Chandigarh, Dec. 23 -- In Punjab, 86% of agricultural households are in debt, and the inability to repay loans has led to suicides, said former chief justice of India, Justice JS Khehar, on Monday. Delivering the keynote address on 'Contemporary Punjab: Challenges and Solutions' at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Sector 19, Justice Khehar said agriculture in Punjab has become unviable due to depleting groundwater levels, soil degradation, stagnant crop prices, shrinking landholdings, and other environmental and economic factors. He stressed that agriculture in the state cannot survive without strong government intervention.

Justice Khehar said the days of the green revolution, when Punjab was a major ...