Chandigarh, Oct 22 (PTI) Amid concern over the rise in stubble-burning incidents in Punjab, a demand for financial incentives to manage paddy stubble is emerging from farmers who assert that it is not financially viable for small cultivators to buy crop residue management machinery to clear their fields.
They also said as the window for Rabi crops like wheat is very short after paddy harvest, many farmers are forced to set their fields on fire to quickly clear the straw for sowing the next crop.
Many farmers were of the view that the minimum support price on alternative crops like maize, pulses etc should be guaranteed so as to wean away growers from the water-guzzling paddy crop.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after the harvesting of the paddy crop in October and November.
As the paddy harvesting is progressing in the state, the incidents of stubble burning are picking up in the two foodgrain growing states, prompting the state authorities to register FIRs and impose fines on erring farmers.
With over 31 lakh hectares of paddy area, Punjab produces around 180-200 lakh tonnes of paddy straw every year.
Crop residue management machinery like super seeder, smart seeder, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper, shredder, mulcher, hydraulic reversible mould board plough and zero till drill under the in-situ (mixing crop residue in fields) management method and baler and rake under the ex-situ (using stubble as fuel) management method are made available on subsidy.
The rate of subsidy on these machines for individual farmers is 50 per cent of the cost of the equipment and 80 per cent for cooperative societies and panchayats.
Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal) General Secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said farmers want financial incentives for the management of paddy stubble.
“We are demanding Rs 3,000 per acre for managing paddy straw,” said Lakhowal.
He pointed out that it was not economically feasible for small farmers to buy crop residue machinery for the management of straw.
“A tractor having 60 HP capacity is required to run crop residue management machinery and it costs over Rs 10 lakh. A small farmer cannot afford to buy machinery at such a cost. And that is why we are saying farmers should be given financial incentives for managing the stubble,” said Lakhowal.
According to Punjab farmer unions, more than 60 per cent in the state own less than 5 acres of land.
They also said that the maintenance cost of crop residue machinery is also high which also deters farmers from buying them.
Farmer leader Paramjit Singh Bhulla said due to the high costs of paddy residue disposal, farmers resort to burning it in fields.
“The expense associated with acquiring machines like balers, coupled with a meagre government subsidy, has left farmers with no choice but to set paddy residue on fire to prepare fields for sowing the next crop,” he said.
Farmers also said they have very little time after paddy harvesting to sow the next crop and therefore they resort to burning the residue in order to clear their fields.
They demanded that the government should ensure the crop residue machinery is available in sufficient numbers at the village level so as to check stubble burning incidents.
“At least a baler per two villages should be made available so that small farmers can give their straw,” said Mohali-based farmer Bhupinder Singh.
Many farmers also stressed that the government should ensure guaranteed MSP on crops other than paddy so they can switch over to other crops.
Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said farmers were unnecessarily being blamed for pollution in Delhi and said it was industrial and vehicular pollution which have a major role in polluting air in the national capital.
He said instead of punishing farmers, the governments should take action against factories that emit smoke.
Before the start of the paddy sowing season, the Punjab government had said that it would provide over 22,000 crop residue management (CRM) machines to manage paddy straw.
Punjab had witnessed a reduction of 30 per cent in the number of fire incidents at 71,159 in 2022-23 as compared to 76,929 in 2021-22 and a reduction of 26 per cent in such incidents at 49,922 in 2023-24 as compared to 71,159 in 2022-23. PTI CHS VSD RT RT
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