After Centre’s refusal to provide extra financial aid, how Punjab govt can help farmers manage stubble issue

How much financial assistance is needed to manage the stubble?

In Punjab, rice is cultivated on nearly 30 lakh hectare (approximately 75 lakh acres) and the state government has proposed to pay Rs 2,500 per acre to manage the stubble, of which they had demanded Rs 1,500 per acre from the Centre. Now, if the state has to shoulder the entire financial burden of Rs 2,500 per acre, it will need to shell out Rs 1,850 crore to farmers to manage stubble on 75 lakh acres.

What can the government do to help farmers?

Experts have suggested that the state government can start by providing financial aid to small and marginal farmers. Marginal farmers are those who own up to one hectare (2.5 acres) of land while small farmers own up to two hectare (5 acres) of land.

How much area is owned by small and marginal farmers?

According to data from the Punjab government, the total number of land holdings in Punjab is 10.93 lakh, of which 2.04 lakh (18.7%) are marginal farmers, 1.83 lakh (16.7%) are small farmers and 7.06 lakh (64.6%) farmers hold land above 2 hectares.

Punjab has over 4 million hectare area under cultivation. While there are no records of exact ownership of land by small and marginal farmers, Dr Sukhpal Singh, principal economist and former head, Department of Economics and Sociology of Punjab Agriculture University, said that 9% of the total agricultural land in Punjab is ‘operated’ by small and marginal farmers. It means that out of over 4 million hectare, nearly 3.6 lakh hectare (8.9 lakh acres) are operated by small and marginal farmers.

Does the govt have enough funds to help farmers?

“If we estimate that all small and marginal farmers are growing rice crop, then nearly 6.66 lakh acres (9%) of 75 lakh acres under rice cultivation belong to small and marginal farmers. At the proposed rate of Rs 2,500 per acre financial aid, the government will need Rs 166 crore to check stubble burning,” said a senior officer in the Punjab Agriculture department, adding that the Punjab government has already made budgetary allocation of Rs 200 crore to check stubble burning in the current financial year.

Even farmers’ unions have sought financial assistance for farmers who have less than 10 acres of land. “We have been demanding financial aid for a long time for farmers with less than 10 acres of land,” said Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.