Delhi govt to spray bio-decomposer solution over 5,000 acres of crop fields

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has been pushing for the usage of the bio-decomposer solution as an alternative mechanism to deal with the problem of stubble burning over the last three years.

The Delhi government will spray bio-decomposer solution on around 5,000 acres of rice fields in Delhi to reduce stubble burning in the Capital this year, state environment minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday.

Gopal Rai during his visit at IRAI, PUSA to monitor the process and production facilities of bio decomposer being made by PUSA Institute, in New Delhi.  (HT Photo)

The bio-decomposer solution, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), accelerates the decomposition process of stubble by turning it into manure over a period of 15-20 days, thereby reducing the need to clear the fields of stubble by burning, as witnessed every year during the winter months.

Reviewing the production facilities at the institute on Tuesday, Rai said the spraying of the solution will start in the first week of October.

“We have formed 21 teams for the spraying process, which will include officials of the agriculture department and revenue department. The solution will be sprayed for free by the government in all the basmati and non-basmati paddy farms inside Delhi,” Rai said.

“The government has started preparing for the spraying in time so that there is no delay in the exercise and farmers can get better results. The agriculture department has been instructed to get the forms filled by the farmers, along with a preferred date of date of spraying. So far, 957 farmers have filled the form,” the minister added.

Rai said the government will not have to prepare the solution as the IARI has already readied it. “We will buy it directly from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute here. Ten litres of solution can be mixed with 200 litres of water and directly sprayed on one acre of area,” he said.

He also announced that the institute has formulated the bio decomposer in a powdered form, which the government will use on around 1,000 acres of crop fields on a trial basis.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has been pushing for the usage of the bio-decomposer solution as an alternative mechanism to deal with the problem of stubble burning over the last three years. Last year, the solution was sprayed on around 4,300 acres of land belonging to 844 farmers in Delhi while in 2020, it was sprayed on 1,935 acres belonging to 310 farmers.

Controlling stubble burning is also one of the 15 focus points under the AAP government’s winter action plan to control air pollution this year. On September 15, Rai and his Punjab counterpart Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had announced a pilot project to spray the solution in some parts of Punjab in an attempt to control stubble burning.