E-Paper
Stubble management: Delivery of in-situ machines moves at slow pace
Till Tuesday 5,798 cases of stubble fires were reported and Met department has reported the air quality index according to the state pollution control board to be of poor quality.
Wheat sowing season has begun in Punjab but so far only 40% of the sanctioned machines for its cultivation in the fields with uncut paddy stubble (in-situ management) have been delivered to the farmers. State agriculture directorate revealed that the target is to give 34,000 machines for in-situ management of paddy stubble but so far 13,600 machines have been delivered. A total of 65,000 farmers applied for over 1.25 lakh machines.
The machines are supplied to desist farmers from burning the paddy crop residue, a contributory cause for air pollution during this season, leading to environmental and public health problems. Till Tuesday 5,798 cases of stubble fires were reported and the weather department has reported the air quality index according to the state pollution control board was said to be of poor quality.
“We still have time for wheat cultivation, which ideally begins from October 25 and goes upto November 25. Moreover only 35% paddy has been harvested as the schedule has been postponed owing to late rainfall this month,” said an officer of the directorate on request of anonymity.
Owing to window between paddy harvest in the kharif season and wheat sowing in rabi season being very short, farmers prefer to burn paddy stubble to ready farms for wheat cultivation. The challenge for the state and the government in the Centre is to discourage farmers from indulging in the hazardous practice.
As per the figures procured by state food and civil supplies department 82 lakh tonnes of freshly harvested paddy have arrived in the mandis of the state as the total target this season is 184.45 lakh tonnes. The single day arrivals on Wednesday touched 6 lakh tonnes. An officer in the agriculture directorate revealed that farmers across the state would wind up paddy harvest in a week to ten days’ time after which the preparation for wheat sowing would begin in full swing. “We need to maximize the supply of machines,” he added.
As per official data, in the past four year’s 90,422 subsidised machines have been delivered to the farmers for in-situ management of paddy stubble for which the Centre has given a grant of ₹1,145 crore has been given to the state. This year, the Centre has given a grant of ₹245 crore to the state as subsidy on the machines. To an individual farmer, a subsidy of 50% is offered while a group of famers, village panchayats, and rural agricultural societies a subsidy of 80% is offered.
Short supply of bailers:
The state farmers have 700 bailer machines which the officials of state department accepted are too less as each machine could make bailers upto 800 acres in a season, total 5.6 lakh acres which means a fraction of the total (75.5 lakh acres) under paddy cultivation this kharif season. The bailer machines make straw bundles which are supplied to biomass-based power generating plants or boilers as an alternative fuel cutting down usage of non-renewable fuel such as coal and diesel.
