Agricultural Degradation and Human Health-An Inter District Analysis

Abstract

Since the beginning of the times, natural resources like land/soil, air, water, forest,
petroleum and minerals have been exploited in different ways. However, at any
moment when these natural resources are over-exploited, the environment gets
polluted, damaged or degraded.
All the aforesaid kinds of environment pollutions are playing havoc not only to
human beings and animals but also to vegetative kingdom. So far as our country
India is concerned, the environmental degradation in India is not only increasing over
time but also growing at an increasing rate. Sustainable development is critically
related with environmental degradation which takes place through land, air, water
and bio-diversity, which are not judiciously managed. The worst affected sources of
environmental degradation are land and water in an agrarian state like Punjab,
where excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has resulted in
deterioration in soil fertility and water quality day by day. The residues of pesticides
and fertilizers are being regularly added not only in different food and feed
commodities but also in rivers, lakes and streams making their water unfit for
drinking and bathing. Consequently, human health is at stake in terms of various
chronic diseases like malaria, dengue, leprosy, cancer, etc. The article highlights
these facts through the data on the various variables like chemical fertilizers and
pesticides being applied and their effects on human health in terms of various
ailments. The article uses secondary data which has been collected from various
sources like: Statistical Abstract of Punjab, Environment Statistics of Punjab, and
Economic Survey. The present study, therefore, aims at highlighting the extent of
agricultural degradation and resulting in health issues in the Punjab state.
Appropriate policy implications have been incorporated in the last section of the
article.