Farmers toe govt’s line to contain farm fires in Haryana
As per the ground report gathered from the paddy sowing belt of the state, there were no incidents of farm fires and even farmers could be seen managing crop waste by using both in-situ and ex-situ methods
:The Haryana government’s multi-pronged strategy to contain farm fires seems to have yielded positive results with farmers in paddy producing districts in the state bringing about a paradigm shift in their approach from burning straw in the fields to adopting in-situ and ex-situ methods to dispose of crop residue.
Even as the harvesting is on peak and grain markets are overflowing with paddy harvest, only two incidents of stubble burning were confirmed since the monitoring by Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC) started on September 15. As per HARSAC, so far only nine active fire locations (AFL) have been reported till October 2. Seven AFLs were reported on Sunday.
As per the ground report gathered from the paddy sowing belt of the state, there were no incidents of farm fires and even farmers could be seen managing crop waste by using both in-situ and ex-situ methods.
Paddy is mainly produced in Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Yamunanagar and Panipat districts of the state.
The officials dealing with the issue said that besides regular monitoring, massive awareness drive launched by the state government to sensitise the cultivators and focus more on prevention of farm fires during the ongoing paddy harvesting season has also yielded positive results.
Karam Chand, deputy director, agriculture, Kaithal said they are working restlessly to make the farmers aware about the harmful affects of burning crop waste. “There is not even a single case of stubble burning reported in the district so far and we are thankful to the farmers,” he added.
Sumita Misra, additional chief secretary, agriculture and farmers welfare department, has credited the achievement to active follow up, awareness campaign and outreach in hotspot villages.
Gurnam Singh, an elderly farmer from Khanpur village of Karnal district, said that this year, he has decided not to burn crop waste. “I have contacted a private company which has agreed to lift crop waste of my seven acres yield free of cost by converting it into bales,” he said.
Another farmer Mohan Lal of Radaur in Yamunanagar district said that this is for the first time he did not burn the crop waste. “I have harvested four acres of paddy and used machines for in-situ management of crop waste as it is also good for soil and I will adopt the same method in the remaining six acres,” he said.
The government’s scheme to provide a cash incentive of ₹ 1,000 per acre for not burning the crop waste has also attracted farmers to adopt the new technology.
Ajmer Singh, a farmer from Santhri village of Karnal, has set up a custom hiring centre and has purchased five baler machines and put to use 13 tractors to transport crop waste after converting it into bales.
“Farmers will be paying ₹ 1,000 per acre incentive to us for the management and lifting of crop waste from their fields. We will sell it to the private companies, cardboard factories, power plants and ethanol plants at ₹ 2,500 to ₹ 2,800 per acre. Thus, we earn a profit of around ₹ 1,000 to ₹ 1,500 per acre as the input cost is around ₹ 2,200,” he added.
He said that he will also store around 20,000 quintal crop waste for the ethanol plant set up at the IOCL’s Panipat refinery.
As per the figures from the state agriculture department, the estimated crop waste generation from paddy harvesting in Haryana remains around 35 lakh MT. This year, the state government hopes that 13 lakh MT crop residue will be consumed in 29 plants producing ethanol, paper, and cardboard. Even several plants have also been storing the crop waste for off-season.
Haryana has reported a considerable fall in stubble burning cases in the past three years as the date collected by the HARSAC shows that 9,898 farm fires were reported during the paddy harvest season in 2020, while in 2021, the incidents came down to 6,987.
AQI improves
As per the October 3 bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index, which is based on monitoring stations of at least 10 Haryana cities, was moderate in the past 24 hours. The air quality of eight cities was recorded satisfactory, while the air quality of Karnal with 48 index value was good.
The cities with moderate air quality in the past 24 hours were Ambala, Charkhi Dadri, Dharuhera, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurugram, Palwal, Panipat, Sonipat and Yamunanagar. The satisfactory air quality was recorded in Bahadurgarh, Ballabgarh, Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Manesar, Narnaul and Panchkula. On October 2 the air quality index of at least 18 cities of Haryana was moderate, while the air quality index of Karnal with index value 67 was satisfactory.
Officials said a control room has been set up in Ballabgarh for receiving, handling and processing of various complaints pertaining to air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) districts of Haryana with dedicated helpline number and personnel. The control room coordinates with all the agencies of Haryana for addressing the grievances. It also deals with complaints through Sameer App, Swachhta App and other social media handles.
(With inputs from HTC, Chandigarh)