India, Feb. 12 -- Punjab remains, in both economic structure and political consciousness, a traditional agricultural state. Nearly one-third of its total population, and close to two-thirds of its rural residents, depends directly or indirectly on farming and allied activities. Agriculture here is not merely a sector; it is the foundation of livelihoods, rural employment, credit cycles, and social stability. Any destabilisation of this system would reverberate far beyond the farm, affecting mandis, transporters, commission agents, and the entire rural service economy.

It is, therefore, natural that the India-US trade deal is being examined in Punjab with caution. The instinctive concern is straightforward: Will subsidised American grain,...