The Public Distribution System (PDS) has formed an integral part of the food security approach of India for decades, but its negative impact on reducing incentives of local agricultural production in hill and border areas has been relatively under-explored. This study examines the link between dependence on the PDS and farm agriculture in Mendhar, a border sub-district of Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir, by employing primary survey data from 55 farming households in the vicinity of roughly 30 villages; field interviews; and direct field observation. The results revealed that 76 percent of households polled suffered reductions in agricultural production in the last 5 years and 53 percent of surveyed households agree that PDS has diminished their desire to produce their own food, with factors such as high input costs and poor irrigation reported at least as regularly as PDS dependence as direct causes of decline. It also notices a pronounced generational change, with a majority of young people who preferred PDS to farming. The study recommends therefore to integrate PDS entitlements with more targeted agricultural support like input subsidies, irrigation, and training instead of treating food security and agricultural revival as a competing set of policy goals, based on these findings.