Adopt straw management: PAU experts to farmers

During the live programme of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Wednesday, the agricultural experts urged farmers to shun the practice of stubble burning and adopt its management measures.

Senior soil scientist Dr RK Gupta advised farmers to incorporate paddy straw into the soil and curtail expenses on fertilizers. The adoption of paddy straw management practices enhances soil health as well as crop productivity, he said. Dr Gupta also suggested making judicious use of fertilizers in wheat.

Dr Manpreet Singh, scientist, Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, appealed farmers not to indulge in stubble burning and instead use different machines, such as PAU super straw management system (SMS), happy seeder, super seeder, rotavator, baler, mouldboard plough, etc. for its management. He also discussed the economics of the machinery.

Kulbir Singh, principal olericulturist, spoke about the household kitchen garden model and explained the agronomic practices to be adopted for the successful cultivation of onion and pea. He also talked about the vegetables to be grown using low tunnel technology. Dr Singh said the department of vegetable science was organising webinars on the cultivation of vegetables in order to equip the farmers with the technical know-how of vegetable cultivation.

KK Gill, assistant agrometeorologist, called upon the farmers not to burn paddy straw as straw burnt during dry weather could turn into smog, thus, affecting human as well as animal health.