As harvesting picks pace, farm fires back in state: 21 in 11 days
Stubble burning in procurement season hits 3-year high
3 min read
Data sourced from the PRSC shows that a maximum of six cases of stubble burning were recorded in Hoshiarpur district.With the beginning of wheat harvesting, incidents of wheat stubble burning have also returned in Punjab. Till Monday (April 11), 21 incidents of stubble burning across 11 districts were recorded by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana. From April 1 to April 11 in 2021 and 2020, there were 15 and 13 field fire cases, respectively.
Most of the farmers who grow wheat, grow paddy after wheat harvesting but do not take a third crop between wheat and paddy. This gives them enough time to manage the wheat stubble. Between wheat harvesting and paddy sowing, farmers get 45 to 60 days when their fields are vacant but still they go for stubble burning instead of using stubble management machines.
Data sourced from the PRSC shows that a maximum of six cases of stubble burning were recorded in Hoshiarpur district, followed by two incidents each in Bathinda, Faridkot, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Patiala districts and one each from five districts, including Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Rupnagar. The remaining 12 districts have not reported any field fire case so far.
Sources in the Pollution Control Board said that the burning started from April 1, when paddy harvesting started this year and just on that day, six cases of burning were reported. Wheat harvesting starts in the state in full swing only after April 10.
In Punjab, most of the wheat stubble is used for making dry fodder for cattle, but even after making fodder some farmers burn the leftover roots too while roots can be easily mixed in the soil after watering the field moderately and ploughing it, experts said.
A senior officer in Punjab Agriculture Department said, “We are educating farmers on the bad effects of stubble burning to the soil but still many do not understand the issue and follow the same old practices. However, those who have started healthy practices such as incorporating the stubble in the field are quite happy and noticing higher productivity of the next crop.”
Punjab grows wheat on over 35 lakh hectares and around 50% of the area under wheat is set on fire every year after harvesting. Farmers, on the other hand, are demanding compensation per acre to manage the stubble.
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