a way which can fulfill the gaps.

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Reference
Abid, M., Schilling, J., Scheffran, J., & Zulfiqar, F. (2016). Climate change vulnerability,
adaptation and risk perceptions at farm level in Punjab, Pakistan. Science of the Total
Environment, 547, 447-460.
Balk, D., Montgomery, M. R., Engin, H., Lin, N., Major, E., & Jones, B. (2019). Urbanization in
India: Population and Urban Classification Grids for 2011. Data, 4(1), 35.
Bhatt, R., & Kukal, S. S. (2015). Soil moisture dynamics during intervening period in rice-wheat
sequence as affected by different tillage methods at Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Soil &
Environment, 34(1).
Census2011.co.in. (2019). Amritsar City Population Census 2011-2019 | Punjab. Retrieved from
https://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/18-amritsar.html
Datta, A. (2015). New urban utopias of postcolonial India: ‘Entrepreneurial urbanization’in
Dholera smart city, Gujarat. Dialogues in Human Geography, 5(1), 3-22.
Gill, M. S. (2015). Urbanization in Punjab (India): 1901-1911. Population Geography, 37(1&2),
1-12.
Hadda, M. S., Chandel, S., & Singh, S. (2017). Assessment of soil loss tolerance through
statistical and fuzzy techniques in submontane Punjab. Journal of Soil and Water
Conservation, 16(2), 133-141.

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Indiaspend.com (2019). Urbanisation Sounds Great But Who Has The Money To Fund It?.
[online] IndiaSpend-Journalism India |Data Journalism India|Investigative Journalism-
IndiaSpend. Available at: https://archive.indiaspend.com/investigations/urbanisation-
sounds-great-but-who-has-the-money-to-fund-it [Accessed 13 May 2019].
Kooij, P. (2018). Urbanization. What’s in a name. In Patterns of European Urbanisation Since
1500 (pp. 33-59). Routledge.
Liaqut, A., Younes, I., Sadaf, R., & Zafar, H. (2019). Impact of Urbanization Growth on Land
Surface Temperature using remote sensing and GIS: A Case Study of Gujranwala City,
Punjab, Pakistan. International Journal of Economic and Environmental Geology, 44-49.
Maparu, T. S., & Mazumder, T. N. (2017). Transport infrastructure, economic development and
urbanization in India (1990–2011): Is there any causal relationship?. Transportation
research part A: policy and practice, 100, 319-336.
Mukthar, U., Zhangbao, Z., Beihai, T., Naseer, M. A. U. R., Razzaq, A., & Hina, T. (2018).
Implications of Decreasing Farm Size on Urbanization: A Case Study of Punjab
Pakistan. Journal of Social Science Studies, 5(2), 71.
Naseer, A., & Pandey, P. (2018). Assessment and monitoring of land degradation using
geospatial technology in Bathinda district, Punjab, India. Solid Earth, 9(1), 75.
Pandey, B., & Seto, K. C. (2015). Urbanization and agricultural land loss in India: Comparing
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Punenvis.nic.in (2019). [online] Available at: http://www.punenvis.nic.in/index3.aspx?
sslid=7556&subsublinkid=5807&langid=1&mid=1 [Accessed 13 May 2019].

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Rani, S., Rajasekharan, A., Benbi, D. K., & Chauhan, S. K. (2016). Economic evaluation of
different land use systems in North Western region of Punjab, India. Forest Research, 6.