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₹350-crore action plan to check stubble burning in Punjab
Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said the department has submitted the action plan of ₹350 crore to the Centre to provide funds for the current year and over 20,000 machines would be made available on subsidy to individuals for crop residue management and 1,000 custom hiring centres would also be established. It will be an alternative to check stubble burning in state
To create an alternative measure to check stubble burning in Punjab, the state agriculture department has drafted a ₹350-crore action plan for providing machinery for crop residue management during paddy harvest in October-November months at subsidised rates.
Cooperative agricultural societies and other groups can avail subsidy of 80% and individual farmers will get 50% subsidy.
Disclosing this, agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said the department has submitted the action plan of ₹350 crore to the Centre to provide funds for the current year and over 20,000 machines would be made available on subsidy to individuals for crop residue management and 1,000 custom hiring centres would also be established.
He said the department has invited applications from farmers, cooperative societies, FPOs and panchayats interested in availing subsidies on various crop residue management (CRM) machinery during the kharif season 2023.
Under the scheme, super SMS, super seeder, smart seeder, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper, shredder, mulcher, hydraulic reversible mould board plough and zero till drill for in-situ management and baler and rake in ex-situ machines are being made available on subsidy.
The rate of subsidy on the above-mentioned machines for the individual farmers is 50% of the cost of equipment and 80% for cooperative societies, FPOs, panchayats limited to a maximum as per the guidelines of the scheme.
Urging the farmers to make the most of this scheme to bring down the paddy burning cases to zero in the state, Khudian said that the last date for applying to avail the subsidy on the department’s portal agrimachinerypb.com is July 20.
Apart from this, the department would also launch an information education and communication campaign to educate and train farmers about the available technologies for the management of crop residues as the state government is taking steps to address the problem of stubble burning.
The agriculture minister also asked the department office to ensure transparency in the entire process and strict action will be taken against violation of rules and regulations.
