Farmers in Punjab, particularly in the Majha region, which comprises Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts, began burning rice residues earlier this year to prepare fields for planting vegetables.
Agriculture department officials said potatoes and peas are grown on a significant portion of the arable land in these regions. Farmers here prefer to grow Pusa basmati-1,509 and some other hybrid rice varieties that mature quickly and therefore are harvested early.
Compared to the 159 agricultural fires reported in the state as of Sept. 28 last year, up to 520 incidents have been witnessed, most of them in Majha, during the corresponding period in this time. Of the total 407 incidents that took place in the Majha region, 358 occurred in Amritsar, the district of the state most affected in terms of agricultural fires.
Jagmohan Singh from the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakunda) said that farmers have no choice but to burn the rice residues. “Since the government has not announced any incentives to manage the straw, farmers have no choice but to burn it. If the government is serious about stopping agricultural fires, it should announce funding of Rs 200 per quintal for straw management, ”Singh said.
An agriculture department official said: “Actually, farmers find burning stubble to be the easiest method of disposal, although it is a health hazard. As farm incomes are declining, they are trying to take advantage of the gap between harvesting rice and sowing wheat by growing vegetables. ”
The government has delegated 8,000 nodal officers in rice-growing villages, and 23,500 machines have been delivered to farmers for on-site handling of rice straw. The chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, has called on farmers to avoid the practice of burning straw on several occasions.
In the village of Devidas Pura in the Amritsar district, where farmers were seen burning rice straw, the HT team was asked to leave the site immediately. Some farmers said: “We are already being harassed by government officials for burning stubble. We cannot afford any method of handling the straw other than burning it. ”
But in some fields, workers were seen lifting straw with baler machines and using tractor-trailers to transport it to nearby sugar mills.
Kulwant Singh, a farmer from Phoolke village near Batala in Gurdaspur district, said: “Farmers know the side effects of burning stubble, but they still know about them. In view of their precarious financial situation and the increase in the cost of cultivation, they cannot afford any other method of waste management ”.
“Almost 80 percent of the farmers have a 2- to 5-acre property. The government asks us to buy happy seeders to avoid burning stubble. This machine can only be used with a new tractor model. It costs around 11 lakh to buy such a tractor. How many of the farmers can afford to buy these machines? “he asks.
Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer from Thatha village of Gurdaspur, said: “Without the support of the government, it is not possible to manage waste with ecological methods. As for the use of mincing machines, a considerable amount of grain is wasted, ”he added.
The Amritsar administration has imposed a 55,000 rupee fine on 15 farmers in the district, Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khehra said. Teams from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) visited 150 villages on Monday after detecting 318 cases of agricultural fires, it added.
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