Orders against burning of paddy straw go up in flames

Despite prohibitory orders issued by deputy commissioners of the state,the practice of burning paddy straw continues unabated in the Doaba region.

Despite prohibitory orders issued by deputy commissioners of the state,the practice of burning paddy straw continues unabated in the Doaba region. As per estimates,it is causing an annual loss of Rs 200 crore to farmers. The more worrying factor is that it is polluting the environment and depleting the soil fertility by burning the nutrients in the land.

Balbir Singh,sarpanch of Gidderpindi village,said they had been educating farmers not to burn paddy straw in their fields,but a majority of them were disregarding their advice and violating the district administrations orders. He added that the authorities should book a few farmers,which would act as a deterrent for others.

Farmers,on the other hand,complain that they dont have any other way to ready their fields for the next crop.

Story continues below this ad

Though the straw management machine was introduced in the state last year,it has seen a limited success till now due to its restricted reach.

Harjeet Singh,a progressive farmer belonging to Amritsar,said he took the initiative with the efforts of the district administration and purchased the first straw management machine in the state from the USA. Within 15 days,he had collected paddy straw from over 100 acres of agricultural land in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts. The machine costs Rs 11.1 lakh,but cooperative societies can purchase it at 50 per cent subsidy.

The machine can collect all the straw in a compact manner in 45 minutes from a field measuring an acre. This straw is then sold to enhance the income of farmers,according to Deputy Project Director,Agricultural Technological Management Agency (ATMA),Dr Naresh Gulati.

According to experts,the burning of paddy straw leads to a loss of nearly Rs 200 crore every year as straw is very useful and can be utilised at the units of power generation,paper manufacturing factories and sugar mills. Chief Agriculture Officer,Jalandhar,Dr K S Deol said this damaged the fertility of soil to a great extent as all nitrogen,phosphorus,potash and micro nutrients got burnt.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram